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PRAYER CIRCLE... Special prayers 12/9/2007

MCC Christ the Liberator

Family of Faith Special Prayer List

JOYS

John Mazzola, CTL Lay Preacher

Keisha reviving the Dance Ministry

Rev. LaDonna Clark & her ministry for inner-city youth

Craig & Keith's "Praise Song" ministry at the beginning of morning worship

Jeremy & Cheryl's Music Ministry leadership

Visitors every Sunday

CONCERNS

Linda: Peace

Nikki: Guidance, confidence, stability

Ginny & Donna: Prayers for a sister's liver cancer

Jeff: Coming out

Rev. Kristin Claire Foley - Illness; Prayers for Ann-Marie, her partner

Our Deacons are ready to pray for you and with you.

Thank you for sharing your joys and concerns with us

and for including us in your faith journey.

God, in us, through us, and as us, please bless the human family. Amen.

PRAYERS:	Joy Concern Both
First Name:
Last Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Email:
Contact?:
My Prayer/Praise Request:

Prayer of Thanksgiving

God of all blessings,
source of all life,
giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life:
for the breath
that sustains life,
for the food of this earth
that nurtures life,
for the love of family and friends
without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation:
for the beauty
that the eye can see,
for the joy
that the ear may hear,
for the unknown
that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,
for the expanse of space
that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities:
for families
who nurture our becoming,
for friends
who love us by choice,
for companions at work,
who share our burdens and daily tasks,
for strangers
who welcome us into their midst,
for people from other lands
who call us to grow in understanding,
for children
who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn,
who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day:
for life
and one more day to love,
for opportunity
and one more day to work for justice and peace,
for neighbors
and one more person to love
and by whom be loved,
for your grace
and one more experience of your presence,
for your promise:
to be with us,
to be our God,
and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings,
we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Prayer for Those Who Mourn

Bless those who mourn, eternal God,
with the comfort of your love
that they may face each new day with hope
and the certainty that nothing can destroy
the good that has been given. May their memories become joyful,
their days enriched with friendship,
and their lives encircled by your love.
Amen.

A Coming Out Prayer

O God of truth and justice, the evasions and deceits we practice upon others and ourselves are many.

We long only to speak out and to hear the truth, yet time and again, from fear of loss or hope of gain, from dull habit or from cruel deliberation, we speak half-truths, we twist facts, we are silent when others lie, and we lie to ourselves.

Whether we are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning, family or friends, we sometimes feel forced to pretend to be that which we are not, to present ourselves in ways which are not truthful, and sometimes with outright lies.

But as we stand before You, our words and our thoughts speed to One who knows them before we utter them. We do not have to tell untruths to You as we are often forced to do in the world. We know we cannot lie in your presence.

May our worship help us to practice truth in speech and in thought before You, to ourselves, and before one another; and may we finally complete our liberation so that we no longer feel the need to practice evasions and deceits.