Daily Prayer for Tuesday, September 8, 2020

“Lord, you call us to your service:  ‘In my name, baptize and teach.’”        
                                    —-Jeffrey W. Rowthorn, 1978

Preparation for worship
Sit in a relaxed position. Take a slow, deep breath (or 2 or 3 or as many as needed) until you feel your body, mind, and soul begin to relax and rest in the Spirit.  Take time to reflect as you move through this time of worship…

Opening Sentences                                                                Psalm 116: 4,8
I called to God:  Lord, save my life!
God has delivered my soul from death.

Prayer                                                          Book of Common Worship, PC(USA)
Almighty God,
you call your church to witness
that in Christ we are reconciled to you.
Help us so to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may turn to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Hymn of the Day
“Sabbath Prayer,”  from Fiddler on the Roof, original motion picture soundtrack, written by John Williams.  Listen and join in praying.

Reading of the Day                                                               1 Peter 2: 1-10
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the very head of the corner,”
8 and
“A stone that makes them stumble,
    and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people,
    but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
    but now you have received mercy.

Prayers for self and others
Please pray today for those who are being affected by COVID 19 and by its side effects in our world. Please pray for Mark Sabala, working with Covid patients as a nurse, Marcy Szeliga, working as a case investigator and contact tracer, for Sylvia Washer, for Jeanette and her family who’ve been heavily impacted, and for all who have been recently diagnosed with- or are recovering from- the virus.  Pray for Christians all around the world- members of the Church universal, for they are all in need of wisdom and care.  As we hear of more friends who are directly affected, or who are working in high risk places, we will list them here.  Use this time to lift your joys, concerns, and hopes to God.

Benediction
May grace and peace be yours in abundance
in the knowledge and God and Jesus our Lord. Alleluia!