17 August, 2012

Pay attention

God, may we not be so concerned with our own needs that we fail to see the needs of others—in our neighborhood, in our church, in our school, even in our family. Thank you for fulfilling our needs with this food. Amen.

14 August, 2012

Singing Grace

Can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, twinkle little star"

God of love and God of grace,
now we come to you in praise
thanking you for all you give:
family, friends, and food to live.
Bless this meal and help us be
folks who serve you faithfully.

12 August, 2012

Unending Grace

Everlasting God,
Like the waves of an ocean your love never stops. Day after day your blessings wash over us, enriching our lives. Thank you for this meal. May we live each day in worship of you. Amen.

10 August, 2012

Sensing Grace

Dear God,
For eyes to see, ears to hear,
for mouths to speak and chew,
for this food and all your gifts
we give our thanks to you.
Amen.

08 August, 2012

Incomparable Grace

Merciful God,
This grace we offer in thanks for our meal can not compare to the grace with which you forgive us so freely and lovingly. Accept our thanks for your grace and for this food. Amen.

06 August, 2012

Abundant grace


Gracious God,
Fruits and vegetables, bread and cheese,
meat and sweet desserts that please,
all the foods that help us grow
come to us from you, we know.
So we thank you, and we pray
that we'll serve you every day.

Amen.

04 August, 2012

Guiding grace

We pray, O God, you'll bless this meal.
And bless us, too, so we may feel
your holy presence at our side.
Throughout our life, Lord, be our guide.

Amen.

03 August, 2012

Loving grace

We thank you for the good things, Lord,
that come from you above.
Please bless this food, and help us learn
to live a life of love.
Amen.

01 August, 2012

Reaping Grace

Almighty God,
You have fed us with the harvest of the fields and nourished us with the fruit of the land. May we not forget to feed our minds by reading your Word and spending time with you. Amen.

30 July, 2012

Sharing Grace

"The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings." * Thank you, God, for the earth. Give us the desire to take good care of it and share what it produces so all people in all lands may be fed. Amen.

* Psalm 115:16, NRSV

28 July, 2012

Spiritual & Physical food

God of hope,
The Bible nourishes our minds and helps us grow spiritually. Your gifts of food nourish our bodies and help us grow physically. Thank you for both, and for all your blessings.

Amen.

26 July, 2012

Loving grace

Loving Father, 
Be with us as we share this meal 
for which we give you praise. 
Your loving presence may we feel 
throughout all our days. 

Amen.

24 July, 2012

Salt and Light

God, who calls us to be salt for the world, may our words be seasoned with grace.
Lord, who calls us to be light to the world, may this food nourish us so we may shine your love to everyone we meet.
Amen.

See Matthew 5:13-16

22 July, 2012

Unfailing Grace

God,
Every day, without fail, you love us and bless us and feed us. Thank you.
Amen.

21 July, 2012

Thoughts on grace

Families grieve in Aurora, CO in the aftermath of a shooting. A gunman dressed in full body armor and wearing a gas mask stormed into a packed movie theater at a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. He set off smoke bombs and then fired at the frightened patrons, killing 12 and wounding at least 50.

Who knows what snapped the man's mind and caused him to commit such horror. And I am sure people will wish the worst on him. I've already heard one person say, "I wouldn't care if a cop took him out and saved us the time and expense of a trial and imprisonment." Others have said, "At least in other shootings like this most of the killers had the decency yo shoot themselves."

Don't thoughts like that reduce us to the same low level of inhumanity? Is that justice or vengeance?

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims as much as anybody else. My thoughts and prayers are also with the family of the shooter, for what guilt and shame must they feel about this member of their family that caused so much pain and tragedy.

And my thoughts and prayers are with the gunman himself, that God will show him as much mercy and grace as He does to me, for I am just as much a sinner as he is. Sure, my sins are not as heinous and horrible as his, but they are sins all the same. In God's eyes a sinner is a sinner, no matter the sin.

As Paul writes in Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." All of us are sinners. All of us, whether our sins are "little" or "big" are in need of God's grace. None of us deserves our next breath but God, out of his amazing and unending grace, gives it to us.

So I pray for God's comforting presence to be with the families of the victims, that through the loving presence of God and others, and through counseling, they may find, over time, healing and peace. May they find it in their hearts, eventually, to respond as the Amish did after the Nickel Mines shooting, and forgive the man who shattered their lives.

I pray for the family of the shooter, that they may find the comfort and counsel they need to deal with this, and that they may realize that the blame others may ascribe to them is misplaced.

I pray for the gunman, that God will look on him with the same mercy and grace God gives me. Yes, he deserves punishment from us, but not vengeance. I pray some godly person will reach out to him to show him that God does not reject him but God still loves him and offers him grace through Jesus Christ.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. " (Romans 6:23)

Abundant Grace

God of life, Thank you for all we have, including the abundance on this table. May we always remember that true life does not come from the abundance of our possessions* but from following you and showing compassion to the needy as Jesus did. Amen.

* See Luke 12:15

19 July, 2012

Lavish Grace

God,
If we listed everything for which we are thankful we might be here for days, so we'll just say, "thank you for everything." Bless this food. May it strengthen us to serve you. Amen.

17 July, 2012

July 17

We thank God for the sun and rain
that feeds the orchard fruit and grain.
Thank God for trees and tiny seeds
from which comes food to fill our needs.
Thank God for joys that fill our days.
To God we'll always give our praise.

Amen.