September 2021
The Cross of Christ |
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Every year the Church dwells on the cross of Christ on September
14. Be sure to meditate upon the crucifixion on that day.
Remember when you do so that this is the way that we are saved
from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9) – which is considerable. That
divine anger can send you straight to hell (Matthew 10:28)! It
can also swallow up whole towns (Numbers 16:32)! All of this
makes the “fragrant offering” of the cross (Ephesians 5:2)
jubilant for believers in Jesus. Therefore join Martin Luther on
this day and praise the cross of Christ “to the utmost” (Luther’s
Works
13:319). Join him also in making plans to hold onto the crucifix
as you pass from this life into the next (Luther's
Works
76:352).
Pastor Marshall |
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OUR SAFE OPENING CRITERIA HAS CHANGED
As you probably are well aware, there continues to be an
increasing number of COVID-19 (C-19) cases, primarily due to the
Delta variant.
Because of this we were no longer in compliance with our safe
opening criteria that requires there be <50 new C-19 cases per
100,000 people in King County.
A special Church Council meeting was called on Friday,
August 6 to review the information and determine if we still
considered it safe to continue indoor worship services.
You might recall that in June the average number of new cases
dropped to just 17.3, well below our <50 threshold.
But on August 6, this number spiked to 152, and is
continuing to climb.
As of the time of writing this report, the data reported
to August 9, was 178 cases.
Obviously, not good news.
At the same time, deaths due to C-19 continue to remain
very low, hovering at just 1 death on average per day.
This is likely due to two things.
First, in King County the vaccination rate among all
eligible residents (age 12+) is 76%.
The data shows that while more and more people are
contracting the virus, those who are vaccinated and yet still
contract the virus have a much lower occurrence of
hospitalization and death.
Second, while hospitalizations are up slightly, our local
healthcare system is much better equipped to care for patients,
and prevent deaths.
Taking all information into account, the council determined that
the original 5 criteria we were using to determine if First
Lutheran Church should continue indoor worship services was no
longer congruent with local community standards and health
directives.
Further, the council didn’t feel that the decision to suspend
indoor services should be tied to just one number or one set of
data. As a result,
the council voted to change the criteria that will be used to
determine if we should continue or stop indoor services.
NEW CRITERIA TO START OR STOP INDOOR WORSHIP SERVICES IS AS
FOLLOWS:
1. In order for the
church to continue indoor worship services, the Church Council
must have a high degree of confidence that the established safe
opening policies and procedures can continue to be effectively
operationalized, and that they will continue to provide all the
necessary precautions to safely continue indoor worship
services.
2. In the event the
council wants to start or stop indoor worship services, a super
majority of members present and voting (67%), of which Pastor
Marshall is one, must vote either in favor of continuing indoor
worship services, or to suspend indoor worship services,
whichever the case may be. 3. Criteria to be considered in determining whether or not to continue indoor worship services will include a totality of current conditions in King County that will allow the judgment of the council to be based on all data inputs including, vaccination rates and efficacy, hospitalizations, deaths, level of community spread, and changes to public health guidelines on closures or mitigation steps.
This new criteria gives the council more latitude to assess all
the C-19 information for King County and use our collective
judgment in determining
whether or not to continue indoor worship services.
At the August 6 meeting the council voted to continue
indoor worship
services. However,
if at any time a member of the council is concerned that the
circumstances in King County have changed significantly, they
can ask the Executive Committee to convene to assess and act on
the new circumstances as deemed appropriate.
In the meantime Pastor Marshall will continue the on-line
abbreviated worship service as well as delivering home
communion.
EXTENDED
MINISTRIES
Just a
friendly reminder that there are still many people in our
community who continue to struggle to just meet the basics of
living. Some
organizations that can really use the help and are part of our
extended ministries are:
Foss Home (ELCA), Operation Nightwatch, Mary's Place, and
Welcome Table. If
you would like to learn more about any of these organizations,
please contact Pastor Marshall.
Thank you to those in our congregation who are able to
offer some additional support to local community organizations
that are dedicated to helping others on a daily basis.
MAJOR
MAINTENANCE PROJECTS
The council
approved a proposal from RoofCorp of America, Inc., for the
repair of the roof over the chapel.
