Concerning God.

As creator and sovereign, God is con¬cerned about, has a purpose for, and is active in every aspect of the life of the individual and the world. God is righteous, and we cannot be right with him simply by being faithful to the formali¬ties of religion (Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:8; Mart. 23:23). Also, we cannot be right with God unless we are right with our fellow human beings (Isa. 1:10-18). God is light (1 John 1:5), and we are to walk in the light as he is in the light (1 John 1:7). He is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and he loved the world enough to give his Son (John 3:26). We ought to love one another as God loves us (1 John 4:11). Our love should be extended to all persons (1 Thess. 3:12) including our enemies (Mart. 5:44). God is the Father of all who are in his spiritual family (Deut. 32:6; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; Jet. 3:19) and has the fatherly attitude toward all hu¬manity, causing his sun to shine and his rain to fall on the evil and the good, the just and the unjust (Mart. 5:45). God is holy (Exod. 15:11) and his people are to be holy (Lev. 11:44; Heb. 12:14).

Christmas Prayer 2009

Dear Lord, our Gracious Heavenly Father, we come to You this Christmas, on tip-toe, breathless with wonder, filled with expectancy.

We realize You are the God Who said, "Let Light shine out of darkness," and You have shown Your Light in our hearts. You’ve given us the Light of knowledge, the knowledge of Your Glory.

At this wonderful moment of Christmas, we feel the quietness and stillness of Your Presence, and sense fear and apprehension losing their terrible hold on us.

We are discovering…that You are at work, fashioning us into the likeness of Him, we name the Savior.

We thank You for those who are near to us, for those physically present, and for those who are near, though in distant places, and those who have come home to you.

We thank You for the fellowship of believers in Christ the world over with whom we are truly family…brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are here in this beautiful home now, as many of us have been here before, and some of us coming for the first time.

With the old year just about gone, and a new year arriving with fresh opportunities, new beginnings, and the promise that You will be our Vanguard and lead the way…so that we may safely step into what You have awaiting us…so that we may become

GREAT…in Service to You
GREAT…in Holiness
GREAT…in Love, and
GREAT…in Venturing into new directions

Afresh with the certainty that Jesus was born…to die…that by His shed blood we are made well, whole, and clean again, and the Day, that Grand Day, will arrive when we shall see Him Face to Face.

With our thanksgivings, we want to bring to You our confessions: the miserliness of our devotion and the oft times frailty of our faith.

Our lives are cluttered with memories of faults and failures.

There have been pains which made us cynical, when they should have made us penitent and humble.

There have been sorrows that made us petulant and complaining, when they should have made us tender, kind, and sympathetic.

There have been those close to us who have been harmed by our words and our manner, when they should have found in us an encouragement to undertake the chores of honor.

We come to You, O Savior, with all this heavy baggage of regret that impairs us for the journey ahead.

By Your Grace, on this Christmas Day, and before this Table, remove the burdens of our remembered wrongs, and in Christ our Lord, give us His kindly yoke by the removal of our transgressions.

Speak peace to our hearts now…the peace which would pass all understanding…speak that Peace to all the world…so engulfed in turmoil, yet the object of Your Love.

Establish our land in justice and in truth with Christ as the standard of what justice and truth should be.

Be the helpful friend, and the transformer of life, for all in this house tonight, and loved one far away.

Now Lord, turn our hearts to Victory…the Victory that has already been won…and the Victory that will be won…on that day when every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, that Christ alone is Lord of all.

Even so, Lord, come soon! For we pray as You taught us: Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever. Amen.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

In a world characterized by growing prosperity for some and pervasive poverty for others, Christian teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, Christian tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

Scripture teaches that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable (Ex 22:20-26). The prophets denounced injustice toward the poor as a lack of fidelity to the God of Israel (Is 1:21-23; Jer 5:28). Jesus, who identified himself with the least of these (Mt 25:40-45), came to preach the good news to the poor and told us, “Give to him who asks of you, do not refuse one who would borrow from you” (Mt 11:5; 5:42). The Church calls on all of us to embrace this preferential love of the poor and vulnerable, to embody it in our lives, and to work to have it shape public policies and priorities.

Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Christian belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the principles of Christian social teaching. People are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

The human person is central, the clearest reflection of God among us; Each person possesses a basic dignity that comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment; The test of every human institution or policy is whether it enhances the life and dignity of the human person.