Joyful Stability, No Matter What

       The threat of thunder on a pool day has loaded implications for a house full of children on summer break.  Yet, it happens, and Mom gets the fun job of explaining why we have to stay home.  Sullenness and general malaise begin to set in, and I am left to sipping my coffee, thinking about what to do now.  

We all know that plans change often in this life.  Yet our children are the least likely to understand these changes.  They do not have the life experience to understand that there are a lot of circumstances that affect decisions and the changing of plans.  Add the current tenuous state in our culture to the lack of life experience, and you can have some seriously downtrodden kids.  Who knows what may lie around the corner, or the following week?  No one knows. 

How do we help them to walk through a forever changing world? How do we make plans and keep hope alive in such a fragile climate?  

The answers may be real and hard, but they are also trustworthy and true.  The affects of what we do as parents can be life long. The powerful lessons we learn from navigating through life’s unknowns can be passed down for generations.   

On the Merced  by Tamara Keiper

Our children have recently learned that things may not go as they had hoped in every area of their lives.  What will my camp be like, if I still get to go? Will my friends be aloud to play with me?  Will I be able to see my grandparents?  What will my school be like?  They live with these questions, constantly.   

We have been commissioned by God to live biblical lives in the face of whatever our culture does. This calling necessitates living uprightly before the face of God.  Our children should understand that our God is constant and unchanging, and so is His Word.  His yes is yes, His promises are true, His character does not change and He is our God and Father.  

But how often are we more moved by the latest news report or the predictions of our own hearts than the unfailing promises of God?  We may be really good at hiding our emotions about the current state of affairs or our thoughts of the future from our children, but our mouths and body language too often betray us, and out of our anxious hearts, we speak.   

I have been resisting fear and apprehension over the past few years, and it is hard work.  The discipline of returning to the restful presence of the Lord often slips through my fingers. Keeping the first things first and maintaining a godly life in our home is hard.  It requires being intentional, reforming often, and refocusing.  It means saying “no” to many things in order to say “yes” to what truly matters.  

As we enter the last days of summer, It is a good time for us as parents to pull off the parenting highway and make a rest stop.  We need to ask ourselves where we are going. Is this the direction we want to head with our families?  Are we helping our children to know and live a stable, God-centered life, or are we showing them what it is like to barely hang on and just push through?  

These are the things that I am looking at in my life as I pull over and think through what our coming school year will be like:

 *How are my regular times with the Lord?  Are they more like a Chick-fil-A drive thru or the quiet corner of a cafe?

 *How is our consistency with family Bible reading and prayer?  Is it more like praying over pizza and walking away with a slice or like sitting around the table and enjoying one another’s company?

 *How am I responding when our plans/routines change throughout the day?  Is it like rummaging through the cabinet for that emergency snickers bar or like sipping my way through a fresh cup of coffee?

 *How is my level of joy throughout the day?  Is it rare, like finding the last gourmet ice cream bar in the back of the freezer or like enjoying the planning, preparing and serving of a beautiful home made meal? 

 *How do I end and begin my days?  Is it like cramming a granola bar in my face as I walk to the car or more like slowly savoring an ice cream cone on the porch swing?

Notice that I have attempted to equate these questions with eating, drinking and relating to others.  Times of refreshing come as our souls are nurtured and fed by God.  He says to come, buy and eat, even when we do not feel worthy, so that our souls may be fed.  We know that we cannot give what we do not already have.  So the more we find ourselves in the blessed place of giving to others, the more we must sit at the feet of the One who leads and replenishes us in sweet green pastures.  

The answer to navigating our families through this life is to keep our own walk with the Lord constant and close.  It is here that our souls will be fed, and where we can unload our own heavy burdens. We can listen, drink in, and know the constant unfailing mercy and grace of the Lord for HIs own.  The Savior, like a shepherd, will lead us.  

He has sought you and saved you, not so you can just muddle through, but so you and your children can walk closely with Him.  Here we find rest for our weary souls and a joyful stability in a changing world.  

