[The pictures above are from our Monday Community Lunch 20th anniversary celebration held after our 10:30 Sunday worship service in Fellowship Hall. Our Monday Lunch coordinator, Tom Murray thanked our many Monday Lunch volunteers and parter groups who have made Monday Lunch such a successful outreach over these twenty years. One of those partners is our neighboring Ohio University. Many OU students have volunteered and have benefited from this lunch. OU President, Dr. Duane Nellis presented our church with a certificate of appreciation for this community outreach. This anniversary celebration fit in nicely with our Youth Sunday services which focused on the story of the Good Samaritan who helped someone in need.]
[Pastor Robert Invited People To Gather Around Our Youth & Extend a Hand of Blessing During the Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer.]
Dear God, on this Youth Sunday, we are especially thankful for our youth. Thank you for their energy, their willingness to lead us in worship this morning, their creativity, their honesty, and how they help us to see the world from their perspective.
We pray your blessings to be upon them this morning. Remind each of them that they have been created in your image. Your likeness is embedded within their very souls. You have given each of them a purpose. You have given them everything they need to reach their fullest potential.
When they face any challenge or temptation, remind them that your grace is being extended to them in any given moment to empower them to make good choices. May they never feel that they are alone because you are always with them. Your Holy Spirit is with them in whatever situation they may be facing.
During those times when they struggle, experience disappointment, or feel like they have failed in some way, come alongside them, so that they might know there is always a new beginning because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During any time of discouragement, remind them that with you, there is always new life, forgiveness, hope, joy, peace, and love.
And as we surround our youth this morning to bless them, we confess that we have not always been there for them. We sometimes wear our generational blinders and forget to look at the world through their eyes. We also admit that we don’t always listen to their needs, their dreams, and their longings. Help us to become better listeners, O God.
Remind us that our youth are not simply the future of the church. They are the church of today. We are all your church together in this very moment. We are here for each other because that’s what it means to be your church. And as our scripture reading today says, “Even youths will grow weary, but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”
May this time of blessing and prayer, renew our strength today whatever our age. Together, we join in praying the words that Jesus taught his disciples to say,
“Our Father, who art in heaven…”
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