Prayer of Approach



Lord Jesus, you triumphed on Easter, you defeated sin and death, you brought us life, but as we move farther away from the Easter event we fall back into step in our old ways.  Enliven in our hearts the continued joy of Easter We need you, to keep coming to us, to keep intruding into our lives, to keep calling us forward to be your people. Amen 

   What we see in this story is a complete release. A complete change. The story of Paul on the Damascus road is a story that challenges the cynical, closed systems of the modern world and holds for a strong promise to all of us. By the grace of God you can Change.

Freedom is the result of change.

We must not let ourselves to be constrained by old ways of thinking. 

As painful as it is for me to say… the fork does not always go the left.  A person who brings a store bought pie is just as valuable as the one who bakes it.  I put mine in a glass pie plate to make it look home made. 

Each time we fail to leave our minds open to new possibility we may be perhaps closing our mind to the action of the spirit.

Each time we fail to acknowledge what someone has offered us we close our doors to the gifts that they have to bring.

I have been known to close doors, and when I sit and be honest with myself, it is because I am afraid of change.

Today’s scriptures  reminds us that the church is the community of the converted.  We are called to walk the road of Easter, not to look back not to sit on the side of the road. We are called to walk forward. Walking forward means we experience by just the very nature of walking forward change. Change is what its’ all about, movement from here to there conversion.

 Once God raised Jesus from the dead-on Easter, well just about anything can happen. 

     I can remember when I was a wee lad playing with the flowing water in the ditch, floating stick boats building dams, and the water always finding its way around. God in the Spirit is like a flowing stream always finding the way around always trying to move us forward despite the obstacles that we may find.

 The spirit moves us forward and we are moved and changed by our faith. . 

  Each act of faith is new life for the spirit.  Our God is not some noble principle. Our God lives, moves intrudes evokes, prods calls. When we worship a living Lord, and God we must be ready to be grabbed, bumped and jerked. It is not always a smooth ride.

God breaks into our world whenever. Jesus does not make an appointment. Look at how and where the disciples encounter Jesus this morning.  In the Morning while fishing. Or in the middle of the night on the Road to Emmaus. Or the Middle of the afternoon on the Road to Damascus.  On hi-way six around 4:48pm or 3am on the ceiling of your bedroom .   Not just at  10:30 on a Sunday Morning. God calls you in Christ to do his work. Think about this tomorrow . The risen Christ comes to you seeks you, reveals himself to you, and then gives you his work to do. “Follow Me” are his last words to them on the beach, his first and last words to us as Well. Follow Me.

In Paul we see a Christian, not by his own decision, discovery or desire. Paul is called, chosen by the action of the living Christ. Next to the Easter event Paul’s conversation on the Road is the most significant Christian event.  His relationship to Christ was Christ’s idea before it was Paul’s 

Perhaps not to the extent that Paul encountered Christ, we to share a similar place in that as Jesus said You didn’t ‘choose me, I chose you. 

That is why you are here. You are part of something bigger than you.  For the most part we don’t have a Damascus road encounter.  

 I know that I was brought up in the church has always been a part of my life.  However, it is not to say that these things don’t happen.  Every once in a while, we perhaps may find a moment when we can see clearly that God is there meeting our needs and perhaps there will be moments when we will change the direction we are going. There will be moments of self-doubt of questions of “you got the wrong person”

We must open ourselves to the spirit. Instead of digging our heals in. We are challenged to let the scales fall from our eyes and be open to the gift of the spirit.  For it is in the gift of the spirit that we are often reminded that we are not alone. 

Prayers of the people 

Hear our prayer we humbly offer

Grant to us your peace O God

Hear our prayer we humbly offer

Grant to us your peace O God. 

Lord hear we are, the excitement of the Easter time is past and we sit and wonder “what now” You call us to walk this Easter Road, but there are times that we look at the road gone by and think how nice it would be if that is how it is now. We just find our mile marker at time and sit down and hope that something interesting will come by. Then you take us be the hand and help us to move forward. Change Lord scares us. Help us not to be afraid.  Help us not to doubt our faith but take strength from our faith which has been the guiding light in our lives.   That light of faith is so needed in your world today.  We pray that the strength of your presence be with those who long for peace, who long for security, who for wholeness in their lives again. We pray for those who journey in illness of body and soul. May your Spirit move on them giving them the strength to face at times what is the unknown.  We pray for those people who are a part of our lives who we hold their names in our hearts.  Beyond the shadow of the tomb we know that you will be with us in the inbreaking light of your presence like the first rays of each new day.  Here our prayers as we offer you the great prayer that binds us as one saying Our Father. 

Offering

 One: We rejoice in remembering this day  God has given us the gift of eternal life. Let us bring our offering to God in Joy and thanks giving in gratitude for what we have received.

Offering received

Offering  (tune 122)

All glory , laud and honour

to you redeemer king.

To you we bring our gifts, 

our voices join and sing

The multitude of blessings

 you give us each new day

Our praise and prayer and offerings

before you we present.

Offering Prayer

  For sight when we are blind, hearing when we are deaf, and the assurance of your touch when we have ceased to feel, we give thanks, Sovereign God. We would extend to others all that we have received from your hand. Use these offerings of gratitude in our midst and far beyond the reach of our imagination. Amen