On this national holiday weekend, we gather in thanks to God for our nation, and for all that it accomplished in the past, for its best traditions that it seeks to maintain in the present, and for the benefits it can bring to its citizens and to the world in the future. In worshiping God, we thank Him for His guidance of our nation, and petition Him to continue to be with us as we go forward. Therefore, let us as committed Christians and citizens of this great nation, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
Loving God, on this Labor Day weekend we praise and thank Thee for our vocations and occupations. Although most of us have retired from our working careers, nevertheless we express gratitude to Thee for the enjoyment and satisfaction we derived from being involved in pursuits of labor which benefitted not only ourselves, but also countless other people. We pray Thy blessing to be with people who are seeking employment and are having a hard time finding it, and also with those who are attempting to enter this country as documented immigrants in hopes of finding far better working conditions than exist in the nations from which they are emigrating. Bless the labor of all those who work for the good of all, seeking also to bring blessings to themselves and their families.
We ask Thee to inspire all those who may be trying to bilk national and state systems by avoiding employment, seeking to receive welfare benefits intended for those who are unable to work. We also pray Thy forgiveness on those who accuse everyone on welfare of bilking the system. Through Thy spirit within us, help us to become a more cohesive body politic than we now are, so that all of us may labor more effectively to make the United States of America a more productive, inclusive, and wholesome nation than currently it is.
We ask Thee to be especially present in the lives of every family member of every person mentioned in the obituaries of every newspaper in the world, and of all those whose names never are included in any obituaries. Grant to all of us a more realistic understanding of death, so that we come to perceive it not as the ultimate enemy but rather as the ultimate end to a penultimate, eternal life. Be with those who are battling illness, and thus the possibility of death, with those who are undergoing deep psychic pain because of broken relationships or circumstantial uncertainties or devastating memories. We are weak, but Thou art strong. Therefore, be Thou our strength, O God. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, who, by Thy grace, has brought us into Thy presence. Now we pray as Jesus taught his first disciples, saying, Our Father….