Recorded Service: 3.17.20
A Message from Campus Ministry Office
As for this moment, together we offer our prayers for you and for the world, to share in community in this season of social distancing, and find time to be united in the love of God for us and for the world.
Scripture Reading
From Romans 8:
It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised,
Who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution,
Or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Will shame or guilt, doubt or despair?
Will humiliating failure or staggering success?
What about memories from the past or anxieties about our future?
What about financial hardship or tanking stock markets,
the ever-changing news about the coronavirus and the pandemic upon us,
the social distancing and feeling of isolation?
What about the fear the seizes our hearts and the worry that follows us?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Christ who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
Nor thing present, nor things to come,
Nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
Will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Time for Prayer
Let us pray for the nations of the world,
pleading for mercy and healing,
For the places and peoples
living in fear and isolation.
We pray for the all the nations of the world where COVID-19 has disrupted lives, changed lives, and ended lives.
May our prayers rise for all in need, the interconnected circle of God鈥檚 beloved across the globe.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Listen, O God, to the prayers of your people.
We pray for the community of Wuhan, China,
for first to bear the brunt of this COVID-19.
Continue to strengthen the resolve of the Chinese people
As they work to restore the Wuhan region and the whole nation.
We pray also for South Korea mobilizing to contain the virus
And offering wisdom to other nations how
Send these nations your love, send them power, send them grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Listen, O God, to the prayers of your children.
We pray for the nations of Europe scrambling as medical facilities are overwhelmed
and panic is real. For Italy, Spain, Germany, and the other countries of working
around the clock for the healing and restoration of people.
For the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Israel.
May ancient animosities be overcome
and may a spirit of resolve bring people together
as one human family in the struggle for the wellness of all.
Send these nations your love, send them power, send them grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Listen, O God, to the prayers of your children.
We pray for other continents and peoples in this pandemic
mobilizing against the coronavirus even as cases continue to rise:
For Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Namibia, and the whole African people.
For Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and the whole of Central and South America.
Guide leaders to act swiftly with concern and compassion for all.
Send these nations your love, send them power, send them grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Amid all the peoples and nations in need of our prayers, we also lift up the United States.
As the virus spreads in our country, strengthen local leaders: mayors, business owners, city councils, governors, legislatures, our country鈥檚 Administration, CDC personnel, and all federal workers. May decisions be made for the wellbeing of all, especially the more vulnerable in our midst.
For doctors and the nurses, for pharmacists and lab technicians, and for all healthcare workers at the frontlines of flattening the curve of this disease. Empower them and their families who watch them leave each morning to do this critical work.
Send these leaders your love, send them your power, send them your grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Bless and keep colleges and universities around the country shifting
into new ways of 听being to assure ongoing learning for students.
We pray for 绿茶直播 in these hours:
For the administration working around the clock to provide guidance and safety;
For faculty members sharing their wisdom and gifts, adapting teaching methods, and working with compassionate hearts for the sake of every student鈥檚 education;
For staff members supporting the ongoing work of this institution amid the stresses of social distancing and school closures.
And for all wonderful, talented students of Augsburg,
near and far in these days of Spring Break.
Uphold and keep them in these anxious days of unknowns
even as they lead us and support us in being community together
committed to serving as neighbor to each other.
Send us all, O God, your power, send us love, send us grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
Amid these challenges for us, our communities, for our University, our nation, the world, O God, help us be calm and centered;
when information comes
from all sides, help us to discern;
when fear makes it hard to breathe,
and anxiety seems to be the order of the day,
grant us courage and hope.
Inspire us and empower us to reach out with our hearts,
when we can’t touch with our hands;
help us to be socially connected,
when we have to be physically distant;
Where sickness and grief are real, grant healing and comfort.
Where distrust twists our thinking, grant and illumination.
Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams.
All these things we ask trusting that nothing can separate us
From God in Christ Jesus 鈥� our power, our love, our grace.
Lord, Listen to your Children Praying
BENEDICTION
And now, Auggies, receive this blessing for the journey ahead:
May the God of love, power, grace fill you with all joy and peace in believing
that we all may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We dwell in hope. Amen. Let it be so.
