Halloween Fun!

I spent the afternoon preparing and then participating in the Trunk or Treat event at the United Methodist Temple. Erica and Bailey were there too (along with hundreds of others!).

Here is a picture of Bailey and momma, all decked out for Halloween:





For a complete run of pictures from the event, check out Encounters' Facebook page at www.facebook.com/encounters

October 31, 2009

Here is today's prayer:

Gracious God,
you have called us to be the Church of Jesus Christ.
Keep us one in faith and service;
breaking bread together
and telling the good news to the world;
that all may believe you are love,
turn to your ways, and live to your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

October 30, 2009

Here is today's prayer:

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.


A Thanksgiving Prayer
by Samuel F. Pugh

October 29, 2009

Here is today's prayer:

Litany of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord,
for he satisfies the thirsty,
he fills the hungry with good things,
and he heals the afflicted.
Let us celebrate his abundant goodness.

We thank you, gracious Father,
that you provide for all our needs,
for food on our tables,
for the clothes on our bodies,
for the beds we sleep in,
for the dwellings that shelter us.

We praise you, Lord,
for all your gifts that go beyond our basic needs,
for the things that make our work easier,
for the conveniences of modern life,
for the beauty and pleasure that you bring into our lives.
Thanks be to God!

October 28, 2009

Here is today's prayer:

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.

October 27, 2009

Here is today's prayer:

God give me your eyes so I might rightly perceive the world around me and see what you have called me to do this day.

God give me your heart so I might respond in compassion to those I have failed to engage or respond to in the past.

God give me your strength so I might persevere the awaiting storms.

God give me your peace so that I may be a gift of peace to others.

God, today let there be simply more of you and less of me.

It is in Christ's name I pray. Amen.

October 26, 2009

Here is this evening's prayer:

"We praise and thank you, O God,
for you are without beginning and without end.
Through Christ, you created the whole world;
through Christ you preserve it.
You made the day for the works of light
and the night for the refreshment of our minds and bodies.
Keep us now in Christ; grant us a peaceful evening,
a night free from sin; and bring us at last to eternal life.
Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit,
we offer you all glory, honor, and worship,
now and for ever. Amen."

From the Liturgy of Evening Prayer, Syria, 4th Century (United Methodist Book of Worship #574-5)