Our New Luther Hymn
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“To Avert from Us God’s Wrath”
For our festival Reformation Celebration on October 29, we have
commissioned a new hymn tune from Carl F. Schalk (b. 1929) for
Luther’s 1524 hymn, “To Avert from Us God’s Wrath.” The text is
loosely based on a Latin hymn,
Jesus Christus nostra salus,
by Jan Hus (1366–1415) whom Luther greatly admired (Luther’s
Works
53:249, 48:153).
There are ten verses in the original hymn. In our version, we
have four of them. In the first verse we sing of Christ’s
sacrifice on the Cross, whereby Christ “averts from us God’s
wrath,” bringing “us sinners nigh to God,” or close to him.
God’s wrath keeps his mercy away from us. But when “Jesus
suffered in our stead,” we then have “a full atonement,” and
with that, the forgiveness of sin.
In the second verse we have that mercy and forgiveness. In it
Christ calls, “Come that I may soothe your grief.” This not only
happens through hearing the Word and prayer (Matthew 11:28–30)
but also in the Lord’s Supper. But only for “each afflicted
soul,” for only they need “a doctor for relief.” In the third
verse we sing about the worthy guest who through
self-examination knows Christ’s death is the “only hope” there
is. And this hope abides “how e’er your soul’s oppressed.” And
in the last verse we hear that the forgiven show “love unto our
neighbor,” as well as “praise” to the Redeemer Jesus.
Think about this great hymn for the next few weeks, and then
sing it with a full heart in church at our celebration for the
500th Anniversary of the Reformation.
Pastor Marshall |
The Lord is a Rock
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Isaiah 26:4; 1 Peter 2:8
“Swift to its close
ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim,
its glories pass away;
Change and decay
in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not,
abide with me.”
[Henry F. Lyte, “Abide With Me” (1820)
Lutheran Books of Worship
(1978)
Hymn 272.]
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PRESIDENT'S REPORT....by
Bob Baker It is tempting to
begin this article with "Welcome Back." September,
The Messenger resumes
monthly publication, school and Sunday
School resume, as does our pastor's monthly book discussions.
However, the weekly worship opportunities and daily
office operations have been ongoing the past three months, just
like the previous five months, etc.
Yet Fall and the approaching final quarter of the
calendar year do bring routines of their own, especially for the
Congregation Council. Perhaps among the foremost of these is
preparation of the budget for the next calendar year: Pledge
Cards, Committee recommendations/requests, and Council
discussion and proposals.
Some might regard this as a perfunctory process of
looking at what was spent this year, and planning accordingly
for next year. However, I invite, encourage, yes request that
members speak up, ask questions and express preferences.
A context for doing this might include comparing the
budget adopted at the Annual Congregational Meeting last January
with the Treasurer's Report presented at the Mid-Year
Congregational Meeting, noting expenditures for the first half
of the year. An even broader context might include the Mission
Statement of our congregation, your Pledge, and the budget with
the Treasurer's Report.
Our Mission Statement might prompt considerations
regarding one's Pledge. The Mission Statement and one's Pledge
might raise questions regarding budget priorities. The budget
might press questions regarding our Mission Statement as well as
reconsideration of one's Pledge. There could be an engaging
discussion developing there. Does our budget reflect what our
priorities should be?
You might find questions you had not thought through or
had not expressed before. I know I did. I'd like to know your
thoughts and what you pray about as our congregation enters the
rhythm of this time of the calendar year. Yes, I'd be interested
to know if you even read this article!
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Martin Luther and family by G.A. Spangenberg (1866), Musée de
Leipzig
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STEWARDSHIP
Encouraging Our Prayers
Yes, September is
here, and besides vacations ending and school beginning that
means the Congregation Council needs to begin serious work on
the budget for next year.
Yes, to
encourage your prayers and thinking while you consider filling
out your Pledge Card, I am reprinting a Stewardship article from
April of 2016.
Why
that particular article? Well, after it was first printed, one
family responded to the following article by increasing their
tithe to the congregation by 50%.
Yes, maybe
after reading this article you too will adjust your pledge
accordingly, and, Yes, maybe you will tell me about your
thoughts regarding the article . . . .
