Eternal One, we gather in your house once again for worship.  Because this is the first Sunday of a new month, we will also come before the table of your Son, and remember his words to us; “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  What a friend you have given us in Jesus, O God.  We thank you for the gift of your Son and for his willingness to become forever friends with us through his passion.  It has been said that the best way to have a friend is to be a friend.  This morning, we pray for strength, courage, and perseverance of spirit to be Jesus’ friends in the world.  Help us and empower us to love one another as Christ has loved us; fully, completely, and without judgement.  When we might be tempted to label someone as other, help us to see the face of Jesus in them and then, by your Spirit, let love turn strangers into friends.

     We continue to lift up and pray for peace in the Middle East and on college campuses across our nation.  We pray for those affected by strong storms and flooding that change life as they know it, and we are thankful for those people and services that will assist them in their need.  We pray for those who are dealing with health concerns, and we ask for healing and wholeness.  We pray for families, businesses, and churches who are struggling in a struggling economy.  Jesus come for we invite you, Guest and Master, Friend and Lord.  Together with you, we sing the prayer you taught all who would be your followers and friends, “Our Father, who art in heaven…