2023 August

 

There Are Times When We Must Believe

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/1/23

 

There are times when we must,

Believe and by faith walk.

For we all know, in God we trust,

That's more than idle talk.

 

Peter was in the boat,

Far out upon the sea.

There in a storm and tossed about,

Something walked, what could it be?

 

They could not see who it was,

Who stood there upon the lake.

Peter recognized it was Jesus,

A leap of faith he'd take.

 

Jesus called Peter to come,

And walk out on the sea.

Fear of the storm made him slip some,

In peril he came to be.

 

Peter to Jesus cried,

Jesus to Peter reached out.

Then Jesus to Peter replied,

“why did you ever doubt?”

 

“Have faith and do not fear,”

Jesus essentially said.

No harm can come when Jesus is near,

We are saved and we are blessed.

 

O Lord, We Come to You

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/2/23

 

O Lord, we come to you.

Hear this our heartfelt prayer.

Thanks be to you for all you do,

For you are always there.

 

We pray to you, Jesus.

You are our Good Shepherd.

In compassion look upon us,

And share with us your word.

 

By you we have been blessed,

Each step upon the way.

Through trial, temptation, and every test,

You've helped us day by day.

 

At Times We’re Divided

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/3/23

 

At times we are divided,

When we see them and us,

But in Christ we're all united.

We’re all one in Jesus.

 

There were Gentile and Jew,

There was not one but two,

But in Christ all things are made new.

Praise God for all Christ can do.

 

For whom are you now apart?

Have you had a falling out?

Let Christ offer you a fresh start.

That's what it's all about.

 

Lift up Your Hearts and Sing

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/4/23

 

Lift up your hearts and sing,

To the Lord God almighty.

Give thanks to God for everything,

God's done for you and me.

 

Sing praises to the Lord.

God's love to all proclaim.

Altogether in one accord,

Lift prayers in Jesus’ name.

 

With joyful hearts we sing.

We serve the Lord always.

To the Lord our offerings we bring,

And give the Lord our praise.

 

We Come to God in Prayer

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/5/23

 

We come to God in prayer,

With our specific needs.

Praying for tender loving care,

For God always intercedes.

 

We come to God with praise,

For all that God has done.

For the Lord is with us always,

Nothing can be undone.

 

We come to God today.

Everything with God we share.

With Thanksgiving we humbly pray.

We lift to God our prayer.

 

Children of God Are We

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/6/23

 

Children of God are we.

And for God our heart yearns.

It's not fully known what we shall be,

When Christ finally returns.

 

And so we have this hope,

To guide us day by day,

And when we're at the end of our rope,

We hang on with all our faith.

 

Lord, help us to believe,

And put our trust in you.

All of your blessings we receive,

As you make all things new.

 

Help Me Be Open to Your Call

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/8/23

 

Help me be open to your call,

Lord, as you call my name.

The saints before me gave their all,

May I now do the same.

 

Lord, when I put you in a box,

Limiting what I’ll do.

Show me what wonders love unlocks,

When by faith I serve you.

 

Jesus had limited his role,

Just to Israel’s lost sheep.

A foreign woman touched his soul,

Thus the church took a leap.

 

Open my eyes that I might see,

What is upon your heart.

What you wish to reveal to me,

That I might do my part.

 

Lord, You Have Given Us Your Seeds

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/9/23

 

Lord, you have given us your seeds,

To plant within our soil.

Help us to grow through acts and deeds,

And through our humble toil.

 

Led by your divine direction,

By each thing that we do,

Help us go on to perfection,

Growing closer to you.

 

Help others see our faith in you,

By what we do today,

That they become followers too,

In Jesus’ name we pray.

 

Then when our task on earth is done,

And we've given our best,

Called home by the eternal one,

We'll be forever blessed.

 

When You Come before the Lord’s Throne

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/10/23

 

When you come before the Lord's throne,

Lay your petitions there.

Make all your wants and wishes known,

Within this time of prayer.

 

Do not hurry to leave when done,

Allow God time to speak.

Wisdom for a receptive one,

Who God's word would seek.

 

Holy contemplation,

Prayer is a two-way street,

A healthy conversation,

When pray-er and God meet.

 

What Is It that We Do Believe

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/11/23

 

What is it that we do believe?

Who is Jesus for us?

From him salvation we receive.

He is our Lord Jesus.