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Luther’s Funeral Sermon
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By Pastor Jonas Justus
(1493–1555)
“[Dr. Luther’s
books] show how great a man he was, how richly he was endowed,
and how diligently and faithfully he labored with the Word of
God…. [We] will learn from them what an eminent orator,
preacher, and bishop [we] have had in him…. [He] possessed in
large measure the grace of God, the illumination of the Holy
Spirit, and the true knowledge of God and Christ. Those gracious
gifts were not permitted to decline in him, but he increased
them daily, by the diligent use of the holy divine Scriptures,
their careful study, and the devout reading of them for forty
years. He was well acquainted with the entire Bible, which he
read through so many times that the whole was clear in his mind.
This habit the good, dear man, pursued steadily from his 24th
until his 63rd year, and until he died…. He saw and understood
well what a sublime and excellent article of faith that is,
which declares that God sent His Son into the world to redeem
it, and that so long as a man lives he will have enough to do,
to study and learn about it, and yet not exhaust the subject….
The first passage he wrote down for his spiritual comfort, is 1
Peter 5:7, ‘Casting all your cares upon him, for he careth for
you.’ As if he would say: Gather together all your cares and
anxieties into one bundle; enclose the very greatest of your
cares in one grasp,… and cast them upon him, transfer then to
Christ, who cares for you. Applying this precious and consoling
passage to his own case, the dear, devout man, Dr. Luther, cast
all his cares upon the Lord Jesus Christ, in the hour of death,
and neither asked nor felt concern, as to where he would be… On
this passage Luther wrote…. I would not be willing… that the
salvation of my soul should be in my own hands. For if it
depended on me, my soul would long ago, and in a moment, have
been torn to destruction by Satan, as a young chicken, or a
little bird, by the talons of a hawk…. Particularly it
distressed him that so many brethren were false, and fell away
from the true doctrine; and on this account, he would willingly
die, and lie down in the grave. He also loved the sentence: Why
fearest thou to be with Jesus?…. Thinkest thou that the Devil,
or the world, would have done for thee, what Christ has done?
Wherewith does the world show such faithfulness? This world does
not. Why therefore, dost thou desire to remain here?.... After
the vicissitudes of this life and death a joyful day will come.
There will then be no more marrying or giving in marriage, no
more birth of children, no more becoming lame, blind or sick, no
more death, for mortality shall cease, and an immortal,
everlasting life shall begin to be…. Ah, the last day would be a
blessed, joyful day, since then each would know the other better
than in this wretched life, the wife her husband, the husband
the wife, the children their parents, the minister his hearers,
and would without ceasing speak with each other, be together,
adore and praise God together, in the great general assembly and
Church in heaven, with the holy angels, forever and ever…. It is
a sublime article of the Christian Creed that the putrefied
bodies, or the bodies consumed by fire, shall rise again, know
each other, speak with each other, and forever praise God. At
this article reason stumbles and takes offense, for it cannot
understand how the body that the worms devour, or that is
reduced by fire to powder and ashes, can again come forth, a
living being…. A Christian should recall every morning, when he
arises from slumber, this precious, revealed mystery, and say to
himself: ‘I know that a day will come, in which God will awaken
all who are asleep in Christ, and that all our bodies will
arise, those that have believed in Christ, and have done good,
to eternal life.’ Thus should a Christian always keep in mind,
and meditate upon that blessed day, and the coming again of
Christ. It will make him more patient amid the various
sufferings, crosses and persecutions he meets with in life.”
(Two
Funeral Sermons on the Death of Dr. Martin Luther, trans. E.
Greewald, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1883.)
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All is Vanity
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The Truest of All Books
“The truest of
all men was the Man of Sorrows [Isaiah 53:3], and the truest of
all books is Solomon’s, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered
steel of woe. ‘All is vanity’ [Ecclesiastes 1:2]. ALL.”
This willful world has not got hold of unchristian Solomon’s
wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and jails, and walks
fast crossing grave-yards, and would rather talk of operas than
hell; calls Cowper [1731–1800], Young [1683–1765], Pascal
[1623–1662], Rousseau [1712–1778], poor devils all of sick men;
and throughout a care-free lifetime swears by Rabelais
[1494–1553] as passing wise, and therefore jolly;–not that man
is fitted to sit down on tomb-stones, and break the green damp
mold with unfathomably wondrous Solomon.”
[Herman Melville,
Moby-Dick or The Whale
(1851) Chapter 96].
