Based on Psalm 100.
O Lord, We come today to make a joyful noise to you, to enjoy your presence with singing, thanksgiving, and praise. We celebrate the mighty works of your communion — the communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. By your grace we see Your creation, Your faithfulness, Your very present help in our lives, Your guidance, Your reign, Your approachability, Your comfort. Thank You!
This Thanksgiving weekend, we pause and consider all of the ways Your beauty, goodness, truth, and love are made real in our lives; considering all of the ways You provide and nurture us, thank you does not seem sufficient. May your Holy Spirit enlighten our minds and embolden us to sing your praises.
We also know the tension of being a people who live into the hope of Your kingdom come even while we see and experience pain, loneliness, disappointment, and fear.
Help us Lord. Injustice streams across our news feed rather than Your justice rolling down across the people like a mighty stream. We cry out for Your help for the Kurds, for refugees needing a place to live, for peace in the turmoil of Haiti. Please bring help to those impacted by the Japanese typhoon, fires in the Amazon, Ecuador’s unrest, Tunisian elections, Canadian elections, and the attack on a mosque in Burkina Faso.
Heavenly Father, we acknowledge our own anxious tension – in relationships, over our studies, our futures, our aspirations, our finances. We want to serve You with gladness, and we want many other things. Help us in our Thanksgiving to be renewed by seeking first Your kingdom because Your are good, Your loving devotion and faithfulness endures forever.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Please join me in the Lord’s prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever.
Amen.
Prepared by Ellen and Craig O’Brien.