The bid was $3,754.00.
We continue to evaluate the best long-term plan for the
replacing or repairing
of all our building windows.
This is very complex and ultimately very costly.
Because the information we have gathered from a multitude
of people (contractors, architects, etc.), is inconsistent, it
is difficult to assess the best approach.
Some say repair, others suggest replace.
We continue to consider our options and hopefully will
have a plan developed soon.
I hope you are all staying healthy and safe, and that
you are enjoying a great summer (although it is a little too hot
for me, and I miss the rain).
Blessings. |
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STEWARDSHIP
Give Generously: Consider the Building Fund
In our quest to give generously, giving more than receiving, it might help us to reflect more specifically about our giving to the Church. Have you noticed this envelope so evenly distributed throughout the year in your offering box? |
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In our congregation we...honor the beauty and majesty of our church building as God’s holy house wherein we do far more than meet together,
but primarily behold the awesome splendor of God’s presence.
Therefore, we must ensure we preserve and protect our building
through regular maintenance and when major renovations,
restoration, or upgrades need to occur. Our building is old and
in need of projects which are discussed by the Church Council.
Our house of worship can be a less obvious need during these
challenging times but it is crucially important and
foundational. Without it we cannot fulfill our overall mission
as a congregation. Consider at times during the year designating
a gift to the building fund and take the time to reflect on our
church building as God’s holy house. For more words to reflect
on, pick up a printed copy of “Church Buildings Talk,” by Paul
Gregory Alms, located at the entrance of the church. I am so
thankful we are back worshiping in our beautiful church. Please
consider the building fund in your giving. Dana Kahn, Church Council
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More New Luther…
by Pastor Marshall
More volumes of Luther’s writings are being translated for the first time into English. The latest is volume 61, theological and polemical works, from 1522–46. We are grateful for this addition since Lutherans confess that Luther is our “most eminent teacher” (BC 576). Among my favorite selections are the following: “Christ wants [the foolish] to be tortured with their own hatred and to burst with their own wickedness” (9); “We need to secure a firmer and more certain authority [namely] that Christ certainly cannot err” (11); “My doctrine will stand…. They have provoked me to war; there-fore, they will have war” (13); “The papacy is the most pestilential abomination of its prince, Satan, that has existed or will exist under heaven” (18); “My doctrine does not conflict with itself in any part,… although I have progressed by use and study from day to day, more and more, and have transmitted the same things now in one way, now in another, and have treated them somewhat more clearly, here more richly, there more fully and variously, even as the Holy Scripture itself treats the same matters” (19); “the authority of men is nothing in matters of faith” (23); “People… demand that the stale and lethargic visions of their own brain be believed and the words of God be despised” (23); “Nothing should avail against the Scriptures, but all things should avail in accordance with the Scriptures” (23); “The purest and sole and sure Word of God must be what supports our faith” (26); “[The Bible is] the clearest and invincible Scriptures of God” (57); “We fight… with God’s Word alone” (87); “The clergy’s way of life [is] a wicked, devilish, tyrannical life, unbearable to the whole world” (103); “Childlike obedience, marital chastity, divine government, the willing service of subordinates, and every ordinance of God are in comparison [to the corrupt church] nothing other than crap in the lantern” (120); “A church… which boasts that it is above God’s Word…. is the church of the devil himself” (122); “[The disobedient] conclude a ‘yes’ where Scripture says ‘no’!” (126); “Saint Augustine [is] the most precious teacher of all” (129); “It is not enough for [the foolish] to believe the passage that Christ did more signs than have been written, for such a passage has been written down and is believed, but who can believe the signs which have not been written down? Oh, give it up!” (132); “God’s Word is bright and clear” (134); “Hezekiah gave [the bronze serpent] the disgraceful name ‘Nehushtan,’ that is, ‘something made of bronze,’ as if he would say, ‘It is only bronze like other bronze, without God’s Word and ordinance, even though God commanded in the wilderness that it be set up. But that is now past, and there is no longer any of God’s Word about it, but it is only a Nehushtan’” (144); “The whole world hates truth when it hits the mark” (159); “Truth is the most unbearable thing on earth” (160); “I give to music the next place after theology” (171); “Faith justifies the heart… without works. Righteousness is acquired without works. Purity of heart remains not without works and is not idle” (178); “Works are the