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The Reformation at 500
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Still Condemned – But Free
By Pastor Marshall
Our seventh
installment on the significance of the Reformation, comes from a
new, popular German biography by the Göttingen historian, Thomas
Kaufmann, A Short Life of
Martin Luther (2014)
trans. Peter D. S. Krey and James D. Bratt (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Eerdmans, 2016) pp. 110–12:
Well that’s
scary – so no wonder Luther’s way of being a Christian has never
caught on (even among nominal Lutherans). This is because, in
lieu of faith, people have held on to their life in the church
which is far more commonsensical and palatable. For belonging
always outpaces believing. But Luther would have none of this –
even if it meant tripping up church membership for the sake of
personal discipleship wherein one is charged to painstakingly
work out one’s salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians
2:12).
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Schedule for
Wednesday Bible Classes
with Pastor Marshall
2017-2018
Morning 10- 11:30 am
Fall: 1 John – 3 John
Spring: Ecclesiastes
1) 1 John 1.1-4
9)
1 John 3.16-24
1) Ecclesiastes
1.1-18
9)
Ecclesiastes 6.1-12
2) 1 John 1.5-10
10) 1 John 4.1-12
2) Ecclesiastes
2.1-11
10) Ecclesiastes
7.1-13
3) 1 John 2.1-6
11) 1 John 4.12-21
3) Ecclesiastes
2.12-26
11) Ecclesiastes
7.14-29
4) 1 John 2.7-14
12) 1 John 5.1-5
4) Ecclesiastes
3.1-9
12) Ecclesiastes
8.1-17
5) 1 John 2.15-20
13) 1 John 5.6-12
5) Ecclesiastes
3.10-22
13) Ecclesiastes
9.1-17
6) 1 John 2.21-29
14) 1 John 5.13-21
6) Ecclesiastes
4.1-16
14) Ecclesiastes
10.1-20
7) 1 John 3.1-8
15) 2 John 1.1-13
7) Ecclesiastes
5.1-10
15) Ecclesiastes
11.1-10
8) 1 John 3.9-15
16) 3 John 1.1-15
8) Ecclesiastes
5.11-20
16) Ecclesiastes
12.1-14
Evening 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Fall: Hosea
Spring: Romans
1) Hosea 1.1-11
9)
Hosea 8.1-14
1) Romans 1.1-32
9)
Romans 9.1-33
2) Hosea 2.1-23
10) Hosea 9.1-17
2) Romans 2.1-29
10) Romans 10.1-21
3) Hosea 3.1-5
11) Hosea 10.1-15
3) Romans 3.1-31
11) Romans 11.1-36
4) Hosea 4.1-10
12) Hosea 11.1-12
4) Romans 4.1-24
12) Romans 12.1-21
5) Hosea 4.11-19
13) Hosea 12.1-14
5) Romans 5.1-21
13) Romans 13.1-14
6) Hosea 5.1-15
14) Hosea 13.1-9
6) Romans 6.1-23
14) Romans 14.1-23
7) Hosea 6.1-11
15) Hosea 13.10-16
7) Romans 7.1-25
15) Romans 15.1-33
8) Hosea 7.1-16
16) Hosea 14.1-9
8) Romans 8.1-39
16) Romans 16.1-27
“The Word of God, because it is eternal, should apply to all men of all times. For although in the course of time customs, people, places, and usages may vary, godliness and ungodliness remain the same through all the ages.”
Luther’s Works 14:290
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With the Mind
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in the Church Lounge, 3-5 pm, the fourth Saturday of each month.
2017-2018
Sept. 23
Thomas C. Oden,
How Africa Shaped the
Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western
Christianity (2007).
Oct. 28
Martin Luther,
Notes on Ecclesiastes
(1527, 1532), Luther’s Works, Vol. 15.
Nov. 26
Peter
Marshall, The
Reformation: A Very Short Introduction (2009).
Dec. 23
Alister
McGrath, The Passionate
Intellect: Christian faith and the Discipleship of the Mind
(2001).
Jan. 27
Michael Rota,
Taking Pascal’s Wager:
Faith, Evidence and the Abundant Life (2016).
Feb. 24
Greg Garrett,
Entertaining Judgment:
The Afterlife in Popular Imagination (2015).
Mar. 24
Thomas C. Oden,
A Change of Heart: A
Personal and Theological Memoir (2014).
Apr. 28
Terry Eagleton,
Culture and the Death of
God (2015).
May 26
Thomas C. Oden,
Two Worlds: Notes on the
Death of Modernity in America and Russia (1992).
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Sunday Education
with Pastor Marshall
2017-2018
9:00 to 10:00 am, Room D
FALL SESSION
I,
September 10 - September 24
Reformation Today: Carl E.
Braaten’s 500th Anniversary Lecture
This four week
class will discuss Dr. Braaten’s 2016 Reformation lecture. He
was professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran School in
Chicago for many years.