    You keep him in perfect peace

            Whose mind is stayed on You,

            Because he trusts in You.

            Trust in the Lord forever,

            For the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

            Jer. 26:3-4

           We cannot right an entire ship over night and so we must begin with prayer.  As we cast ourselves onto Christ, let us put our trust in His life changing work.  As we present ourselves to Him, let us trust in His leading.  What He has promised in His Word, He will do.  

Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

⁷  let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

⁸  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

⁹  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰  “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²  “For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

¹³  Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the LORD,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

        Is. 55:6-10

Myrtle Cottage Garden by Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris

May you have more grace and peace in the days to come, and may you know the sweet presence of the Lord in your home ~ Your Fellow Sojourner

Here are some ideas that have worked for us as we seek to maintain the joyful stability of a Christ centered home. As you prayerfully seek the Lord, may He lead you to your own rhythms of worship and work in your home.

   *Keep to a wake time and a bed time throughout the entire year, even in the summer.  Of course, enjoy the fun exceptional times with family, friends and vacations.

   *Shoot for family worship after dinner twice a week.  Have your plans and materials all ready made so you can grab and go.  (Having desert when you are finished is fun too.)

   *Keep dinner time sacred.  If you are here at dinner time - you eat with the family at the dinner table and engage in conversation together.  (This can be the hardest time of day for a lot of families for many reasons - food flying, tempers flaring, lima beans - really?! - but its worth it, trust me.)

   *Its important, necessary and good for you as a parent to keep your own morning and evening routines that you look forward to because they are restful and nourishing.  This is where I can grab my coffee, my Bible, my notebook and be in the presence of the Lord or read an enjoyable book. I find that this can be the hardest area to stick to, but again, it is so good.  Lord, help us!!

   *Find the support community that keeps your values and priorities of worship and fellowship.  This will help support you and your family in a multitude of ways.  Yes, people are messy, but so are you!  Regular Sunday worship, meals with friends, and fellowshipping with other like minded people are great joy boosting activities for you and your family.  

Here is a short list:

    *Wake and Sleep Schedule

    *Family Worship 2x a week

    *Dinner time as a family

    *Establish my own wake/sleep routine of prayer, reading and meditation

    *Keep Sunday Worship, meals with friends, and times of fellowship a priority

Father, Forgive Them

     My first baby rocked my world, literally.  Jackson came in with Hurricane Floyd and left emotional and physical damage in his wake.  I was forever changed.  As I sought to regain my footing after the birth of my son, I became a student of what truly mattered, sleep. Sleep is essential for life, and so is peace - therefore, I was in constant search of both.  We eventually learned how to live with one another, and the tears became fewer and fewer, for both of us.  Peace finally came after the life altering storm of Jackson’s birth. 

Parenting will change you.  Actually, most close relationships will change you.  You learn to bend and give, to let go and hang on. People need people, but people can also be hard to live with.  

When the hard and unexpected come in our relationships with our children, we either want to fight or flee, and we usually try both.  We want the storm to be over.  We want the rest and peace to return.  We cannot deny that with children, storms will follow. 

The Cradle by Berthe Morisot

I find that as the years fly by, life tends to become very full.  My life is overflowing right now, and for that I am eternally grateful.  God has blessed me with many people to love and care for.  And so, with many relationships, I have had to weather many storms.  

One of the hardest and most painful things to endure as a mother are the words and attitudes from our older children that are meant to jab and hurt.  We would rather be hurt by sticks and stones than by the stinging words that can never be retracted.  What do we do in times when parents and children do not understand one another or even like each other.  How can things ever change?  Haven’t we been over this same ground before, unearthing old wounds and conflicts?  The answer is yes, we have.  So, where do we go from here?  We just want the storm to stop; we want a life of peace.

