by Leigh Ann Dilley on January 01, 2023
Every Moment Holy, by Douglas Kaine Mckelvey
A New Year's Liturgy:
O Children of the Living God,
what is your FAther's greatest desire
for you this year?
That we should love our eternal King
with all our hearts,
with all our souls,
with all our minds,
and with all our strength.
And how would you show this love?
By remembering him at all times.
By cultivating thankfulness
for his many blessings, and trusting
his good providence
for the meeting of our needs.
By loving all whose lives intersect our own.
By choosing to serve rather
than to be served, to be wounded
rather than to wound, and by bearing
patiently with the failings of others,
extending the same kindness,
mercy, and compassion that God in Christ
has so graciously offered us.
We would also love Him by serving
with faithfulness and due passion
in our various vocations,
by delighting in all things He has created
for our benefit and pleasure, and by caring
well for all He has given us to steward.
O Children of the Living God, you would do
well to practice your love in these ways today!
Do you now possess the needed strength
to perfectly accomplish such holy requirements?
We do not. We are weak and inconsistent
and often buffeted by fear and pride
and selfishness. But being impoverished
and ill-equipped as we are,
we will look to the grace of God
and to the sanctifying work of the Spirit
to accomplish His purposes
in and through us this day and this year,
as we, in grateful response,
seek to choose that which pleases Him.
We open our hearts anew to You this morning.
O Lord, that the love of the Father
and the life of Christ
and the breath of the Spirit
would quicken within us
a greater affection for your ways.
Work your will in us, Lord Christ.
Let us now bring before our gracious God
any petitions relevant to this day and to this year.
O Lord, hear our prayers.
O Children of God, casting your cares
upon His strong shoulders,
now surrender your own agendas for this day and this year,
and instead be led by the workings of His Spirit.
Open our eyes and our hearts, O Lord,
to your words and truth.
Prepare our bodies for the labors of this year.
Give us strength and health
to complete them.
Prepare our minds for the demands of this year.
Grant us clarity, creativity, and discernment.
Prepare our souls for those sorrows and joys
and celebrations and disappointments
we will encounter, that every circumstance
would serve only to draw us nearer to You.
May our words, our choices,
and our actions this year be offered
as true expressions of worship.
Now you who are loved of God,
step forward into this new year
appointed by Him, that you might
journey through its days
in peace and the grace
and the love for your Lord.
Lead us this year, Lord Christ,
that we might walk its paths
in the light of the hope of our coming redemption.
Amen.
