THE PRAYERS, 

The Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B (May 6, 2018)

Let us pray to our victorious Savior on behalf of the Church, the world, and all people according to their needs.

A brief silence

Lord Jesus, bless your Church with the continued power and presence of your Holy Spirit, so that your love fills and overflows it. Nourish it with Word and Sacrament; and through its words and actions, let the world see, desire, and dwell in your love forever.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Cheer the hearts and strengthen the spirits of all who are persecuted for your Name’s sake, and use their witness to cause many to repent and believe in you. We ask your richest blessing also upon our companion synods, sister congregations, and upon your missionaries throughout the world.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Bless the people of this congregation with love, respect, and kindness towards each other, so that others in our community may truly know we are your followers. Fill us with wisdom and prudence, and through the gift of your Holy Spirit, make us glad to obey your commandments.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Cause your love and goodness to flourish in our young adults, so that they may be salt, light, leaven, and example to their friends, fellow students, and coworkers.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Pour out upon the leaders of the nations the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might. Teach them to love justice; to act with mercy toward the poor and hungry in their lands; and to walk humbly before your Father. Grant to all people the blessings of peace and unity on earth.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, bless those in the military and all first responders, with courage, wisdom and integrity. Guide, protect, and strengthen them. Let their labors help create a safe, just world where the innocent may live in peace; and bring them home swiftly when their work is done.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Grant the refreshment and joy of your life-giving Spirit to all who cry to you for help. Especially we pray for: {List}. Grant them wholeness of body and mind; a joyful and confident hope in your goodness, and the peace which the world cannot give them.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, thank you for choosing, forgiving, and saving the faithful who have gone before us. Thank you for working those deeds in us as well. Do whatever is needed so that we may bear the rich fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And gather us to your eternal Kingdom, where those fruits may fully ripen and be perfected, to your glory and to the delight of all whom you have redeemed.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Grant to us all that is in accordance with your will, dear Jesus, and accomplish your salvation among us; for you are risen from the dead and dwell in majesty with your Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

THE PRAYERS, 

The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B (April 29, 2018)

Let us pray to our victorious Savior on behalf of the Church, the world, and all people according to their needs.

A brief silence

Lord Jesus, grant that your holy Church may always abide in you, and you in it. Make it fruitful in words of faith and hope, and deeds of love. Through its witness, graft many souls to yourself, the living Vine.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Give to your persecuted servants the knowledge that they shall bear rich fruit that refreshes and nourishes many hearts. We ask your richest blessing also upon our companion synods, sister congregations, and upon your missionaries throughout the world.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

You are the vine, we are the branches. Keep the people of this congregation united to you and to one another. Help our ministries to bear much fruit in the lives of those around us. Give us joy in knowing and serving you, our Savior and Brother.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Abide in our high school students, so that their lives may be rooted and grounded in you, not the fads and fancies of this world.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Prune the hearts of all who take counsel for the nations. Cut away the greed, pride, and lust for power that leads to hatred and violence. Build up everything that enriches the lives of the poor and dispossessed. Grant that the desire to do your Father’s will might abide in the hearts and minds of leaders and peoples everywhere.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

You have overcome the world; therefore, be the joy and strength of all those who defend us against those things that still trouble our world. Guide, protect, and strengthen them. Prosper all their works that make for peace, safety and justice; and bring them home safely and soon.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Grant to all who suffer in mind, body or spirit a double portion of your life-giving Spirit. Especially we pray for: {List}. Fill them with your abundant life; keep them steadfast in faith; and strengthen and bless all who care for them.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, those who abide in you shall never have death be the last word over them. We thank you for speaking your words of forgiveness and eternal life to all who have fallen asleep in you. Abide with us and in us; and lead us to that place where we shall dwell with you and with all the redeemed, and shall feast at you heavenly Table forever.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Grant to us all that is in accordance with your will, dear Jesus, and accomplish your salvation among us; for you are risen from the dead and dwell in majesty with your Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

When you look at a dead man, what hope is there?  What hope is there in a serpent?

The serpent lifted in the wilderness was an image of a poisonous snake.  The Israelites had hoped to travel with more ease through the wilderness, and for such hope (such impatience!) God sent these snakes to afflict them.  He then provided for his people’s healing by telling them to look at an image of the snake.  He used the serpent to dash their false hopes and make way for His own work.

