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Prayer & worship


Prayer and worship are both vital parts of the time leading towards 2010 and the conference itself. We invite you to join in prayer with all those who look with faith and hope towards the centenary.

 

E2010 Worship Material

Edinburgh 2010 invites Christians all over the world to commemorate the Centenary of the 1910 World Missionary Conference in their locality. Feel free to use the following worship material in your services on mission:

        Ecumenical Mission Pilgrimage


        The Ecumenical Mission Pilgrimage was created in the context of Edinburgh 2010 and was part of the conference in June 2010. The "stations" were developed cooperatively by the Edinburgh 2010 stakeholders, representing Methodist, Anglican, Seventh-day Adventist, Lutheran, Evangelical, Baptist, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Reformed Christians together with the Ecumenical Disabilities Advocates Network and an Interfaith Mediation Center in Nigeria. The work was led by Jet den Hollander of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. For further details, click here.


        Edinburgh 1910 Hymns

        The feature of the 1910 World Missionary Conference which would be most remembered was its inner spiritual engine - the worship and prayer which lay at its heart. The hymns which were sung at the Assembly Hall in June 1910 might inspire you for chosing material in 2010. A list of 1910 hymns can be downloaded here.

         

        SCOT 2010 Prayer Card

        The SCOT team invites you to use this prayer card in worship, in prayer groups or at home. Please click here to download the prayer card, print it off, cut it out and fold it. For further information please email contact (at) scot2010.org.uk.


        2010.global Prayer

        Our 2010.global project invites Christians all over the world to celebrate God's call to mission. For further information, please follow this link. Edinburgh 2010 offers this prayer for all to use, as a global and united expression of thankfulness to God.

        God of Grace
        Your love flows in abundance through your world.
        You have come close, touched our pain,
        And fired our hearts with hope.
        As now we give you thanks,
        And celebrate your mission
        To reconcile, heal and transform,
        Fill us with your irrepressible Spriti of love
        Made known among us in Jesus Christ our Lord.

        Amen

         

        Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010

        The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2010 took up the Edinburgh 2010 strapline: Witnessing to Christ Today. Material for this event is prepared annually by Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. This year the initial work was done by Christians in Scotland. 

        The material can be downloaded from the World Council of Churches website here.

         

        Monthly Prayers

        May 2010

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        The two disciples got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

        Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

        Luke 24:33-36; 45-48

        Take time to ponder that word and to pray

        Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead, thank you for your presence in the world.                                                           

        Help those who assemble in the coming 2010 Conference in Edinburgh to experience your being among them as they talk together about all that has happened on the way.

        Fill their lives with your peace.
        Open their minds to understand the scriptures.
        Strengthen them to commit themselves once more to carry your message to the nations.

        Encourage them to lead others by word and example in fidelity to you
        and enable us who listen in hope to follow on your way.

        Lord in mercy here our prayer.

         

        April 2010

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        Late that same day, the first day of the week, when the disciples were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you!" he said; then he showed them his hands and his side. On seeing the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed. Jesus said again, "Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit!"

        John 20:19-22

        Photo Pascha procession Amsterdam

        To ponder that Word, the source of mission, and to pray 

        Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, thank you for your presence in the world.

        You know our pain and fear; you bring to us your peace.

        Fill us with your joy, send us in your name; wherever we are, make us faithful messengers of your Gospel. Let your Holy Spirit be the source of our life, guiding  us in all our ways. May we bring your life and joy to the hopeless, the abandoned ones, the weary and the dying. May we be truly channels of your peace. Amen, amen, may it be so.

         

        March 2010

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

        Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and all the holy angels."

        Luke 9:22-26

        Take time to ponder that Word, and to pray

        We pray particularly in the name of all those who suffer and endure for the sake of the Gospel, in spite of persecution, ridicule, loss of position or support. We pray in the words of the Psalm, recalling that Jesus used these same prayers in his life on earth. We pray for courage, love and trust in God.


        Psalm 69

        O God, make haste to help me

        O God, make haste to my rescue,
        Lord, come to my aid!
        Let there be shame and confusion on those who seek my life.

        Let them turn back in confusion
        Who delight in my harm,
        Let them retreat, covered with shame, who jeer at my lot.

        Let there be rejoicing and gladness
        For all who seek you.
        Let them say forever "God is great", who love your saving help.

        As for me, wretched and poor,
        Come to me, O God.
        You are my rescuer, my help,
        O Lord, do not delay.

        O God, make haste to help me.

         

        February 2010

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        I take no pleasure in your sacred ceremonies.
        When you bring me your whole-offerings and your grain-offerings
        I shall not accept them.
        Spare me the sound of your songs;
        I shall not listen to the strumming of your lutes.
        Instead, let justice flow on like a river
        And righteousness like a never-failing torrent.

        You thrust aside all thought of the evil day
        And hasten the reign of violence.
        You loll on beds inlaid with ivory
        And lounge on your couches;
        You feast on lambs from the flock
        And stall-fed calves:
        You drink wine by the bowlful
        And anoint yourselves with the richest of oils;
        But at the ruin of Joseph you feel no grief.

        Amos 5:21 – 6:6

        Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail:
        They shall be satisfied.

        Matthew 5:6

        Take time to ponder that Word and to pray

        Almighty God, Creator of all, enlighten our minds and move our hearts with understanding of your will for this world and its peoples. We hear the challenge of your prophet in times long past. We hear the voice of your Son and ask the grace to follow his way in our lives. We see the distress of the suffering poor, these days in Haiti. We give you humble thanks for the courage and love of those who go to help. We see the destruction on the earth worked by greed and pride. Move us, o God, to a missionary faith that acts justly and seeks justice for the poor, in the Spirit of your Son.