Jesus often found himself in the midst of storms that he needed to calm, resolve or ride out.  While he walked on earth and interacted with people, he confronted the hard moments with words that were pointed and true, trusting the truth to do its work.  He knew that his Father in heaven was in complete control and that every stormy encounter happened for a reason.  God was working in the hearts and minds of people.  God the Father wanted people to learn how to trust Him, to let go of what they thought would be the answer, but never would be.  Jesus would speak the truth, trust his heavenly Father, and wait for God to do His will, His good, perfect and holy will. 

But there was one storm that Jesus did not stop.  He willingly went to the cross and died a sinner’s death. Christ knew why he had to do what he was sent to do, even though his disciples did not.  They tried to understand, but fell short.  Even one of his closest friends turned on him, denying he ever knew him.  Yet, Jesus stood his ground, knowing that he had to ride this storm out in order to save his people, even the ones who spat in his face. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  And then, he gave up his spirit.  There was no better thing for him to do, there was no better place for him to go.

After a difficult week with my children, I remembered the words of Christ, “Father, forgive them…for they know not what they do.”  My children do not know what they are doing when they come at me with hurtful words.  They are sinners, just as I am.  They do not see all that their sin is doing, just as I don’t always see all of the effects of own my sin.  We are both at fault and we are both in need of the Father’s forgiveness.  

The Prodigal Son by Rembrant

As I turn to the Father with my pain, I am reminded that Christ is my example.  I need to forgive the one who has sinned against me, for they know not what they are doing.  I know that as I forgive them, I am leaving them with their heavenly Father.  There is no better thing for me to do, there is no better place for either of us to be.  And as I forgive them, I let go of what I think will be the answer.  The peace of God drives the storm away.  

As we look to the Father for strength to forgive our children, we see where our own sins have been forgiven.  In light of such forgiving grace, let us set our faces like a flint and go where the Father sends us.  Let us learn to stand our ground in the midst of the storm and speak words of sustaining truth and forgiveness. We will not be put to shame as we watch the peace of God come to our homes.

~ Your Fellow Sojourner

“The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of those who are taught,

that I may know how to sustain with a word

him who is weary.

Morning by morning he awakens;

he awakens my ear

to hear as those who are taught.

 The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious;

I turned not backward.

 I gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

 But the Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

Isaiah 50:4-7

Fear Not!

        If there is one thing I could say to all of my beloved family and friends, and to those of you who I am sure would be kindred spirits if we met, it would be this, “Fear not!”  

We are leaving a year that has not been like any other and we are preparing to enter a new one that is full of unknowns yet to come.  But first, we are about to celebrate Christmas.  We stop and remember. We go to Bethlehem and see the birth of this Savior who is Christ the King.

  Luke tells us that in the time of Christ’s birth, Caesar Augustus had issued a decree.  Sound familiar?  People had to stop their lives and make provisions to be registered in their towns of origin.  Easy for a powerful Caesar, not so easy for a backwoods carpenter and his very young and very pregnant wife.  So many unknowns, so many unpredictables, and many opportunities to be afraid.  How many times have I said this year, I didn’t see this coming or what if this is our new normal?

Mary and Joseph were just doing what needed to be done, trying to remain faithful all the while.  They did not know that they had just set out on the adventure of their lives.  Nothing would ever be the same. Changes were coming, things like salvation for sinners and hope for Israel and all nations.  This young couple kept on going without the knowledge that you and I have so many years into the future.  They did not know that everything would work out for their good.  They were fueled by faith. They believed in what they could not see; they trusted the Word of God.

The Word of God came to more than just Mary and Joseph that year, it also came to some tired, overworked shepherds in a field at night.  The words of God broke into these men’s lives, right where they were, to bring them a message they desperately needed, fear not!

Our fears are so misplaced.  We fear men, mandates, criminals, loss, the future. The list is as long as our own overgrown anxieties.   How often does God make the typical list of fears?  Not often.  We do not understand God; we have not remembered who He is and why He came.  

