Week of April 29 - May 5, 2012

 Dear Father, may the same Spirit Who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the grave be ever present in us, Your children. You have given us life and have called us to love our neighbors as ourselves. May Your perfect love shine through us to care for those in need, for the ill, and for the broken-hearted. Please strengthen our faith in You. Help us to see everyone we encounter through the eyes of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We thank You, Father, for the gift of Your only begotten Son, for His resurrection, and for the blessed hope of eternal life with You and our loved ones in heaven. We give You all the glory and praise. We pray this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.


“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,  that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

(John 3:16) NIV

Week of April 22 - 28, 2012

Our great God and Father, we are overwhelmed as we contemplate the reality of the cross and the resurrection of your only Son. Father, we are not deserving of such love and compassion, but You gave it anyway, motivated by your love for us.

Jesus, thank you for willingly going to Calvary's Cross to die for our sins. Now guide us, Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that we would accept and cherish this free gift of forgiveness. May we also forgive all those who have done us wrong. Help us to love like You, Lord.

This we pray in the loving name of Jesus. Amen.  

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8 NIV)

Week of April 15 - 21, 2012

Lord, thank You for the gift of HOPE that you gave us Easter morning. Because of You, we know that no problem is too difficult, and even death does not have power over us. Thank you for the gift of LOVE You gave us when You laid down Your life for us. Because of You, our hearts are full of gratitude and praise for who You are and all You’ve done for us! We give you glory and honor. Amen.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)

Week of April 8 -14, 2012

Lord Jesus, be with us now during this festive Resurrection season. During your whole life You went about trying to transform the hardness of people’s hearts by Your love and concern for them, and by showing them how to go about loving others. There are times when we have become hard-hearted, unloving, selfish. Lord, give us compassionate hearts. Touch our lives with Your redeeming love. Let us be Easter people, and let “Alleluia” be our song. We ask this in Your holy name. Amen.

"Jesus said to his disciples, 'Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from
the dead on the third day, and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached
in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'”

(Luke 24:46-48, Jerusalem)

Week of April 1 - 7, 2012

Merciful Father, open our hearts and our minds that we may truly believe that because you came, we may have life to the full. Filled with the grace which flows constantly to us from Your cross at Calvary, enable us to be totally mindful of the needs of others, especially the poor and the deprived, and to meaningfully address those needs out of the abundance of that grace which You have poured out upon us. To You be all honor and glory, as we make our prayer through Christ Our Lord. AMEN.

"When the centurion saw what had taken place, he gave thanks to God and said, “This was a great and good man.” And when all the people who had gathered for the spectacle saw what had happened, they went home beating their breasts." - Luke 23: 47 - 48 (Jerusalem)

Week of March 25 - 31, 2012

Lord Jesus Christ, You stretched out Your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross, that everyone might come within the reach of Your saving embrace. So clothe us in Your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring to those who do not know You, the knowledge and love of You, for the honor of Your holy name.

Amen.

“Jesus cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘It is finished.
Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’
When he had said this, he breathed his last.”

- John 19:30 (NIV)