fruit of faith, for without faith they would not do them. Sins are the fruits of unbelief, for without unbelief they would not sin” (179); “The grace of God does not want to be honored in a thing we choose, but in the thing God’s Word declares” (179); “God requires that faith be confessed out in the open; this happens by works” (181); “The purpose of good works toward us is to make ourselves certain, to glorify God, and to build up our neighbor” (182); “[Works and promises] must not be mixed together… as is done in matters of morality” (184); “[Generosity] merely makes people sin less in the use of their possessions” (188); “We have never fought against works and rewards, but against meriting grace and justification” (190); “Without grace, nature cannot help but despair under fear of punishment” (191); “Under [the name of Christ] I have everything, and without His name… I lose everything again, and nothing is left but death, sin, errors, and countless anxieties” (194); “The filthy Antichrist” (198); “The sheep of Christ recognize and approve His voice, but they do not give Him His voice or establish it, yet they confess it and condemn the stranger” (205); “If there is faith, it comes forth and is active” (210); “Faith does not happen because of works, but works happen because of faith. Faith does not require works to justify through them, but the works require faith that they may be justified through it; so faith is the active righteousness of works, and works are the passive righteousness of faith” (211); “Giving eternal life or forgiving sins… happen only through Christ, for by His incarnation, suffering, and resurrection He freed us from sin, the devil, and Satan while at the same time reconciling the Father to us” (212); “The Law should decrease that the Son may increase, and works should yield to faith so far as the sea is from the stars in the sky” (213); “Those who truly believe do not believe that they believe. Rather, they are tempted and labor tirelessly in nourishing faith” (214); “The ungrateful world is justly… punished for its ingratitude toward the grace of Christ” (230); “Saint Augustine says [that] error does not make a heretic, but deliberate and stiff-necked error makes a heretic” (236); “God wants to have eager and willing servants and cannot tolerate forced and unwilling service” (242); “Look not at what the majority… is doing but at what is just and what the majority ought to do” (287); “The world cannot be without… sins of all sorts. Otherwise it would not be the world, and the world would have to be without the world, and the devil without the devil” (295); “The world cannot be…. restrained, and it happens before you know it” (295); “Fool, why are you angry at your pastor? Be angry at your own wickedness or else at God, whose Word rebukes you as an evildoer. He can give you enough anger!” (302); “A Christian…. cannot give it all away today…. No, our Lord Christ does not want me to use what I have to make myself a beggar and to make the beggar a lord. Rather, I am to take care of his needs and assist him to the extent than I can” (309); “Everyone still has that same apple [of Adam and Eve] in his belly and keeps belching it up again, for it refuses to be digested” (314); “A miser would make the whole world perish in hunger, thirst, misery, and distress insofar as he is able, that he might have all things to himself alone and make everyone get everything from him as from a god and be his eternal slave” (315); “We preachers only preach so that we are acquitted on that day and at their end when they must go to hell. Then they will be without excuse” (325); “God has given his Law… that it should bite, cut, chop, slaughter, and sacrifice the old man, for it is to terrify the arrogant, ignorant, secure old Adam and show him his sins and death in order that he might be humbled, despair of himself, and desire grace” (341); “God is the Judge here through His holy Word” (398); “We cannot learn what Church or bishop is out of any book except out of Holy Scripture” (405); “It is impossible for God to be with us if we do not mend our ways” (408); “If there is anything good in me, it is not from me but from my dear Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ” (409); “God will truly punish… stinginess and make a bag full of holes…. [and] they will also not escape their flood” (421); “If anyone will not listen, God will in turn not listen to him. But we who preach and pray are acquitted” (429); “Some people may derive from Romans 11:25–26 a fanciful notion that all the Jews will be converted at the end of the world, but there is nothing to it” (437); “Jesus Christ is… the true propitiation before God for our sins, death, the devil, and hell” (475–76); “No one can say or know where a Christian comes from, for he is born of Spirit and water” (497); “[The] lost children of Adam… [are] stuck in the old birth of sin and death” (497); “When these damnable, sacrilegious bellies saw that they were dumber than stumps and utterly devoid of scriptural knowledge, it seemed good to them to fight against the truth and support their dung…. For whatever seemed good to these ‘seemers’ must seem, has seemed, and will seem good to all the angels too… [But trying to teach theology, they are] like an ass having judgment over music” (511–12).
