1st Quarter - Year A- Issue of WorshipAid
December, January and February (2001-2002)

Prayers for January 27, 2002

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Call to Worship (Based on Psalm 27:1-6)

Leader: The Lord is our light and our Savior. Why do we have to be afraid?

People: When evildoers attack us, when they try to destroy us, they will utterly fail.

Leader: In the day of trouble, God will protect us. The Lord will shelter us from all evil.

People: Therefore let us sing and lift up our voices to the Lord!

Prayer of Confession

Creator God, You created us to live as one family. Yet we so quickly divide ourselves one from another. We label ourselves as liberals and conservatives. We pit labor versus management. We segregate white from black. Even in the church, we are always ready to separate ourselves from those with whom we do not agree. We witness controversies between left and right. We suffer through wars over worship styles—traditional versus contemporary. Loving God, You look at us, and surely You must shake Your head in sorrow. But out of Your abundant mercy, forgive our sinful divisions. By Your Spirit, bind us together in faith to live in community as Your church. In the name of Jesus Christ, the one true Head of the Church, we pray. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Bind us together, Lord. You constantly seek to draw Your people closer to one another as You surround us with cords of faith, love, and hope. Yet we fight against the unity that You desire. With all our might, at times, we hack away at the ties that bind us, as we seek to remove ourselves from the presence of those whom we do not like. Therefore we pray this day that You, O God, would be at work in our midst once again to unify us, to form us anew into one body.

Eternal God, we pray for peacemakers. We pray for Your blessing to be upon those who, often in quiet ways, are at work within churches to bring about reconciliation and harmony. We pray for church leaders as they enter into dialogue with leaders of other denominations, exploring ways that we as Christians might cooperate with one another, rather than always compete against each other. We pray for our world and the divisions that exist within nations and between nations. Heavenly Father, unite our hearts, minds, and wills, so that all Your people might live in peace. We ask these things in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

Gracious Lord, accept our gifts, and use them to bring hope where there is despair. Use them to bring comfort where there is suffering. Use them to bring unity where there is division. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.