Prayer For Shawn Bates, His Family and His New Home.
11 Highland avenue, Barre VT
By Pastor Chris Autry, Faith Community Church of Barre
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be[a] My disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master[b] is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 17 This is what I command you: Love one another. John 15: 5-17
As we begin to create a home for Shawn and his family let us pray together that God would make this home a dwelling place of His presence for His family and His community.
“Father, we are beyond blessed that Jesus Christ is our home. We come to life in Christ. Thank you that we can dwell in Christ now and dwell with Christ for eternity. It is in this closeness and intimacy with you that we pray for Shawn’s family to enjoy this home as a gift from you. Where His children, grand-children and the generations that come after them will be able to find Jesus Christ here in this place. Lord bless Shawn with the wisdom from heaven, the work of your Spirit to lead his family and neighbors on this street to the truth of Jesus Christ. May this home be a place of rest, refuge and good news for Highland Ave. May this home be filled with the joy of Christ the true joy and hope of the world. May this home be filled with playful footsteps, reconciliation, healing, renewal and new life for those who enter and leave these doors. May the neighbors on this street look at this house and say “Jesus lives there, that family has life, grace, mercy and love can be found in the family that lives in this house, sin doesn’t reign in that family or that house….” Lord won’t you make yourself famous at this house, let it be so unique that there is no denying that Jesus abides in the Bates family and this home.” In the mighty name of Jesus the Christ, the Lord of Lord and Kings of Kings!
Amen.
11 Highland avenue, Barre VT
By Pastor Chris Autry, Faith Community Church of Barre
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be[a] My disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master[b] is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 17 This is what I command you: Love one another. John 15: 5-17
As we begin to create a home for Shawn and his family let us pray together that God would make this home a dwelling place of His presence for His family and His community.
“Father, we are beyond blessed that Jesus Christ is our home. We come to life in Christ. Thank you that we can dwell in Christ now and dwell with Christ for eternity. It is in this closeness and intimacy with you that we pray for Shawn’s family to enjoy this home as a gift from you. Where His children, grand-children and the generations that come after them will be able to find Jesus Christ here in this place. Lord bless Shawn with the wisdom from heaven, the work of your Spirit to lead his family and neighbors on this street to the truth of Jesus Christ. May this home be a place of rest, refuge and good news for Highland Ave. May this home be filled with the joy of Christ the true joy and hope of the world. May this home be filled with playful footsteps, reconciliation, healing, renewal and new life for those who enter and leave these doors. May the neighbors on this street look at this house and say “Jesus lives there, that family has life, grace, mercy and love can be found in the family that lives in this house, sin doesn’t reign in that family or that house….” Lord won’t you make yourself famous at this house, let it be so unique that there is no denying that Jesus abides in the Bates family and this home.” In the mighty name of Jesus the Christ, the Lord of Lord and Kings of Kings!
Amen.
Home Blessing
By Reverend Elissa Johnk
In most major religious traditions, the language used to describe heaven is that of home. We all know that homes can be broken places and hard places and bruising places. But at their best, at their very best, homes are the places where we glimpse the kingdom of God right here right now.
Indeed, in the Christian gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.
A properly constructed home is the metaphor he chooses for security, strength, courage, and fruitful living. We build homes together to build lives together; a family's, and our own.
And the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, in particular, spend a good deal of time talking about how these things are to be done. Pages and pages are dedicated to explaining the blueprints of important buildings. And I can only imagine what they would think of this building, and the thoughtfulness which has gone into it, the technical and ecological designs to be good stewards of creation.
So it is a special thing that we do this day.
At my church, just over the hill there, we do a lot of blessing. On the Sunday before school starts, we bless backpacks. The children and youth turn and face the congregation, holding up their backpacks, and we bless them. We bless them, so that their straps might not break, we bless them that the burdens they carry might be light. But most of all, we bless those backpacks, so that the children might know that when they go out into the world they do not go alone. We bless them, so that they might know their work is important.
A blessing is our way of saying that “this work you do, this life that you live, it is sacred, and important, and we are glad for it. We are glad for you. And you are not alone in it.”