God knows we do not know Him as we ought.  Isaiah describes Him as “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)  He also knows our weaknesses and sins and fears.  Hebrews 4:15 tells us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  I am sure the shepherds were not up on their theology and had their own list of fears.  But, when they saw the glory of God their fears began to be placed in the correct category.  The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

God tells them, “Fear not!”  Why? God had a message for them that would obliterate all of their fears.  Do you need this right now?  I know that I do!  God wanted to replace their fear with joy, great joy!  The nightly news hadn’t told them this, their facebook feed and the latest statement from the Governor hadn’t told them this, God did.  

God tells us, “Fear not!”  You have a Savior who has come!  Glory to God and peace to you, for He is pleased with you! For those of us that have believed in God’s only begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, we need to be told again, fear not.  We need to raise our eyes to the heavens and see and hear and declare the glory of God in Christ!  We need to take hold of the truth that there is peace for all whom God is pleased with.  God is pleased in His Son Jesus and so He is pleased with all who are in Him.  Hallelujah!  And this Savior is for those who have yet to believe.  We who believe invite you, come and see this Christ! 

So, what did the shepherds do?  They talked about what God had told them, they shared in their joy with one another and they did not refrain from praising and glorifying God. Their fears had been changed.  No longer did they fear men or Governors or the future.  They knew Who was in control and what He was doing - saving them! 

Mary, who had a front row seat to all of this had a different response, one that is just as valid and needed.  She treasured all that she had seen and heard in her own heart.  How wonderful to read and remember all the faithfulness of God to His people!  How our own hearts and minds would become peaceful, would be at rest, if we imitated Mary.  How strong would we become in our own faith and how joyful would our own countenance be if we too were to treasure and ponder the mighty acts of God on our behalf?  We too should not fear and we too should sit and be in awe of all that God has done. 

So, fear not!  Rejoice! Glorify God with one another! Stop and slow down and remember all that Christ has done.  Treasure Christ in your hearts and trade your fears for peace.  Hold fast to all that is good, turn away from evil - the evil in our own hearts and in the world, and remember that He who has called you is faithful. Before the old year ends and the new one begins, remember to have a Merry Christmas.

Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth, Peace Toward Men!

~ Your Fellow Sojourner

Sweet Hope

          We have been inundated with information, both bad and good. Our thoughts are swimming and our minds are racing.  We have seen and heard about the hurt, the pain, and the sheer exhaustion of many. Our hearts are breaking over the immensity of the problems before us. We ask, Lord, what can we do?  

There is so much need.  Not one person on this planet is without need, and no one likes being weak or helpless.  We don’t like to admit that we have weaknesses, but we often find ourselves in a state of weakness.  And everyone is weak right now, including ourselves.  

When we are weak we ought to rejoice, for it is then that God’s power is strongest.  He intends for us to lean on Him, worship Him, and rely upon Him.  He loves to help His own.  He is the good Shepherd of the sheep.  

      We sense our utter dependance on the Lord as we prepare to leave our homes and go to others in need.  We cannot do anything apart from Him. Like those who once were unclean but now are returning to the camp healed and restored, we return having been refined by our own trials.  Our desire is to worship our Healer in a spirit of thankfulness and then to turn toward a perishing world.  

Saying Grace by Norman Rockwell

Along with worshiping comes a commissioning. We are being sent on a rescue mission led by the One who saves.  Our hope is in the One who has gone before us, the forerunner of our faith.  

       We have been commissioned to go into the world to tell others what Christ Jesus has done.  We were sick, we were helpless, sinners lost beyond all hope, but Jesus rescued us and gave us life.  Now we are ambassadors for a good and gracious King.  

In our comings and goings, we will find countless ways to share our hope in Christ.  We can be a kind and patient hand, bringing comfort and help.  We can prayerfully listen.  We can laugh and sing with those who are rejoicing, and we can grieve with those who are weeping.  We can answer the searching questions of our friends and neighbors, our family and acquaintances.  And we have a home, a place to welcome others in. 