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Monthly Home Bible Study,
September 2021, Number 343
The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall
Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as
a congregation in this home study. We will
study alone then talk
informally about the assigned verses together as we have
opportunity. In this way we can “gather
together around the
Word” even though physically we will not be getting together
(Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)
We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851
Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is “an extremely dangerous
book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the
whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a
prodigious scale” (For
Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that “we
all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved
in the Bible” (Opening
the Bible). Indeed this word “kills” us (Hosea 6.5) because
we are “a rebellious people” (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans,
however, we are still to “abide in the womb of the Word” (Luther's
Works 17.93) by constantly “ruminating on the Word” (LW
30.219) so that we may “become like the Word” (LW
29.155) by thinking “in the way Scripture does” (LW
25.261). Before you study then, pray: “Blessed Lord, who caused
all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so
to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that
we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of
everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen” (quoted in R. F. Marshall,
Making A New World: How
Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up,
for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for
all eternity” (LW
75:422)!
Week I.
Read Job 42.12 noting the word
blessed. What’s this
blessing? Note the word
restored in Job 42.10? What had been lost that’s now being
restored? Read Job 2.7 noting the line
Satan… afflicted Job with
loathsome sores. Did he lose anything else besides his
health? On this read Job 1.13–19 noting the words
oxen,
sheep,
camels,
sons and
daughters – as well
as all of the servants
attending to his vast household. How were these losses restored?
Were they raised from the death (see Hebrews 11.19) or replaced?
Read Job 42.13–15. There it looks like the daughters were
replaced because of the new names listed – and so it’s been
assumed that all of the other possessions, plus his new seven
sons, were also replacements. What is the blessing in that?
Wouldn’t you think Job would at least miss his original ten
children and that replacements for them wouldn’t be a blessing
at all? On this read Job 42.10 noting the word
restored, and then
Job 42.11 noting the words
sympathy,
comforted and
evil. From this
sequence we learn that this new blessing from God doesn’t erase
all the grief from the old attacks from God – albeit via Satan –
as both Job 1.12 and 2.6 put it.
Week II.
Read again Job 42.12 noting the same word
blessed. What was the
evil that Job was grieving over in Job 42.11 that wasn’t
displaced by the new blessing from God in Job 42.12? Was it
really the loss of his original ten children? Or was it his
health? We’re not told. But we do know that Job complains
repeatedly over the loss of his health, but never over the loss
of his children after his vague and brief lament Job 1.20. Why
is that? On this read Job 1.4–5 noting the words
feast,
wine,
sanctify,
offerings,
sinned,
cursed,
hearts and
continually. What do
these two verses tell us about Job’s original children? Check
out 1 Corinthians 4.4 about not knowing our sinful infractions.
Is that his fear? Or is it more severe in that our
will actually matches
up with Satan’s desires
as in John 8.44? Does that explain why Job never laments like
David did over the loss of his son in 2 Samuel 18.33?
Week III.
Reread Job 42.12 noting this time the word
more. Why did God treat Job so poorly in the first place –
even though at the end he treats him better than he did at the
beginning? On this read John 6.27 noting the line
labor not for the food
which perishes. How are we to break the hold that the
perishable has on us? Luke 18.27 says it’s impossible for us to
do that. The verse goes on to say that God will have to do this
for us. That’s what happened to Job alright. It is also what
happened to Abraham in Genesis 22.12 – albeit without any death
happening. So is Job all about Colossians 3.2 – shifting our
attention from what’s on
earth to what’s above,
so that we might live rightly with God? If so, isn’t this
turbulence more than we can bear? Losing one’s children seems to
be an unreasonable expectation. But Acts 14.22 includes such
tribulation anyway. Can this be headed off in any other way? On
this read 1 Samuel 1.28 about
lending our children
to God. What would that be like in our day?
Week IV.