 

But beyond that we also know,

Him to be our best friend.

He is with us where’re we go.

His love will never end.

 

For us Jesus is All in all,

Whom God to us did send.

Our minds and thoughts are just too small,

To fully comprehend.

 

For Jesus will you do your tasks?

Who is Jesus for you?

How do you answer what he asks?

For him what will you do?

 

Who Is Jesus for You

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/15/23

 

Jesus asked what the people thought,

And what they thought they knew.

Stop and think about it a lot,

Who is Jesus for you?

 

Hymns and books are written about,

All that Jesus might be.

But ask yourself without a doubt,

Who is Jesus for me?

 

And once you know you're called to go.

You have a job to do.

Go and tell others what you know,

Who Jesus is for you.

 

O Lord, You Have Called Us by Name

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/16/23

 

O Lord, you have called us by name,

To come and learn from you.

Teach us to love. That's why you came.

In you we become new.

 

Out to the world you say to go.

Make disciples today.

To each we meet, God's love we show,

And for each one we pray.

 

Divine forgiveness you bestow,

Upon our hearts today.

What we’ll become, we do not know,

But we are on the way.

 

In the Stillness of the Night

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/17/23

 

In the stillness of the night,

Shepherd-like God watches o’er.

With God we know all is right,

And will be forevermore.

 

In the daylight of the morn,

We rise and to God we pray.

With God a new day is born.

We give to God this new day.

 

In the brightness of the day,

Once again to God we turn.

Meditating while we pray,

What new insights did we learn?

 

In the twilight of the eve,

Once again we pause to pray.

Thank God for all that we receive.

Thank God for another day.

 

There Are Those Times

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/21/23

 

There are those times when we get lost,

And cannot find our way.

Desperately, at any cost,

We plead to God and pray.

 

“Thy will be done” is what we say,

When we pray the Lord's prayer,

“My will be done.” I want my way.

Is really what we share.

 

Despite our faith and our hope,

Our will gets in the way.

When we're at the end of our rope,

Then faith comes into play.

 

Turning our will over to God,

We ask God to lead us,

And then to God most humbly nod,

And fully follow Jesus.

 

We Celebrate Creation

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/23/23

 

We celebrate creation,

And all that God has made.

For everywhere that we look,

God's wonders are displayed.

We see God's work in nature,

In each majestic tree.

And in each blooming flower,

God's handiwork we see.

 

Rain falls, the earth to water,

When clouds come rolling by.

Stars shine up in the heavens,

Across the nighttime sky.

We’re made in God's own image,

God's handiwork are we.

Give thanks to the creator,

Be what you're made to be.

 

The Lord of All Creation

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/26/23

 

The Lord of all creation,

The Lord rules up above,

And looks down on creation,

And looks down in love.

We are blessed by God's mercy.

We are blessed by God's grace.

And when our journey’s ended,

We'll see God face to face.

 

We’re made in God's own image,

God's likeness we may see,

Look deep and see God's image,

God's face in you and me.

You see it doesn't matter,

The color of the skin.

We each resemble God, for,

We are all God's children.

 

Sing Praise to God

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/29/23

 

Sing praise to God the Lord above,

From whom we know all blessings come.

And with the blessing of God’s love,

We give thanks for divine wisdom.

 

We think that many things we need,

To be fully satisfied.

God's love is what we need indeed!

By God our needs will be supplied.

 

Do not focus on what's not there,

Focus on what with God you've got.

We fully know that God does care,

God cares for each of us a lot.

 

It's the toughest times when we learned,

That we are never all alone.

With God's help things around turned,

And in wisdom we have grown.

 

All’s Well that Begins Well

                        Rev. Jeffrey B. Childs 8/31/23

 

There are those times when things begin,

All good stories do tell.

And when they’re told we find within,

All's well that begins well.

 

In the beginning was darkness,

Until the Word God spoke.

Head on the problem God addressed,

And creation awoke.

 

From the beginning on Day 1,

God said that it was good.

For in the act of creation,

Goodness was understood.

 

Out in the fields on one dark night,

When the word became flesh.

Shepherds heard from the angels bright,

Go find Bethlehem 's creche.

 

When Jesus called the fishermen,

To leave their boats behind,

To go fish for men and women,

New life in Christ they'd find.

 

And so it is, for me and you,

When we our stories tell.

We did what God told us to do,

For with God all is well.