Will we be ready to invite others to taste and see that the Lord is good?  Will we prepare our homes to be safe places of hospitality, rest, worship and work?  Will we be ready to show Christ to a weary world?  Will we love our neighbors as we love ourselves?

Many of us may feel like Moses, unqualified and empty handed, unsure and fearful.  But God has given us all that we need.  We have seen Him and we know Him.  We can say that we have met with the living God.  We can say that we are His.

Raisins by Norman Rockwell

    So what do you have in your hand?  Whatever you have, God can use it for His glory and for the good of many.  Do you have a home, a car, a kitchen, a kitchen table, a porch, a lawn chair, a Bible or some time?  Then you have something!  We all have an opportunity to give a reason for our hope right now.  For “we who have fled for refuge… have a strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.  We have this as a sure and steady anchor of the soul.” Hebrews 6

We live under the care of the One who knows all things, who steadies us amidst a sea of troubles.  He carries our worries and anxieties so that we can be free to do the good works set apart for us before time began.  This is our time, our place, to live, work, worship and love to the praise and glory of our heavenly Father.  We have a hope that anchors our souls and sweetens every hard and bitter trial.  It is in the power of His hope and and His stabilizing love that we can do abundantly more than we could ever ask or think on our own.  He who calls us to this is faithful and He will hold us fast, both now and forevermore. 

Anchored in Hope, 

Your Fellow Sojourner

In Remembering and Returning, Part Two: A More Gracious Return

       We should be a people known for our patience and grace, and all the more in light of our current circumstances. As one Covid-19 survivor said, “Recovery is tricky, its full of a lot of bumps and bruises, its not a linear process.”  We must have grace with one another to falter and fail, to start and to stop.  We will make missteps, but steps we will make.  The key is that we will be moving in a direction, a direction toward community.
Each family, couple, and individual will take their own steps back into the world at their own pace, and this is good.  This is not a time to point fingers or to wag tongues.  This is a time to wait with great patience for one another.  We  ought to bear with one another and encourage one another. “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” Rom. 15:1-2.  

One of the greatest ways that we can love one another is to move toward one another in an attitude of understanding.  Paul tells us in Romans 15 that we should adjust our attitudes and our actions in whatever way we can in order to provide a safe and secure place for our friends, neighbors and family to grow in joyful holiness.  We need to entrust our loved ones to the Lord.  He will sanctify and He will restore.  We need to let Him do His work in us and in others. 
Like astronauts returning from a space mission, we will need to acclimate to the pressure of the outside world again.  When astronauts return to earth after a space mission they go through a period of readjustment.  Everything is turned upside down, literally.  Everywhere they go, they must adjust to gravity pressing in on them again.  They know that they must move in order to recover, lying down will only impede their return to normal functioning.  
Astronauts come back to earth anticipating both a physical and an  emotional recovery.  Living in space changes you.  You gain a new perspective after looking at our world from space.  Spending some time away from a world where turmoil and suffering are constant, causes you to stop and reflect about life. You are faced with the question, what is really important? The answer, people that we love. 
This is a good time to look at our patterns for living and ask some hard questions.  How well have I loved others in the past?  How can I love them better in the future?  What should remain and what should go?  How can I prepare myself, my family, and my home to love others better?  
How should we return and welcome one another after we have been apart?  Paul has some answers for us. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Rom. 15:4-7

Our hope is in the words of Christ, let us speak them to one another.  We also have an example of endurance in Christ, let us be encouraged by Him together.  We should welcome one another with the graciousness of Christ.  
May the beautiful harmony that comes from our many voices, sound like one voice to the world around us, and may it be a sweet, sweet sound.  We do not have to worry if we will sound sweet to Jesus, He knows our weaknesses and He knows our frame.  He died for all of it, and He will never turn us out. His steadfast love for us is from everlasting to everlasting, before, during and after a worldwide pandemic; so, let us love one another. 