This class is
the eighteenth in our series on studies in the Reformation,
leading up to the 500th anniversary in October 2017. This series
began in April 2009.
FALL SESSION II,
October 1 - October 22
Christian Peace: Luther on the
Peasants Rebellion
In this four week
class we will study Luther treatise, “Admonition to Peace”
(1525), Luther’s Works
46:17–43. This is his defense of not supporting the peasants
uprising.
This class is
the nineteenth in our series on studies in the Reformation.
FALL SESSION III,
November 5 - November 26
Admonishing the Jews – Luther’s
Controversial 1543 Treatise In this four
week class we will discuss Luther’s treatise of the Jews from
1543. Our text will be the chapter on this treatise from Ronald
F. Marshall, Kierkegaard
in the Pulpit (2016).
This class is
the twentieth in our series of studies on the Reformation.
FALL SESSION IV,
December 3 - December 24
My Favorite Book: Luther’s Notes
on Ecclesiastes This four week
class will discuss excerpts from Luther’s 1527 commentary on the
book of Ecclesiastes.
This class is
the twenty-first in our series on studies in the Reformation.
WINTER SESSION,
January 7 – January 28
The Law for Christians: Luther’s
Newly Translated 1539 Treatise
In this four week class we will study Luther treatise,
“Disputation on the Three Divine Hierarchies” (1539).
This class is
the twenty-second in our series on studies in the Reformation.
SPRING SESSION I,
February 4 – March 25
Memorizing Scripture: Reading
Romans
In this eight week
class we will study The Book of Romans. Luther thought it was so
important that all Christians should know it by heart, word for
word.
Each class
session will be based on a worksheet of questions handed out the
week before.
SPRING SESSION II,
April 8- May 27
The Best Gospel: Reading John
This eight week class will study The Gospel of John.
Luther thought it was the clearest and most powerful of the four
Gospels.
Each class
session will be based on a worksheet of questions handed out the
week before.
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Romans 1.32
Monthly Home Bible Study, September 2017, Number 295
The Reverend Ronald F. Marshall
Along with our other regular study of Scripture, let us join as
a congregation in this home study. We will
study alone then talk
informally about the assigned verses together as we have
opportunity. In this way we can "gather
together around the
Word" even though physically we will not be getting together
(Acts 13.44). (This study uses the RSV translation.)
We need to support each other in this difficult project. In 1851
Kierkegaard wrote that the Bible is "an extremely dangerous
book.... [because] it is an imperious book... – it takes the
whole man and may suddenly and radically change... life on a
prodigious scale" (For
Self-Examination). And in 1967 Thomas Merton wrote that "we
all instinctively know that it is dangerous to become involved
in the Bible" (Opening
the Bible). Indeed this word "kills" us (Hosea 6.5) because
we are "a rebellious people" (Isaiah 30.9)! As Lutherans,
however, we are still to "abide in the womb of the Word" (Luther's
Works 17.93) by constantly "ruminating on the Word" (LW
30.219) so that we may "become like the Word" (LW
29.155) by thinking "in the way Scripture does" (LW
25.261). Before you study, then, pray: "Blessed Lord, who caused
all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so
to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that
we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of
everlasting life, which you have given us in Our Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen" (quoted in R. F. Marshall,
Making A New World: How
Lutherans Read the Bible, 2003, p. 12). And don’t give up,
for as Luther said, we “have in Scripture enough to study for
all eternity” (LW
75:422)!
Week I.
Read Romans 1.32 noting
the phrase Though they
know. Luther believed that every Christian should memorize
the entire book of Romans, “word for word” (Luther’s
Works 35:365). Even if we can’t do that, we can at least
begin with this one verse. So to start, what good is knowledge
if it doesn’t prevent us from doing evil and approving of it? On
this read Romans 2.4 noting the word
meant. Why is meaning
important? Note the connection established by the meaning of
kindness in order to link it with repentance. Why is that
connection good to know? On this read Romans 11.22 noting the
two word pairs severity
and fallen,
kindness and
continue. Why are
these comparisons good to know? On this read Romans 6.1 noting
the contrasting words sin
and grace. Why would
we think that sinning generates grace? On this read Romans 5.8
noting the logical connection between
sinners and
love. What’s the
logic here? Is it that love cannot be stopped by sinners, or
that love is inspired and motivate by sinners? On this read
Romans 5.20 noting the phrase
abounded all the more.
