Blessings on this Saturday morning! It’s wonderful to be with you this weekend. I’m glad we can get ready for worship together.
Saturday is our day to prepare with prayer. We take all we’ve done and put it into God’s hands. We ask the Lord to bless our work so it might accomplish Christ’s work.
Sunday is Father’s Day. As part of our worship we’ll remember and honor the significant men in our lives – fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins. Or maybe those men were teachers or coaches, mentors or friends. They shaped us by sharing their lives with us. Today we celebrate and give thanks for them. This gratitude is part of our prayer time.
Even as we remember and honor them, on this Father’s Day we also reclaim and rejoice in our relationship with God as our “Heavenly Father”. The intimacy implied in this understanding of God, the grace and peace provided, the healing and forgiveness found, the provision and protection offered, the justice and truth promised – all are present and active In this covenant connection we have with God as our Heavenly Father. Surely, this is a point of prayer today.
And then as we pray, we think about our message and its main emphasis, “Blessing”. We pray that the “idea” of blessing, as an experience of unconditional love from our Heavenly Father, would become real for us. As we bow in prayer we ask God to lead us into that depth of love already “with us” and “for us” even now in Jesus Christ our Lord.
And finally I pray, from this awareness of blessing we hear the call and find the strength to bless others. Through our relationship with God as Heavenly Father we can follow in the footsteps of the significant men (and women) in our lives. We can give of ourselves in ways that we live Christ’s love by what we do and say. We too can be channels of grace. We also have a blessing to give. Part of my prayer today is that we know this truth and we give that blessing!
There are lots of good reasons to pray today. So invite you to shut down your computer or iphone and open up your heart and mind. Take time to “Be Still” and know the Lord is God. Rest and trust in God as your Heavenly Father. Let our Heavenly Father’s grace in Jesus Christ “fill your heart and satisfy your soul”. Then lift to God what’s on your mind and in your heart. Let our Heavenly Father go to work and lead you into the blessing of love God has for you to live and give today.
In that blessing of prayer I’m grateful for the creative moments we shared this week. I rejoice in the ways God will work tomorrow as we join in worship! In that grace I’ll see you then.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for the privilege of centering ourselves in your mercy and opening our lives to your truth. By your Holy Spirit lead us deeper into the relationship we share with you as our Heavenly Father. Let that covenant connection strengthen us so we might be the Kingdom blessing for others you would have us to be today. In Jesus’ holy name we pray. Amen