Welcome to the CHS Vientiane Worship Service Resources
Opening Hymn of Praise
Jesus shall reign (MP 379)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE4DDB5whyk&list=PLdlokAj6uJureCPvUsFe_lslt8BfcXWhe&index=5
Our heavenly Father
thank you that you love us
and care for us all the time.
We know that this week
we have not always lived the way you tell us.
We have done wrong things
and not done all the good things we should have done.
Only you can save us,
so please forgive us
and help us to live as your friends.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Psalm: Psalm 1
First Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Second Reading: 1 John 5:9-13
Gospel: John 17:6-19 (To hear this read, please click here.)
Amen
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Thanksgiving
Creator God, as we draw ever nearer to Pentecost, we remember that in the beginning, the earth was ‘formless and empty, and that darkness was over the surface of the deep.’ But we remember too that You were present and that Your creative Spirit was on the startling line, ready to go.
And so we praise You that out of nothing You brought everything into being and that through Your spirit, we have order and not chaotic nothingness. As we lift our gaze to the stars, and as we marvel at the beauty of delicate flowers, with thankful hearts we rejoice in all that is; in all that You have given.
But we acknowledge the darkness of our own lives and our need for the light of Christ, ministered by the Spirit. Forgive us, we pray, our self-centredness, our fractiousness, our greed and all that is contrary to Your will for our lives. For a healing touch, we pray, and for a deep sense of assurance that Your love for us made known in Jesus is sufficient.
In the days to come, grant us an inner hunger for deeper communion with You and that we might delight all the more in Your living word. Might we be like ‘trees planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season.’
Intercession
Dear Heavenly Father
Thank you that we can come to you as a family in prayer this Sunday. Holy Spirit, help us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for. Intercede for us in accordance with the Father’s will, who searches our hearts and knows your mind and our minds.
Lord, we feel burdened this day to pray for countries severely affected by the pandemic, countries having the highest number of cases being the US, Brazil, India, as well as countries closer to home experiencing worrying second or third waves like Malaysia and Singapore.
Sovereign Lord, have mercy on the nations. We pray that in the divine name and power of Jesus those who are sick will find healing. Provide the medical resources to handle the surges of cases. Bless the authorities with resolve to implement measures to stop the spread of the virus.
[Pause to remember your home country as well as the church and your loved ones there]
For the nation of Laos, we thank you for the relatively low number of cases we have had. We acknowledge you for the determined response of the government and health authorities during this second wave. Thank you for the generous aid of other countries and local corporations, last year as well as in recent days, contributing funds, equipment and expertise to the people of Lao to help them combat Covid here.
Grant decisiveness to the newly-elected President and Prime Minister to steer the country on a secure path of recovery. Thank you for the Covid task forces, the security details and the response teams. Give them the stamina and good coordination to continue their watch. Be with the doctors and medical personnel as they treat, counsel and comfort patients and their families.
Be gracious, O Lord, to the education authorities. Guide them to decide well on the reopening of schools, the extension of the semester and the implementing of delayed promotional examinations.
For those in severe economic difficulty in this land as a result of the pandemic, Father, we pray that you help us be aware of them, make us mindful of them, and lead us your church in Laos to some of these needy to show your care and to declare to them the hope we have in you. Multiply the resources we have from you, Lord, that we may share materially with those who have not. May your name be exalted in and through your servants.
We uphold also those who have lost or are apart from their loved ones, that familial bonds might even be strengthened by separation and that distance may be no barrier to practical expressions of support and love.
[Pause for the Lord to bring loved ones and friends to mind]
Lord, we remember Samm and Sylvia Musoke, who are back in Novia Scotia but finding it tricky settling back in when so many things are on hold because of Covid. Help Samm begin well the long recovery after his recent knee surgery; give Sylvia the strength to help look after him. Provide for them, Lord Jesus, and keep them in your loving care.
We continue to remember Terry, Phouang and James in our prayers as Terry is being given palliative care at home. May your comforting presence and peace be with the family at this time and may they find hope and rest in you.
Besides the pandemic, O Lord, things are not well with the world. We feel we must pray for the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More hurt and hostility have transpired in recent days, threatening to break out in war yet again. Father, we beseech you to prevent an escalation of violence. May governments commit to putting an end to this conflict. Let oppression cease, let justice and fairness reign. Until there is understanding and peace in the land, please shelter innocent civilians from harm, get families to safety, and minimise disruption to already war-torn lives.
O God, as we pause in Covid lockdown, cause us to be quiet in the madness all around, to hear your still small voice even through inner turmoil, to realise afresh who we are in you.
[Pause in silence before the Lord to seek Him and hear His voice]
May our delight be in your word, Lord, and may we grow to recognise that you watch over the way of the righteous.
May we recognise that as believers, we share in your ministry.
May we learn to seek you and your choices in our decisions, for you know everyone’s heart.
May we believe your testimony more than human testimony, and thus grow in our knowledge of your Son and be livers of his eternal life.
May we grow in our conviction that we are yours and thus obey you more, that we are one in you, that we are protected and sanctified while sent into the world.