So I'm going to ask you now to turn toward this land, and imagine your love and your hopes flowing into it. And let us, together, bless this land that has already been a blessing.
Let us pray.
Bless you.
Bless you, Habitat, for showing up.
For Debbie,
and the board,
For being willing to do the hard work, for having the tough conversations,
For being the careful stewards of our work
To make this possible.
This work you do is sacred. Bless you for it.
Bless you, volunteers, for your time,
For the scraped hands and sore muscles,
for the sacrifices you make,
so that all might have roofs over their heads,
And a place to call home.
Bless you, habitat and Vermont mutual, youth build and volunteers, for your hope.
For your willingness to work for what can be
instead of settling for what has been.
For working from a place of abundance not scarcity,
for modeling how, if we work together, we are, indeed, better.
And Bless you, Stephanie, Nick, and Amelie,
on this next endeavor.
Bless you for your willingness to partner with us.
Bless you for allowing us to be partners in your lives.
May the Foundation we lay be a strong Foundation to build your future together.
Bless you with strength for the long days,
Work that is easy, and a strong sense of humor for when it isn't.
Burdens that are light, and backs that are strong for when they aren't.
And, finally, we ask that this site be blessed with laughter, and love, good weather and good friends.
May the work we do together build as much character as callouses,
so that when we gather here again we will have built a home as much as a house.
One tiny plot of the Peaceable Kingdom, here on Earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
By Reverend Elissa Johnk
In most major religious traditions, the language used to describe heaven is that of home. We all know that homes can be broken places and hard places and bruising places. But at their best, at their very best, homes are the places where we glimpse the kingdom of God right here right now.
Indeed, in the Christian gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.
A properly constructed home is the metaphor he chooses for security, strength, courage, and fruitful living. We build homes together to build lives together; a family's, and our own.
And the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, in particular, spend a good deal of time talking about how these things are to be done. Pages and pages are dedicated to explaining the blueprints of important buildings. And I can only imagine what they would think of this building, and the thoughtfulness which has gone into it, the technical and ecological designs to be good stewards of creation.
So it is a special thing that we do this day.
At my church, just over the hill there, we do a lot of blessing. On the Sunday before school starts, we bless backpacks. The children and youth turn and face the congregation, holding up their backpacks, and we bless them. We bless them, so that their straps might not break, we bless them that the burdens they carry might be light. But most of all, we bless those backpacks, so that the children might know that when they go out into the world they do not go alone. We bless them, so that they might know their work is important.
A blessing is our way of saying that “this work you do, this life that you live, it is sacred, and important, and we are glad for it. We are glad for you. And you are not alone in it.”
So I'm going to ask you now to turn toward this land, and imagine your love and your hopes flowing into it. And let us, together, bless this land that has already been a blessing.
Let us pray.
Bless you.
Bless you, Habitat, for showing up.
For Debbie,
and the board,
For being willing to do the hard work, for having the tough conversations,
For being the careful stewards of our work
To make this possible.
This work you do is sacred. Bless you for it.
Bless you, volunteers, for your time,
For the scraped hands and sore muscles,
for the sacrifices you make,
so that all might have roofs over their heads,
And a place to call home.
Bless you, habitat and Vermont mutual, youth build and volunteers, for your hope.
For your willingness to work for what can be
instead of settling for what has been.
For working from a place of abundance not scarcity,
for modeling how, if we work together, we are, indeed, better.
And Bless you, Stephanie, Nick, and Amelie,
on this next endeavor.
Bless you for your willingness to partner with us.
Bless you for allowing us to be partners in your lives.
May the Foundation we lay be a strong Foundation to build your future together.
Bless you with strength for the long days,
Work that is easy, and a strong sense of humor for when it isn't.
Burdens that are light, and backs that are strong for when they aren't.
And, finally, we ask that this site be blessed with laughter, and love, good weather and good friends.
May the work we do together build as much character as callouses,
so that when we gather here again we will have built a home as much as a house.
One tiny plot of the Peaceable Kingdom, here on Earth as it is in heaven. Amen.