Opening Prayer
Great Gardener, please don’t give up on us. We believe that You emptied Yourself in Jesus, descending to the depths of our human experience. Your Word and presence are planted irrevocably in the soil of our human history. In raising Jesus from and as the Tree of Life, You lifted us all together, making us holy and life-giving. Nurture us today so that we don’t screw it up and become fruitless. Fertilize us again with hope. We only blossom and bear fruit through You! Empower us to see what kind of trees we are and where you have planted us, so that we can fit well into the landscape You are creating. Teach us to cherish, understand and reverence our role in the forest – in the Body of Your Son. Give us Your Wisdom so that we see the disasters and darkness of our lives, not as punishments, but as opportunities for refining grace and growth.
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