September 3: 14th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17; Labor Day weekend)
September 3: 14th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17; Labor Day weekend)
Jeremiah 15:15-21(Jeremiah laments; God promises strength, deliverance
if he speaks what is precious)
Psalm 26 (I have lived with integrity; do not sweep me away with sinners)
Romans 12:9-21 (Live in harmony, respect, and mutual forbearance; vengeance is God’s)
Matthew 16:21-28 (Get behind me, Satan! Take up cross and follow me;
what does it profit to gain world, lose soul?
Let us pray for the church, the world, and all people according to their need.
A brief silence is kept.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Peter! Last week we thanked you for his witness. Today we thank you – not that he stumbled, but that Jesus rebuked, loved, and forgave him. Lord, we know you will rebuke us when we are a stumbling block and unwitting agent of Satan. Give us grace to repent and humbly take up our cross again, following Jesus alone.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Grant that your Church never be a hindrance to your Son nor a stumbling-block to those whom he came to save. Center its life and proclamation in the Cross of Jesus. Make it follow wherever Jesus leads, even unto death. Use the Church to draw many hearts to repentant faith in Christ. Through it, overcome the world’s evil with your great good.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
We pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ whose cross-bearing is the reality of their lives. Let them not be overcome by evil. Keep them steadfast in their faith. Help us to speak in their defense, pray on their behalf, and provide for their needs.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Help this congregation to live out the words of Saint Paul: Let our love be genuine. Make us abhor evil but hold fast to the good. Teach us to love and honor each other. Let us serve you fervently. Make us joyous in hope, patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer. Give us grace to be generous and hospitable, and to bless even our persecutors. Help us to rejoice with the joyful and to weep with the mourners. Teach us to live in harmony, and to not be wise in our own sight. Give us grace to repay no one evil for evil. Let us do what is honorable; and, so far as it depends on us, to live peaceably with all. And grant that we are not overcome by evil, but that in Christ, we overcome evil with good.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Keep in your care victims of violence and injustice, especially when evil has been done to them in the name of religion. Stir us up to give them aid and comfort, for you are glorified by deeds of mercy, hospitality, and peace, not acts of violence or hatred. Deliver them from the hands of the wicked.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Give integrity, wisdom, and humility to those who have power and authority over communities, corporations, and nations. Help them to do what is honorable, just, and generous.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Give everyone the will and the opportunity to work, and give our society the generosity to assist those who cannot. Especially we ask you to strengthen and help entrepreneurs, small business owners, and all employees. Help us to value their contribution to our common welfare. Guide us in finding ways to help them prosper, for the good of all.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Deal mercifully with all whose lives are shadowed by suffering, sorrow, or any kind of adversity. This day we pray for: {List}. Have pity on them and redeem them. Turn their sorrow into gladness and their pain into shouts of thanksgiving. Give them wise and compassionate caregivers, and reunite them with all who love them.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Father, receive our beloved dead into your house with many rooms. Help us to love each other with true affection; to live peaceably and honorably; and above all, to cling to Jesus and his Cross. Lead us into your promised Kingdom, which you have prepared for all whom you deliver from sin and death. And there let us bless you and live together in your peace forever.
Lord, in your mercy, please hear our prayer.
Hear our prayer, O Father, and grant all that glorifies you and builds up your people. This we ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.