Is this about motivation or endurance? If it’s about endurance,
what difference does it make? Why would seeing it as motivation
be a mistake?
Week II.
Read again Romans 1.32
noting this time the same phrase
Though they know.
What is further important to know about the connection between
sin and grace? On this read Romans 6.16 noting the connected
words yield and
slaves. How does this
happen? Why can’t it be a looser relation? On this read Romans
6.17 noting the expression
from the heart. When
the heart is involved behavior is habituated and slavery sets in
– for good or ill. How is this so? On this read Romans 10.9
noting the contrasting words
lips and
heart. Talk is cheap
but the heart is where weighty matters dwell. How so? On this
read Romans 9.18 noting the linked words
hardens and
heart. So what comes
of all of this? On this read Romans 2.29 noting the words
circumcision,
heart and
spiritual. Because
the heart admits to hardening, deep spiritual cutting is
required to get it going in the right direction. On this read
Romans 15.13 noting the words
hope,
joy,
peace,
believing,
Spirit and
abound. Why are so
many gifts tied into the Spirit? On this read Romans 8.11 noting
the words raised,
dwells, and
give. There is
tremendous power in this verse to turn us around and give us
life where there is only death. Do you agree? Have you
experienced it? How so, if so. If not, why not?
Week III.
Reread Romans 1.32 noting
this time the line
deserve to die. Why so severe? On this read Romans 8.13
noting the contrasting words
die and
death. What’s the
relationship between these two deaths? The first one is bad and
the second is good. The first one is self-inflicted and the
second is a gift. The first one is about self-absorption, the
second is about living for God and others. On this read Romans
7.9 noting the line and I
died. How does this happen? By way of sin becoming
intensified when the law condemns it. How does that happen? On
this read Romans 6.11 noting phrase
consider yourself dead to
sin. On this read Romans 6.6 noting the line
our old self was
crucified with him. How does that happen? On this read
Romans 6.4 noting the line
we were buried… with him
by baptism. How does baptism bring this death about? It
changes our
considerations according to Romans 6.11. On this read Romans
12.2 noting the line be
transformed by the renewal of your mind. Luther called this
thinking “in the way Scripture does” (LW 25:261). No wonder we
are to let these words “dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3.16).
Do you agree?
Week IV.
Read Romans 1.32 one last
time noting the word
approve. Why would we do such a heinous thing? On this read
Romans 1.24 noting the line
God gave them up… to
impurity. What’s that like? On this read Romans 4.15 noting
the word wrath. What
does that do to us? On this read Romans 12.19 noting the word
vengeance. Why this
retaliation? On this read Romans 3.8 noting the word
just. Does that
settle it for you? How can we honor God’s justice? Our only hope
is Romans 8.4—don’t
you agree? |
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Saint Nicholas Faire
Sunday, December 10, 2017 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm
We’re at it
again. Thank you to
all who have already begun helping prepare for this annual fund
raising event. So
many of you have stepped up to the plate, or in this case the
“Christmas in July and August tree,” and taken ornaments.
Many of you have already made your purchases/donations
and they have been catalogued and are waiting to be made into
baskets for purchasing at the Faire.
At this writing, there are many items yet to be turned
in. It would be
outstanding if all “ornament” items could be brought to the
church by Sunday, September 17th.
If you need assistance of any kind getting this done,
please call Larraine King (206-937-6740) or email her
(larrainelk@gmail.com).
And please remember to put your name on the item as well
as the retail value.
It takes a lot of time searching the internet to find the
value of the item.
And we need that information to complete the bid sheet. If you would prefer, you can donate money designated to the St. Nicholas Faire and we will do the shopping. Plus, in late November, we will be purchasing items that need to be fresh, so they need to be bought closer to the date of the Faire. If you would like to help in this way, please let me know and I can give you a list of items to choose from. But most important, always remember that all our efforts are to support, in a fun and enjoyable way, TWO very important extended ministries – the West Seattle Food Bank and the West Seattle Helpline.
We are looking forward to having a super evening of wine
tasting, winning prizes at the ring toss game, munchies,
conversation and fellowship, and “shopping” for Christmas gifts
for friends and family.
Where else can you go so close to home to such a
party?!?!? And it
all benefits two great organizations!
So plan to come and invite your neighbors and family and
friends to come with you.
Sign-up sheets for helpers for the event will be posted in
October and more details about the event will appear in future
Messengers and
bulletin announcements.
So,
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!!
If you don’t come there will be no party, no fun, and no
funds raised for the Food Bank and Helpline.
