Prayers for Concordia Lutheran Mission Society Sunday – May 25, 2008

Heavenly Father, from eternity you have loved this world, and all that you have made. And from eternity, you have determined that you would not consign us to the judgment earned by our disobedience, without dispatching your Son on His life and death mission to save us. We praise you for your unconditional love and bow before you in humble adoration. Lord, in your mercy... hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, true God with the Father, and true man with the least among us, we thank you for taking on our nature, for your perfect righteousness and your innocent death as our substitute. We praise you for your glorious victory over death, and your continued intercession for us sinners. Lord, in your mercy ... hear our prayer.

O Holy Spirit, we thank you for continuing to establish and extend your church throughout the world, as you turn men's hearts from darkness to light. Work with your gentle power so that God's life-giving Word may bring about repentance and faith in the one true God and his eternal salvation. Lord, in your mercy ... hear our prayer.

We thank you, O God, for the faithful men and women, and for all the missionary families, who lift up your Name in other lands and among those who do not yet know you. Protect them in their labours, give them courage in the face of adversity, and open doors of opportunity for their witness. And grant that we, here at home, surrounded as we are by churches and external trappings of the faith, may also be just as zealous in sharing our faith with others. Lord, in your mercy ... hear our prayer.

Today we pray and give thanks for the blessings you have brought to our own Synod's mission efforts through the Concordia Lutheran Mission Society and those who have been partners in ministry through their prayers and gifts. Bless the new outreach in Cambodia and Thailand, and the on-going work in Central America, the Ukraine and within our own country. Extend your blessing also to all mission agencies and societies that seek to make your saving love known throughout the world. Lord, in your mercy ... hear our prayer.

Grant to all of us, and to your church throughout the world, the grace to see the world as you see it -- through eyes of compassion and mercy, so that when this present age comes to its end, we, along with multitudes that cannot be numbered, may gather around your throne in endless worship and praise, to our God, Father Son, and Holy Spirit. Lord, in your mercy ... hear our prayer. Amen.