Deus Misereatur

{This was the Pastoral Prayer from 1 December 2013. Feel free to use it if you can. Mike} ---- Lord God, Father of lights and Giver of every good and every perfect gift, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change; by your own will you brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of your creatures. Thank you, Father, from the depths of our hearts! And help us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1.17-19). O Lord, hear our prayer. Holy God, Father strong to save, we beseech your kindness for your church world over, including {list local congregations and some in your denomination or association} . Though we your people are often a mess and quite messy, deeply marred by sin and the works of the flesh, show your people mercy, forgiving our sins, healing our lacerations, reorienting our ambitions and desires; direct and rule us according to your will, comfort us in all of our afflictions, defend us from all error, and ...

{I love the Reformational-Biblical texture of the Book of Common Prayer. If you follow the church calendar you will enjoy this. And if you don't, I still think you will be edified by the Scripture readings, Psalm selections, Prayers and meditations. Mike} The Second Sunday in Advent. Psalm 120 Ad Dominum WHEN I was in trouble I called upon the Lord : and he heard me. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips : and from a deceitful tongue. 3. What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue : even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals. 4. Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech : and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar. 5. My soul hath long dwelt among them : that are enemies unto peace. 6. I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof : they make them ready to battle. The Collect. BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may ...

{This was the first of a four-part series I began on 1 December 2013. The audio file can be found here } Do You See what I See? Pt 1 Matthew 1.18-21 Let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment, or to put it better, let me ask questions that I think some folks must be asking every time they “hear” what is commonly called the “the Christmas story”: And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Mt. 1.21 Why? Why is his name to be Yah Saves or Yah Delivers ? Why do people need some god to “save” them? Okay, so the Angel says it’s because He will save His people from their sins . Nice, right? But, why is it that he comes to save only His People and not everybody in the whole world? And why must he be “saving” them from their sins? Okay, let’s take a step back for a moment. There are stories we 21 st Century Global Citizens like to tell ourselves, and they’re usually summed up in shorthand statements like thi...