Please
note the date and time…..Our
beloved Seahawks schedule has worked havoc on choosing a date
and time once again for the St. Nicholas Faire.
We hope the change will solve the problem of encouraging
friends and family to attend the Faire.
And we hope that the Seahawks don’t change the schedule
mid season!
-Larraine King  |
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
DEO GLORIA CANTORES
– Choir will start their practice sessions at 7:30 pm on
Thursday, September 21st, in the gallery.
Fall Schedule
starts on Sunday, September 10th.
Adult Bible Class, rm. D and Sunday School, rm. 4, 9:00
am. Confirmation
(6th – 8th grades) meet in the library.
The Wednesday pastor’s
classes (10:00 am & 7:30 pm in rm. D) start on September 6th,
and confirmation (3:30 pm in rm. D) starts on September 6th.
FOOD BANK DONATION
suggestion for September is canned, boxed or instant soups or
one meal options like corned beef hash, spaghetti’s, etc.
Sunday School Summer Collection
for Lutheran World Relief is coming to an end.
By making donations you can still help them with their
goal.
They hope to purchase hens and
chicks, a cow, goat and pig.... even some worms to enrich the
soil. Please consider giving a check to the church designating
"LWR" in the offering plate.
And to end their summer
collection a BAKE SALE is planned for Sunday, September 10th,
following the 8:00 am & 10:30 am liturgies in room C!
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X
PARISH PRAYERS
X
Remember in prayer before God those whom He has made your
brothers and sisters through baptism.
Karen Cady, Larraine King, Melanie Johnson, Shirley Demory, Kyra
Stromberg, Elizabeth King Olsen, Marlis Ormiston, Eileen Nestoss,
Bob & Barbara Schorn, Matt Anderson, Celia Balderston, The PLU
Lecturers, Tabitha Anderson, Jordan Corbin, Iris Hansen Tate,
Nell & Paul Sponheim, The Rev. Kari Reiten, The Rev. Paul Smith,
The Rev. Pari Bailey, Ion & Galina Ceaicovschi, Nathan & Les
Arkle, Ryan Soule, Patrick Coleman, Larry, Diane & Lesley
Johnson Family, Naphtali & Josephine Khamiss, Mary Ford Rick &
Marie Collins, Mary Springer, Bob Coburn, Edie Cooke, Judy
Lonborg, Claudio Johnson S, Margaret Douglass, Chris & Margeen
Boyer, Dave Walhgren, Jeanne Plekon, Les Whitehead, Sharon
DeFray, Gene Merritt, and Racial violence in the US.
Pray for the shut-ins that the light of Christ may give them
joy: C. J. Christian, Louis Koser, Anelma Meeks, Dorothy Ryder,
Lillian Schneider, Crystal Tudor, Nora Vanhala.
Pray for those who have suffered the death of a loved one this
Summer: Pray that God
will bear their grief and lift their hearts: Pray for the family
and friends of
Elmer & June Wittman who died in June; and for Bill Wright’s
family and friends, Bill died in July.
And pray for the family and friends of Bertil Hansson and
Florence Jenkins who died in August.
Florence would have been 97 in December.
Pray for our bishops Elizabeth Eaton and Brian Kirby Unti, our
pastor Ronald Marshall, our deacon Dean Hard and our cantor
Andrew King, that they may be strengthened in faith, love and
the holy office to which they have been called.
Pray that God would give us hearts which find joy in service and
in celebration of Stewardship.
Pray that God would work within you to become a good
steward of your time, your talents and finances.
Pray to strengthen the Stewardship of our congregation in
these same ways.
Pray for the hungry, ignored, abused, and homeless this
September.
Pray for the
mercy of God for these people, and for all in Christ's church to
see and help those who are in distress.
Pray for our sister congregation:
El Camino de Emmaus in the Skagit Valley that God may
bless and strengthen their ministry.
Also, pray for our parish and it's ministry.
Pray that God will bless you through the lives of the saints:
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist; and Saint Michael
and All Angels. |
|
A Treasury of Prayers
O blessed Lord and Savior, grant me the grace to love others in
you and for you. Have mercy on all, but especially on the family
and friends you have given me. Love them, O Fountain of love,
and make them love you, that those things which are pleasing to
you they may will and speak and do. Measure not your goodness to
them by the dullness of my devotion; but as your kindness
surpasses all human affection, so let your hearing transcend my
prayer. May they always and everywhere be ruled and protected by
you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
[For All the
Saints
IV:1133, altered] |