immigration prayer

With the passage of a new immigration law in Arizona this past week, emotions and passions are running high on both sides of the issue. Yet, we should remember that there is a strong spiritual and moral side to this whole issue. To that end, I am inserting a prayer that is from an interfaith organization, and has been adopted by our denomination's office of social justice. Please know that I realize this is a complicated issue with many ins and outs but, my hope is that this prayer will be a way to anchor our confusion to the rock that is Christ Jesus our Lord. And, may we keep the love of God and love of neighbor as our greatest concern for this world.

Grace and Peace

Sample Prayer on the theme of Immigration

Loving God,

We thank you for the gifts that we receive because of the immigrants who are part of our country and our community – for the diversity of art and food and culture, for the businesses and economic benefits, for the rich variety of languages and faces that surround us. We are grateful that you make all human beings in your image, and that we are each able to display your glory uniquely.

We confess that we have not always welcomed the stranger among us with open arms. Our laws have forced many to be separate from their families for decades. Deportations have separated marriages and orphaned children. Fear has left millions living in the shadows, unable to live freely and contribute to our society.

We know it is your desire that all people have the opportunity to flourish, and that we are called to be part of building a kingdom that ensures it. Help us to see the stranger in our midst with new eyes – as your beloved children, dearly loved, and full of promise. Help us to defend them in the face of oppression, to stand up for justice when it is compromised, and to be a people who are not driven first by borders and economies but instead by love and hospitality.

May we welcome immigrants as we have been welcomed by Christ.

Amen

Belhar

Today the Reformed Church in America officially adopted the Belhar Confession as the church's fourth confession. Praise God for watching over the RCA as it waded through this confession! If you would like to read this confession of Unity, Justice, and Reconciliation follow the link to the RCA's website.

http://www.rca.org/Page.aspx?pid=6505

Grace and Peace

Easter

Up from the grave he arose!

Grace and Peace

Holy Saturday

Low in the Grave he lay...

Grace and Peace

Good Friday

Most Righteous God, we remember the Perfect Sacrifice offered once on the cross for the sin of the whole world. In Joy of his resurrection and in expectation of his coming again we offer ourselves as holy and living sacrifices.

Together we proclaim the mystery of the Faith:

Christ has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

Grace and Peace

the table

Take, Eat. Remember and Believe that the body of Christ was given for the forgiveness of sins...

Take, Drink. Remember and Believe that the blood of Christ was shed for the forgiveness of sins

Grace and Peace

humility

This icon is of Christ, showing him in his extreme humility. As Paul tells us through his letter to the church in Phillippi. Although Christ, "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant." May we remember the humility it took for Jesus to do for us what we needed him to do.

Grace and Peace