This weekend’s message from James 2:1-13 emphasized the importance of living out our faith free of favoritism. At the end of the message I read a prayer adapted from something written by Leslie Brandt. This prayer entitled “resolve” is given below. Erica and Kathy sang a great song about welcoming all in Jesus’ name. The song “Please Come” by Nichole Nordeman can be found on iTunes. The Lyrics are below as well.
“Resolve” – a prayer by Leslie Brandt
More than anything else in heaven or on earth,
I pray for the power to love my fellow person,
To break through the condemning bigotry,
The crippling prejudice,
The stifling self-centeredness
that smothers God’s Spirit within me.
And to channel and communicate divine love
to lonely, loveless people around me.
And I pray as well for the ability to translate
the message of God’s eternal love into words and actions
that will pierce the hearts of busy men and women
and move their hearts to faith and obedience to Christ.
“Please Come” – a song from Nichole Nordeman
Oh, the days when I drew lines around my faith
To keep you out, to keep me in, to keep it safe
Oh, the sense of my own self entitlement
To say who’s wrong or won’t belong or cannot stay
‘Cause somebody somewhere decided
We’d be better off divided
And somehow despite the damage done
He says, ‘come’ …
There is room enough for all of us, please come
And the arms are open wide enough, please come
And our parts are never greater than the sum
This is the heart of the One
Who stands before an open door and bids us, ‘come’
Oh, the times when I haved failed to recognise
How may chairs are gathered there around the feast
To break the bread and break these boundaries
That have kept us from our only common ground
The invitation to sit down
If we will come …
There is room enough for all of us, please come
And the arms are open wide enough, please come
And our parts are never greater than the sum
This is the heart of the One
Who stands before an open door and bids us, ‘come’
Come, from the best of humanity
Come, from the depths of depravity
Come now and see how we need
Every different bead on this same string
Come …
There is room enough for all of us, please come
And the arms are open wide enough, please come
And our parts are never greater than the sum
This is the heart of the One
Who stands before an open door and bids us, ‘come’
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