 ~ Your Fellow Sojourner

Resources to help with a more gracious return:

A look at our liturgies (habits that inform and shape our lives) before we go out into the world:

How can we implement these good patterns into our lives? 

1. Establish our personal, and familial times of worship - practice these regularly (Our liturgies of worship)
2. Establish an atmosphere of hospitality and worship, discovery and learning (Our liturgies of service, work, and hospitality)
3. Maintain a family calendar with important dates and then prayerfully add get togethers and other activities.  (Our liturgies of time and resource management)

A template for phasing in our re-entry (Take and tweak this as you will - always use wisdom and grace in making your decisions.): 

PHASE 1: Attend regular church/home group meetings (Even if they are held outside in the good clean air!)

PHASE 2: Visit grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles (Visit our beloved family members in a safe and caring manner. )

PHASE 3: Open up our home for hospitality

PHASE 4: Incorporate activities that do not disrupt or become burdensome.  We ALWAYS reserve the option to stop or ramp back an activity.

PHASE 5:  Seek to maintain a regular pattern of personal and family worship - meaningful and necessary work -  and social activities that seek to fulfill our vision and mission.

PHASE 6: Reflect weekly and monthly on our goals and phases 

In Remembrance and Returning, Part One: In Remembrance

      Many people are looking forward to returning to a life free of the recent Covid-19 restrictions.  We have all been affected by the virus, but no two people have been affected in the same way.  Everyone has their own story, their memories of this time. We have all had hard and fearful moments, as well as the encouraging and victorious ones.  Yet our commonality is in a future that will never be the same.  Our world is going through change, and with this change there are many anxious hearts.    

We have been sheltering within our homes even as a plague has passed us by.  This reminds us of another time when people gathered in homes to await the passing of deadly pestilence.  The Passover commemorates a time when God’s people prepared to leave a life of slavery in order to enter a land of promise.  

But, this was no ordinary exit.  The rescuing, redeeming God of Israel directed the exodus of His people in a particular way, that they might learn something about Him and remember this deliverance. 

The preparation involved a symbolic meal, full of tangible tastes and smells that pointed to a Savior.  The lamb shank reminds us of the sacrifices made on the night that God passed over, the bitter herbs taste of the bitterness of slavery that the Jewish people endured, and in the matzah bread, the leaven of slavery and sin is left behind, looking to the promise of freedom.  

We too have been called into a home to gather and to wait, to prepare for a time when we will take what we need for a journey, a journey of life giving freedom.  We have a reason to stop and remember.  We are a people that have been healed and we long to express our thanksgiving to the Passover Lamb.  We want to pause and remember, for we will tell this story again and again.  How was this time different from all others? 

As our families make preparations to leave our homes, we need to remember what God has done.  In His great love He has spared our lives, both physically and spiritually.  We have done nothing to earn this grace; we can only marvel at God’s provision and protection. 

       We know that we will soon be called to step into our world again. There are things that we are longing to do, places where we are longing to be, and people we are longing to be close to again. We have an unprecedented opportunity, to re-enter our culture, our neighborhoods and our workplaces with clarified vision.  This can be a time of renewal and of worship as we make ready to rise and walk through our blood stained doorposts.  

         As we return and remember, may we find both rest from our anxieties and strength for our future.  May we go out in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the love of God and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

In Remembrance and Thanksgiving, 

Your Fellow Sojourner

The following is a worship resource to help you craft your own night of Remembrance and Thanksgiving in your home as you prepare to re-enter the world outside: (You may also contact me and I will send it to you.)
Poem: "Coronavirus and Christ"  - A poem by John Piper that can be incorporated into your time of remembering.

A Liturgy for Remembrance and Thanksgiving

You may light a candle as you begin your prayer.

Call to Prayer: Leader Prays

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth.  We have come to remember your goodness, your sacrifice and your gracious, pardoning love.  We want to remember how You have saved us, led us, and are calling us to return to You and give you all praise and thanksgiving. Amen. 

