Faithful God, we come to you on this day and ask that you would capture our memories once again. Remind us of your story that unfolds before us in the pages of Scripture and draws us in as participants within your drama of love and redemption. Help us to remember that we are your people and you are our God. As we live, move, and have our being, capture our memories and form our hopes and dreams in light of the gospel, which is the life and work of Jesus, the world's Redeemer.
Remind us that as you created the heavens and the earth you continue to do new and beautiful things in the created world around us. Help us to have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the miracles of a world created in, by, through, and for you.
Leader: Lord, hear our prayers.
People We remember.
Saving God, you led people on a boat and above the waters that flooded a violent world. You delivered your people though the waters and out of a land of oppression. You returned your people home after years of captivity in foreign lands, and you became one of us in Jesus and set us free from sin and death. Help our memories to be transformed by the good news that in Jesus the whole world, to include each of us, finds its light and salvation. May we remember our calling to proclaim with our lives and our lips this saving story. Where there is oppression, use us to be a people of liberation. Where there is captivity, make us a people of freedom. Where there are people confined to the margins, help us to practice radical hospitality. Where there are all forms of injustice and division, help us to be in solidarity with the weak, even as you are in solidarity with us.
Leader: Lord, hear our prayers.
People We remember.
Breath of God, you filled the lungs of the first disciples, captivated the earliest churches through your work at Pentecost, and even dwell within each of us as we take each breath and follow you in the world. Stir within us a fresh breath, a new wind, a faithful spirit that sends us to be your people in and for the world. As you breathe life into us, remind us that we are called to breathe life and peace into the world. We lift up to you now all those places, near and far, and people, be they strangers or close friends, who are in need of a fresh breath from you....
Leader: Lord, hear our prayers.
People We remember.
God of Justice and Peace, this weekend we ask that you would remind us that your dreams are for all people, all nations, and all of creation. Remind us that you long for a world that is in rhythm with the way you first created it- good, beautiful, and filled with life. Yet we are reminded that we dwell in a world torn by violence, held captive by war, and bent systems that elevate the powerful and privileged. On this day we also lift up to you all those who have served in and/or are victims of war, be they soldiers or children, veterans or innocent bystanders, Americans and/or any and all who have served in the armed forces, be it for this nation or another. Be their peace, be their hope, be their comfort. Remind us that the day is coming when nations will no longer study war and all we will know is life and peace that transcends any and all divisions and strifes.
Leader: Lord, hear our prayers.
People We remember.
As a traveling people, we move in the world as pilgrims. We travel not alone, but with each other. Help us to remember that each day is a journey, each place visited an opportunity, each encounter a possibility to see your work in another or to share the good news that in Jesus the whole world is being made right. And as we travel, form our memory around the prayer Jesus taught us to say:
Our Father...
