after a week of turmoil and chaos,
angst and uncertainty,
frustration and exhaustion,
You gather us back into Your loving arms
with our community of believers,
and call us to remember.
Today we remember the Baptism
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ –
Your own dear Son,
whom You love,
with whom You are well pleased.
Out from the River Jordan, He arose,
anointed by Your voice,
bathed in Your love,
and blessed by Your Spirit.
In this same way, You call us to remember our baptisms,
that day we made a choice to honor You with our whole lives;
that day you washed us with Your grace and filled us with Your Spirit.
We come before You today to recommit ourselves to You,
recognizing that many of us,
perhaps all of us,
have fallen into lives of complacency.
Happiness has been our god,
and comfort has been our idol,
while we have put aside the call to take up our cross and follow You.
O, Lord, we call upon You to forgive us.
Forgive us for all the excuses we have made;
for not responding to You immediately,
with urgency, and sacrificially.
Forgive us for complaining about being bored,
as we sit and do nothing.
Forgive us when we’re too concerned
with finding things to make life easier -
gadgets and toys to make carrying our cross
lighter, smaller, and cushioned -
for You, O God, did not send Your Son to die on a cross
for us to live comfortably.
Forgive us for focusing on our comfort rather than on our character.
As we fall into Your loving and grace-filled arms,
remind us, O Lord, of our commitment to follow and obey You;
remind us, O Lord, of our choice to be humble in spirit
and to love our neighbors;
remind us, O Lord, to take up our cross and follow You.
Shake us of our complacency.
Inspire us to live daily with an urgency
to radically be the change You call us to be.
Strip us of our comforts.
May our love for You be a driving force
to live with joyful surrender.
Scratch out our schedules –
Do not let our circumstances or timeline
influence our dedication and obedience
to follow You.
Instead, may we reprioritize our lives,
focusing on knowing You, loving You, and living for You.
We reach out to You, O Lord, in confidence,
knowing there is always more of You for us to find…
as we pray,
as we listen,
as we read Your Word,
and as we give our time and energy to You each day.
May we never give up this quest,
this searching and learning more about ourselves
and more about You;
searching to know more of Your beautiful heart, O God.
May Your Word pour out of us, like water to the thirsty,
and may our lives be full of the fruit of Your Spirit.
All we are and all we have to give,
may we give back to You with open hands
knowing that You will meet all our needs as we go with You.
We pray all this in the name of the One,
who transforms us into His image,
who makes us whole,
who calls us to take up our cross and follow Him,
so that we may be His hands and heart for the world to see.
And we pray the words that He taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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