Read Job 42.12 one last time noting again the word
blessing. Why is Job
pleased with having more if that’s what we are supposed to give
up according to Colossians 3.2? On this read Matthew 6.33 noting
the contrast between the words
first and
all. Why doesn’t
having everything after seeking God’s kingdom first wipe out
seeking the kingdom of God first? We’re not told why. But what
we can surmise is that after seeking God’s kingdom first, it
isn’t the same to have other things after doing that. Life
changes. Having health and prosperity are no longer the same.
They no longer matter the most. They have been demoted by the
kingdom of God. Is that what Romans 8.18 means? How about 2
Corinthians 4.17? Or Hebrews 12.1–4? Is that what faith does to
us? Does it put things in a different perspective? Is that what
Jesus means about our
eyes and ears in
Mark 8.18? Is that also what he has in mind about
seeing and being
blind in John 3.39?
If so, how would you explain it? |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Online Worship
continues each Sunday on our web page flcws.org.
HOME
COMMUNION:
We are still offering Holy Communion for home use for
those who are not able to come to church for the 10:30 am
Liturgy. If
interested, please call 206-935-6530 or email Pastor Marshall
deogloria@foxinternet.com
.
Evening
ZOOM online
Bible Class continues with
1st John
on
Wednesdays, at 7 pm through September 8th.
Fall Bible Class starts on the 15th with Jonah.
The study of Proverbs will continue on
Thursdays at
7 pm. If you are
interested in these classes email Pastor Marshall at
deogloria@foxinternet.com and he will send you a link.
KORAN CLASS:
The next class will start Monday,
October 4th through October 25th.
Contact Pastor Marshall if you would like to join this
class. The class
will be conducted via Zoom.
WEB PAGE
ADDRESS:
www.flcws.org
is our main address, or www.flcws.space, which is specially
configured for cell phones. |
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Philippians
The Apostle Saint Paul
“I
can do all things in Christ
who
strengthens me.”
(4:13)
by Pastor Marshall
Martin Luther
knew how contentious this verse about superhuman power was. So
he explains that “the godless are unaware of this feeling of joy
in trials. Nor is it a power of human strength,” he adds, “but
of the Holy Spirit, which transforms human beings in such a way
that they think nothing of what terrifies others and laugh at
what others lament. Now, this is a great power: to be able to
turn an unbearable yoke into one that is not only bearable but
even pleasant and light, not by changing the load itself but by
changing the person carrying it. For the person himself is
clothed with new strength…. For if I were commanded to bear
heaven and earth, I would surely be utterly terrified. But if
someone else were to supply a power that is enough to bear it
very easily, as if I were tossing a ball, now I would not only
be able to bear it, but I would even play and be delighted in
carrying it! And this is the strength of Christ” (Luther’s
Works 67:148).
Here Luther shows how we can do so much through Christ who helps
us – for when “faith is strong, then these things are light” (LW
76:374). That’s because of the power in God’s Word to deliver
Christ to us. For indeed, when we “hear God’s words alone,” then
we’re “cleansed from human filth” and made strong for serving
the Lord (LW 76:452).
Indeed, “it is a truly strong faith that a heart can believe
what it does not see and touch, against all senses and reason,
and clings only to the Word. There is nothing there, and he has
no other resource than what he believes. In faith we must put
out of sight everything except the Word of God. Whoever lets
anything else be seen by his eyes except this Word is already
lost. Faith clings only and alone to nothing but the Word; he
does not turn his eyes away from it and looks at nothing else,
not to his works or merits. If your heart is not this way, then
it is lost.” If you say “we have God’s Word; here is Christ;
where He stays we will also stay, then [there’s] no danger” (LW
79:228–29).
It’s amazing to think that Christians can do all of this through
Christ. This, however, isn’t because we each become “a
superman.” No, it’s only because “the divine Empowerer, God,
strengthens [us] and makes [us] able” (John Reumann,
Philippians, 2008, p.
703). What that power does is change the way good and bad look.