By linking Himself to this snake, Jesus casts His crucifixion in the same light.   As St. Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 5:23).  We may hope to avoid the sting of death through good and healthy living, but on the cross God turns us to see the Best and Healthiest Man Ever stung to death!  He dashes our meager hope of escaping death and instead makes way for His best work: the resurrection.

There is our hope: the Resurrection!  We trust in God alone for help; we trust in Him to act.  With Him, we may even look on a dead man, yes, even on our dead selves, and look forward to the salvation of God.

LET US PRAY: O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas: teach me not to dread death, but rather to love Your Son, the Resurrection and the Life, and to live in the hope of His glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

GOD USES BROKENNESS
Devotional for March 18, 2018 based upon John 12: 20-33

Up to this point in His earthly ministry, Jesus has often said, “My hour has not yet come.” But now He has been welcomed by the Palm Sunday crowds. He knows that His death is near. And He hears that some people who are culturally Greek rather than culturally Jewish or Hebrew have come to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and they want to meet Him. He sees their request as an indication that His ministry is beginning to reach out into other cultures. He sees the beginning of what is going to result from His death on the cross. So He knows that His hour has come. And because His hour has come, He wants to teach His disciples, His friends, a life lesson. Life will be filled with times of brokenness and turmoil. We will all have to face times and experiences in our lives that will challenge us, test us, stretch us, and push us to the very limit. How will we handle those situations? How will we be changed by and how will we grow from those experiences?

To make His point Jesus uses an illustration. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Unless a grain of wheat is planted – is buried in the ground – it is never more than just a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it will sprout and reproduce itself many times over.

Now, generally speaking, there is no comparison between the value of a diamond and the value of a grain of wheat. But it all depends upon what happens to that grain of wheat. If you lock both of them away in a safe or in a safety deposit box for a hundred years, at the end of those hundred years the grain of wheat will still have basically no material value, while the diamond’s value may run into hundreds if not thousands of dollars. The same thing would be true at the end of a thousand years.

But suppose, instead, that you bury that grain of wheat in the warm, moist earth. And year after year, down through the centuries, you let it and everything that it produces keep on producing and producing. Eventually, a single grain of wheat can produce such an abundant harvest that the whole world would barely be able to contain the crop. To save the grain of wheat would mean to lose all that it is capable of producing.

And so, Jesus is saying, GOD USES BROKENNESS. It takes a broken seed to produce a crop. Broken clouds to give rain. Broken grain to give bread. And broken bread to give strength.

It took a broken bottle of perfume to give off such a strong fragrance and to be a love offering for our Lord Jesus to help Him prepare for His death. And it was a broken disciple, Peter by name, who was weeping bitterly after denying Jesus, who returned to greater power and effectiveness than he would have ever imagined. It takes a broken heart to be fully surrendered to the work and will of God. Yes, GOD USES BROKENNESS.

Maybe today you are facing such severe pain – physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual pain – that you wonder how you will ever be able to make it through. Psalm 34: 18 and 19 say – “The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit; many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.”

If your heart is broken, you can find God right there. If you get kicked in the gut, He will help you catch your breath. If you find yourself in trouble, He will be right there with you every time. Yes, GOD USES BROKENNESS – to make us whole, to empower us, to help us identity with others, and to draw us to Himself.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (Psalm 72:16-17)

Look to the Lord and ask for blessings. Do not ask just for yourself, but for everyone. We are called to bless others as we have been blessed. We have not been blessed because we are good, but because God is good. See in the Lord the hope of all people and know that in Him is life and liberty. The Lord allows this age that those who seek Him may come to Him willingly and freely.

Lord, set my eye upon the prize of salvation to know the hope that You implant through salvation. Guide my thoughts, words, and deeds to be those which are pleasing in Your sight. Help me to be a servant of others by the model of Christ and guide me to live in a way that is pleasing to You. May my life be in Your hands as You shape me into the way You have always intended.

Lord Jesus, You are a model of the godly life and You have showed us that the way of truth comes in constantly serving others. You were willing to go the whole distance and did not stop short. By Your example, teach me to be a blessing to others without regard for recompense. Lead me in the godly way to be both inwardly and outwardly the same person, free to receive and free to give the same grace which You have lavished upon me. Amen.