Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love. Heal those who are sick with the virus. 
May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care. Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another. Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders.

Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace. Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace. Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves 
at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace. Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.

Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages curing every disease and illness. Come to our aid now, that we may experience your healing love. Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow. Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few, Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace.
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Jesus Christ, heal us. Amen.

Dear Members and Friends of CDLC –
Believe it or not, November 2020 is the NINTH month of Covid-19. To say the least, we all have been undergoing challenges in our lives. But since God is on our side, we shall endure.

The Blessing Box that is part of the ministry of our Sherman Park Gathering Place (SPGP) has been visited more often in the past nine months than any previous time, as you can probably understand. We are very grateful to the JOMM (Just One More Ministry) program for their donations of food that help to keep the Box full. And we are equally grateful to our individual donors who bring us items from their grocery shopping outings.

SPGP has received grants to assist us with the Blessing Box. Part of one grant demands that we raise matching funds for the month of November. Therefore, throughout this month, any monetary donations that we receive from our members and friends will be matched by the grantor. Please take a moment to write a check payable to Capitol Drive Lutheran Church – and put “Blessing Box Donation” on the memo line. Then mail your generous donation to CDLC, 5229 W. Capitol Drive, Milwaukee, WI, 53216.
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God bless you for helping us take care of our neighbors in need with compassion, understanding, and food.
Sincerely,
Steve O’Connell, Director, SGPG
 
 

Creator God, our hearts are filled with sadness, anger, concern, and fear as we consider all that is happening in Kenosha. We lift before you all whose lives have been impacted, especially Jacob Blake and his family, those injured and killed in the protests, business owners whose livelihood has been destroyed, protestors crying out for justice and reform, police officers struggling to serve and protect, elected officials working to address longstanding injustice and discrimination, residents who are fearful and grief-stricken, and the congregations, pastors, and leaders who are trying to hold a space for lament, confession, renewal, and transformation. Grant us peace, grant us courage, grant us hope, that we might find our way through this current time and find ourselves more closely connected to you and to one another as we inch our way toward the beloved community you desire for us all. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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LOST IN THE EDITING PROCESS? - From Genesis: “And God rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done in creation. But on the eighth day God said, ‘Let us make masks to protect all that we have created.’ And God made masks to cover the human mouths and noses to protect creation. And God saw that masks were good.” From Exodus there is this lost commandment: “You shall wear a face mask and practice social distancing. You shall honor one another in this way.”
 
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Wear Your Masks Every Day and Everywhere, please!
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Teach us to see the face of your Son on every person we meet. Instruct us to see Jesus in every person, knowing that every person is your daughter or son, your creation. Amen.
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Hate has become quite the overused word.  We tend to talk about things we hate when we really mean we dislike something. However, there are times when we let hate into our hearts and it sits there and festers inside of us. When we allow hate to take over, we allow darkness to enter into us. It clouds our judgment, makes us more negative; it adds a bitterness to our lives. However, God offers us another direction.  God tells us we can overcome hate and replace it with forgiveness and acceptance. God gives us a chance to bring the light back into our hearts, no matter how much we try to hold onto the hate. Let us pray:
 
Loving and ever-living God: In your love and in your will, let me be a beacon for your love to everyone in my world. In your love and in your will, help me be the person in my world who stops hatred one person at a time. Keep me ever mindful of the connection all people have with each other so I may also see how important it is for me to love others. Remind me I do not have to have great power in the world to stop hatred. Remind me I do not have to be a person of great influence to stop the hatred that so easily infects the heart, mind, and soul of so many. Remind me I need no earthly wealth to stop hatred. Remind me I need no earthly army to ward off those who have hate in their hearts. Help me to show others they are wanted and needed. Help me to show others they are important to me and to the world. Help me to show others how much I appreciate them. Help me to never ignore people. All these things I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ, your only Son, our Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
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​Let us pray . . .
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
 

Almighty God: Bless the public servants in the government of the United States, that they may do their work in a spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice. Help them use their authority to serve faithfully and to promote our common life. Bless us, the citizens of this country that we, in times of conflict, engage one another without hatred or bitterness, that we listen for your voice amid competing claims, and that we work together with mutual forbearance and respect and civility. Bless us, the voters in upcoming elections. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, give us the wisdom to make the right choices for the benefit of our communities, and inspire us to serve all our neighbors. Bless the leaders of our land that we may be at peace among ourselves, and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
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Gracious God: Where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Let us pray: God of Goodness, you know that the violence in our community is out of control. It is taking our helpless and innocent ones, it is taking our children. And we confess that, beyond the violence in our streets, there is violence in our own hearts. We contribute to a culture of violence whenever we give in to hatred, fear, indifference, and our own self-satisfaction.
It seems that we are growing numb to the suffering, the loss, and the indignity done to our sisters and brothers and to our Earth. But in our hearts, and in the heart of the community, help us to value life and beauty over instant satisfaction, and to value sharing over greed. Empower us to acknowledge and affirm our children, our spouses, our neighbors, and seek respectful solutions to our conflicts. Create through us a world where it will be easier to be good.
Your Spirit, given to us, is not timid. Therefore, each of us can do something, person by person, family by family, community by community, to realize that we are one—one body, one people, and one earth. By your design, we thrive or we perish together.
Holy One, give us the grace of hope. Give us the dedication to goodness and truth as we seek to restore our community to wholeness and life. Enable us in this way, to take back our city and our country from the violence and crippling fear we find in our midst.
Trusting that your desire for us is peace, not disaster, we pray this in your name. Amen.

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