32A*
A Call to Worship
Easter 2A 2011
Psalm 16

Holy God, you are the Refuge of all who trust in you.
We come to worship you - trusting completely in you.
In shared worship, we come to worship your holy presence.

Unshakable God, in confidence we come to you as
children of our God, you are our Hope and our Future.
In shared worship, we rejoice in our heritage.

God, you are the fullness of joy, and in you we trust.
In shared worship, we give thanks to God for your guidance,
and for the sense of security your near presence gives to us. Amen.

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Prayers of Petition and Trust
Easter 2A 2011
Psalm 16

O Lord our God, you are our Refuge, our Guide and our Helper,
and we place our trust and confidence in your abiding presence.
We look to you especially in the uncertainties of life, as there are
times when we feel very threatened by personal or other issues.
From our experiences of our Loving God we know we can trust in
you, quite confident in our hope and belief that you hold the future
in your hands, and that we can always trust in your care of all things

Loving Father, we give thanks for the inheritance we have as God’s
children, and that our heritage is in safe hands. You have blessed
us with many gifts: with life, with relationships, with the joy and peace
of our salvation, and with hope in you as our Redeemer in all things.

Hear us now as we seek your blessings. We are troubled by many
things that are close to our hearts and minds. Travel with us we pray,
guiding us and strengthening us for what lies ahead. The unknown
future concerns us, especially when there is so many evil influences
at work in the world. Yet, despite these fears, you have gifted us with
confidence that we never walk alone. You have promised to us lead
into the pleasures of being with God forever; and that you are always
by our side, leading us into life in all its fullness in your radiant presence. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Easter 2A 2011
Psalm 16

O God, my Friend and Counsellor, I come to you with deep concerns.
I ask that we keep me safe from all that threatens me. From time to
time, I experience these deeply entrenched fears that are very real to
me, but are they the product of my over-active imagination or not?
Regardless of the source of these fears, I am feeling very insecure,
and I need your trusted presence with me! Stay close to me my God.



Despite my lingering fears, I give thanks to God for the quiet joy and
peace that flows from a sense of confidence in God’s loving mercy
and compassion; the assurance that I do not travel alone; and with
God nearby, and that when I am at my most vulnerable times of rest
and sleep, God does not leave me. I give thanks too that I can say with
confidence: ‘I know the Lord is always with me, I will never be shaken,
for God is right beside me.’ I know what it is like to be badly shaken up
physically and emotionally, that is an awful experience! But I do not ever
want to be shaken spiritually, so that I lose faith in my ever-present God.



I am so grateful for the loving and supporting fellowship I have shared
with people over many years, and in many places. I give thanks to God
for that shared joy. We are all blessed by the many versions of Holy
Scripture that are there for our spiritual nurture and growth. This version
is very special to me: ‘How excellent are the Lord’s faithful people!
My greatest pleasure is to be with them.’* It highlights for me the security
that is found in shared spiritual nurturing, and gives a foretaste of the joys
of eternal fellowship with God, that will take place in God’s own time.

*[‘Good News’ - Today’s English Version Translation]
© 1976 American Bible Society. Used with permission.

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2011 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: easter2a_2011.pdf

© 2011 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A