A Reminder of Why We Pray: Leader Reads

Tonight is not like any other night.  Tonight we stop and remember what has happened as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic.  On March 11th, the pandemic was declared a world wide threat.  Our lives were changed from that moment on, yet God is faithful.  He has remained the same. As He was in the beginning, so He will remain both now and forevermore, Lord of all.  Just as the leper who was healed returned to thank Jesus for his healing, so we turn now to remember and to give thanks.  Let us pray.

Confession of Sin: Leader Reads

Our help is in the Name of the Lord; Let us confess our sins to God.

(This can be a time of personal confession, either aloud or quietly to one’s self.)  

Leader closes time of confession with the following prayer:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father: We have sinned against you, through our own fault, in thought, and word, and deed, and in what we have left undone. For the sake of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us all our offenses; and grant that we may serve you in newness of life, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

May the Almighty God grant us forgiveness of all our sins, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reading in the Psalms: You may appoint a reader, invite everyone to read aloud, or read in turn.

Psalm 66

1 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

2 

    Sing the glory of his name;

    make his praise glorious.

3 

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

    So great is your power

    that your enemies cringe before you.

4 

All the earth bows down to you;

    they sing praise to you,

    they sing the praises of your name.”

5 

Come and see what God has done,

    his awesome deeds for mankind!

6 

He turned the sea into dry land,

    they passed through the waters on foot—

    come, let us rejoice in him.

7 

He rules forever by his power,

    his eyes watch the nations—

    let not the rebellious rise up against him.

8 

Praise our God, all peoples,

    let the sound of his praise be heard;

9 

he has preserved our lives

    and kept our feet from slipping.

10 

For you, God, tested us;

    you refined us like silver.

11 

You brought us into prison

    and laid burdens on our backs.

12 

You let people ride over our heads;

    we went through fire and water,

    but you brought us to a place of abundance.

13 

I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

    and fulfill my vows to you—

14 

vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

    when I was in trouble.

15 

I will sacrifice fat animals to you

    and an offering of rams;

    I will offer bulls and goats.

16 

Come and hear, all you who fear God;

    let me tell you what he has done for me.

17 

I cried out to him with my mouth;

    his praise was on my tongue.

18 

If I had cherished sin in my heart,

    the Lord would not have listened;

19 

but God has surely listened

    and has heard my prayer.

20 

Praise be to God,

    who has not rejected my prayer

    or withheld his love from me!

Psalm 67

1 

May God be gracious to us and bless us

    and make his face shine on us—

2 

so that your ways may be known on earth,

    your salvation among all nations.

3 

May the peoples praise you, God;

    may all the peoples praise you.

4 

May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

    for you rule the peoples with equity

    and guide the nations of the earth.

5 

May the peoples praise you, God;

    may all the peoples praise you.

6 

The land yields its harvest;

    God, our God, blesses us.

7 

May God bless us still,

    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Thanksgiving to God: Leader reads

(This can be used as a time of giving thanks for what God has taught us and what He has delivered us from during the pandemic. )

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. 

(Now can be a time of giving public thanksgiving to God as a reflection of His goodness, love and care during this pandemic. The Leader may than close with the following:)

We thank you for the wonder of life and all that it holds. We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for their loving care which surrounds us.  We thank you for how You satisfy us and delight us with good things.  Furthermore, we thank you for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence upon your mercies alone.  We thank you for Your constant care and protection.  Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.  Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

Prayers of Dedication and Service: All may read aloud together:

A Prayer of Self-Dedication:

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer of Service, by St. Francis:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Commissioning: Leader prays over the household

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

“Now may the God of peace Himself, sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, body, and soul be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful and he will surely do it.” 1 Thess. 5: 23-24

Blow the candle out and rise to sing.

Now you may sing a hymn or the Doxology (“Great is Thy Faithfulness”, “Blessed Is The One”, “Abide With Me”, “Amazing Grace” or any other song or hymn your family has particularly cherished during this time.)