Olympics Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Olympics Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Hebrews 4, 11-12, 1 Corinthians 9
The Lord Be with you
And also with you
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
God in whom we live, and move, and have our being.
We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.
The first humans that you formed in the dirt and pulled from the side,
Abel, Enoch, and Noah, and all the unnamed humans lost to time.
The Matriarchs and Patriarchs who have run the race before us,
Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar;
Isaac, Rebecca, and Ishmael;
Esau, Jacob, Leah, Racheal, Bilhah, and Zilpah;
Joseph, Moses, Meriam, Aaron;
The Judges, kings, and prophets;
Disciples, Apostles, Ancestors, and Parents
whose footsteps we follow.
Those on whom we draw our inspiration,
who have walked so that we could run.
Those who fill the metaphorical stands to watch us compete,
to run the race set before us,
to dive with grace,
to execute our routine and stick the landing.
Therefore we lift our hearts in joyful praise,
Joining our voices with choirs of angels,
And with all the faithful of every time and place,
Who forever sing to the glory of your name:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
We praise you, most holy God,
For sending your only Son, Jesus,
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Who was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses.
Yet is worthy of more glory than Moses,
just as the athlete has more honor than the coach.
Jesus, who in every respect has been tested as we are,
yet without sin.
Who offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears,
to the one who was able to save him from death,
yet who for the sake of the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, disregarding its shame,
and has taken his place at the right hand of God.
Remembering all your mighty and merciful acts,
We break bread and drink from the cup.
Giving thanks for your saving love in Jesus Christ.
As you raised our Lord from death to life,
We give ourselves to you
To live for him in joy and grateful praise.
Great is the mystery of faith:
Christ has died,
Christ has risen,
Christ will come again.
Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us
And upon these your gifts of bread and cup.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ
That we may be for the world
The body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
May this place be our training ground for the events ahead.
May we be trainers and teammates to one another,
encouraging one another to do our very best,
picking each other up when we fall,
celebrating with those who succeed,
and morning with those who fail.
All the while being Inspired by Jesus
we press on towards the goal,
not running aimlessly,
but in such a way as to receive a gold metal.
Send us out in the power of the Spirit
To live for others, as Christ lived for us,
Announcing his death for the sins of the world,
And telling his resurrection to all people and nations.
By your Spirit draw us together into one body
And join us to Christ the Lord,
That we may remain his glad and faithful people
Until we feast with him in glory.
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
All glory and honor are yours almighty God,
Forever and ever. Amen.