Eternal God, Creator and Lover and Sustainer of all things, we give you thanks and praise for you have given birth to our very lives; indeed, you have made us who we are—persons created in your own image — mysterious, beautiful, and wonderful.
We give you thanks for all the good gifts we have received. For the love of family and friends. For your good creation, for the good earth, for the rain and the sunshine, for the season of planting, of flowers, of new growth.
We praise and thank you for giving birth to us in the Spirit, and for adopting us in love to be sisters and brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your love and care for us is beyond all our images. Like a mother’s womb you hold us and feed us and keep us safe. Like adoptive parents you have given to each of us a new name in Christ. Your mercies never end and never cease to amaze us!
God of unconditional and passionate love, even as we give thanks we confess that we don’t always said Thank You in the way we live. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves, and we have not loved you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. We often find ourselves forgetting you and ignoring others; and, sometimes... sometimes we are afraid of you, afraid of others, afraid of ourselves. God, who so loved the world, you know our deepest needs and our innermost fears. Like the woman healed by touching your coat, we sometimes feel as though our lives — our very selves — have been bleeding away — we feel accused and inadequate — we feel unclean and alone. O Lord, in faith we reach out to touch the hem of your cloak! Speak to us with gentle words of assurance and restore us to wholeness and life.
Spirit of Christ, grant us the faith to believe what seems unbelievable: That in Jesus Christ we are made whole and restored to a living, vibrant love-relationship with you; and that as a mother comforts her child, so also, you have promised to comfort us.
Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life! On this Mother’s Day we remember and give thanks for those mothers and grandmothers who have passed through death to their eternal home in your presence, in your embrace. You, O Christ—you were their rock, their refuge, and their strength; you, O Christ, their only comfort in life and in death.
And so we ask, dear Jesus, that you be a rock and refuge to all those grieving losses today. Remind us of the sure hope of the Resurrection; and give us strength as we continue our journey until that day when, once again, we will feast with sisters and brothers and fathers and mothers and children, who even now are clothed in white, who hunger no more, and thirst no more, and whose tears are wiped away by your tender touch.
On this Mother’s Day, we give you thanks for the witness and work of women of faith and courage...
For women at work in our congregation—
for young girls giving witness among their peers
and for women sharing teaching and leadership gifts;
for deacons and elders; worship leaders; and encouragers;
for sweet-bread-bakers and hot dish makers;
for those with gifts of hospitality and faithfulness in prayer,
with gifts of vision and healing and administration,
and those who serve in unacknowledged ministries—
quiet, simple service that changes lives!
God of mission, for your gifts and for your faithful disciples, we celebrate and give thanks. Grant, O God, that their witness may remind our daughters and each one of us, that by the Holy Spirit all who believe and are baptized receive a ministry to witness to Jesus as Savior and Lord!
God of justice and compassion,
We pray for all who suffer… for the poor and afflicted, for the sick and the dying, for prisoners and all who are lonely, for victims of war and injustice and inhumanity… for members of our congregation and for all those for whom we have been asked to pray.
God of righteousness and peace,
We pray for an end to violence and evil in the world… for an end to killing, an end to terrorism, an end to all war… for an end to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse… for an end to violent and abusive images in our culture…
God of faith, hope, and love,
Make your presence known to us this day in the proclamation of the Word.
Call forth more disciples to share in your mission
to heal the world through justice and mercy, truth and love.
And fill us anew with the Holy Spirit,
so that we may see the world through the eyes of our Savior.
Through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