        Amen

         

        January 2010

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said, ‘Someone is coming after me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’

        It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised in the Jordan by John.  No sooner had he come up out of the water than he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you.’

         Mark 1:7-11  

        Take time to ponder that Word and to pray

        This month we meet across the churches in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Let us ask for the grace to see and hear one another with love and respect, as brothers and sisters of the Son of the Father.

        Father in heaven, you revealed Christ as your Son by the voice that spoke over the waters of the Jordan. Grant us the grace that all who share in that sonship may follow on his way of service to humankind. Let his kingdom be shown in its beauty in all places on earth. Give us the wisdom and love to see and hear one another as brothers and sisters as we reflect on the meaning of Mission, and humbly learn to understand his way.

        We make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.

        Amen

         

        Advent

        December 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.   

        Luke 2:15-19

        Take time to ponder that Word and to pray

        Father of Mercies, draw us once more this December to contemplate the Child in the manger – your Son, born of Mary, God become man, God here for us. Teach us how to tell this story, as the shepherds did, now, to the men and women of our time. Fill our hearts with love and concern for the children of this world, the small ones who remind us of your coming. Let your love reach out through your people, especially to children in need or oppressed. And remind us always that unless we become as children, we will never find your kingdom.

        Amen

         

        Photo of praying man

        November 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        Be generous to your servant and I shall live,
        and shall keep your words.

        Open my eyes and I shall fix my gaze
        on the wonders of your law.

        Traveller though I am on the earth,
        do not hide your commandments from me.

        My heart is pining away with longing
        at all times for your judgements.

        You have rebuked the arrogant
        who stray from your commandments.

        Set me free from taunts and contempt
        because I observe your instructions.

        Psalm 119:17-22

        Ponder that Word, and pray

        Let us pray particularly this month for all young people who look for truth and justice; that they may find help and encouragement for a life lived in the presence of God, and that adults who claim to be Christian may offer them genuine leadership and care.

        Almighty God, lover of all who inhabit our earth, grant that we may recognise your Spirit at work in every time and place where mercy and justice are sought and shared. Call us and gift us to be makers of peace and to bring healing where there is pain and hurt. Inspire in us a longing for your reign to come in our hearts and in our living. Let us be true disciples of Christ the teacher and true apostles, sent in his name. Fill the minds and hearts of young men and women with the desire to know you and to serve you in their brothers and sisters, especially those in poverty and need. Hear our prayer, o Lord of all.

        Amen

         

        Photo of praying woman at Notre Dame, Paris

        October 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        Thomas said to Jesus "Lord we do not know where you are going,
        so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered "I am the way and
        the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
        If you knew me you would know my Father as well.

        I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counsellor to be
        with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
        because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him …        

        John 14:5-7, 16-17

        Take time to ponder that Word and to pray

        Let us pray in particular this month for those who share in the Study Process around the world, and for the men and women chosen as delegates to the 2010 Conference.

        Lord Jesus Christ, teacher and guide, we trust in your promise. Hear our prayer for those who gather to search for your way. Ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit of Truth to fill their minds and hearts. Grant them the grace to welcome that gift with humble faith and to allow that truth to lead them together into your mission in the world. Hear our prayer, o Lord.  

        Amen

         

        Photo of a Orthodox Church on Santorini

        September 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        'When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun. From first to last this has been the work of God. God has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and he has enlisted us in this service of reconciliation....he has entrusted us with the message of reconciliation. We come therefore as Christ's ambassadors.'  

        2 Corinthians 5:17-20

        Ponder that Word ... reconciliation ... Christ's ambassadors ...
        and let us pray

        God of mercies, we give you thanks and praise that you have indeed called us to serve as bearers of the message of reconciliation. Enable us to be true ambassadors, loyal to Christ Jesus your Son, faithful to his truth, bearers of his gospel. We give you thanks for the many men and women who have accepted this mission with courage and humility. May we learn together from their witness. In your mercy, hear our prayer.

        Amen 

         

        Photo of a child praying

        August 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        'They set off privately by boat for a lonely place.
        But many saw them leave
        and recognised them and came round by land,
        hurrying from all the towns towards the place,
        and arrived there first.
        When Jesus came ashore, he saw a great crowd,
        and his heart went out to them,
        because they were like sheep without a shepherd,
        and he had much to teach them.'

        Mark 6:32-34

        To ponder that Word and to pray

        Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to see as you see. Inspire us with your own Spirit of compassion and love. May our hearts too go out to the many who today seek safety, healing, assurance and purpose in life. Call us again as your disciples to learn together your way of mission. Enable us to reverence and encourage all those who live with faith in your presence and celebrate your glory. Together we will praise you.

        Amen

         

        Photo of a holy bible in a leather case

        July 2009

        Take time to listen to the Word of God

        'God loved the world so much
        that he gave his only Son,
        that everyone who has faith in him
        may not die but have eternal life.
        It was not to judge the world
        that God sent his Son into the world,
        but that through him the world might be saved.'
        (John 3:16)

        ... to ponder that Word, the source of mission, and to pray.

        Almighty and Most Holy Trinity,
        We give you thanks for the powerful love which sent Jesus into the world.

        Clear the darkness from our hearts and minds, fill us with that power of love,
        Make us ready to be sent, in his name and for his mission, everyday.

        Amen