That rearrangement shows how necessary troubles are for
prevailing throughout life. Therefore “let’s grieve accordingly
with a grief that is the mother of joy; let’s shed tears that
sow great pleasure…. Let’s be troubled with trouble from which
respite blossoms, and let’s not seek luxury from which great
trouble and pain are produced. Let’s toil on earth for a short
time in order to luxuriate in heaven. Let’s trouble ourselves in
our mortal life in order to attain respite in the eternal life;
let’s not be relaxed in this short life lest we groan in eternal
life…. The road of respite doesn’t lead [to heaven]. But the
road of trouble does (John Chrysostom,
Homilies on Philippians,
trans. P. Allen, 2013, pp. 313, 319). Under these odd
conditions, “Christ is not only a possible means to secondary
ends but also the absolute limit who infinitely judges and
exceeds them. Because Christ is everything,… in the end neither
plenty nor want, neither security or insecurity, neither esteem
nor scorn, neither gain or loss, as the world counts them, can
be anything” (George Hunsinger,
Philippians, 2020, p.
162). None of this, however, looks like overwhelming strength.
So it’s the case that when Christians are most conscious of
personal weakness that is when they are most conscious of the
power of Christ resting on them. This is the message of 2
Corinthians 12:9–10 that “for Christ’s sake I delight in
weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (F. F.
Bruce, Philippians,
1989, p. 151). |
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Kim Lim, Melanie Johnson, Holly Petersen, Leah and Melissa
Baker, Felicia Wells, Marlis Ormiston, Connor Bisticas, Eileen &
Dave Nestoss, Kyra Stromberg,
Karen Granger,
Tabitha
Anderson, The Rev. Randy Olson,
The Rev. Albin
Fogelquist, The Rev. Howard Fosser, The Rev. Kari Reiten, The
Rev. Alan Gardner, The Rev. Allen Bidne, Leslie Hicks,
Kari Meier,
Yuriko Nishimura, Eric Baxter, Evelyn, Garrett Metzler, Antonio
Ortez, Noel Curtis, Lesa Christiansen,
Garrison
Radcliff, Richard Patishnock, Jeff Hancock, Holly &
Terrance Finan, Ty Wick, Lori Aarstad, Anthony Brisbane, Dona
Brost, Susan Curry, Karin Weyer, Robert Shull family, Alan
Morgan family, Lucy Shearer, Ramona King, Karen Berg, Donna &
Grover Mullen and family, Patty Johnson, Kurt Weigel, Carol
Estes, Paul Jensen, Tak On Wong & Chee Li Ma, Steve Arkle, Hank
Schmitt, Ron Combs, Mary Ford, Andrea and Hayden Cantu, Jeff
Stromberg, Dana Gioia, Gary Grape, Judy Berkenpas, Larry & Diane
Johnson, Phil Anderson, Wendy & Michael Luttinen, the Olegario
Family, the Carling Family, Brett & Cathy Moury, and
Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church (Clarkesville, GA).
Pray for our professional Health Care Providers:
Gina
Allen, Janine Douglass, David Juhl, Dana Kahn, Dean Riskedahl,
Jane Collins
and all those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them
joy: Gregg &
Jeannine Lingle, Bob & Mona Ayer, Joan Olson, Bob Schorn, C.J.
Christian, Crystal Tudor, Nora Vanhala, Martin Nygaard.
Pray for those who have suffered the death of a loved one:
Pray that God will bear their grief and lift their
hearts: Pray for
the family and friends of Dorothy Ryder on her death June 12th;
and the Prescott family on the loss of Doris Prescott, and the
Lawson family on Sam Lawson’s death, both on July 17th.
Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Shelley Bryan Wee, our
pastor Ronald Marshall, our choirmaster Dean Hard and our cantor
Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in faith, love and
the holy office to which they have been called.
Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and
in celebration of Stewardship.
Pray that God would work within you to become a good
steward of your time, your talents and finances.
Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in
these same ways.
Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, and homeless this
September. Pray for
the mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's
church to see and help those who are in distress.
Pray for our sister congregation:
El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may
bless and strengthen their ministry.
Also, pray for our parish and its ministry.
Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints:
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist; and Saint Michael
and All Angels.
Pray for this poor, fallen human race that God would have
mercy on us all.
Pray for this planet, our home that it and the creatures
on it would be saved from destruction. |
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A Treasury of
Prayers
O Lord our God, unite me with the saints of old who lived and
toiled and fought the good fight of faith – and are now with you
in glory. May I also leave behind my weaknesses and share in the
power of your Spirit with them. In the name of Jesus I pray.
Amen. [For All the Saints II:1341 altered] |