Dear gracious, heavenly God, we are lost without Your grace, blind without Your light and dead without Your life. Thus, we thank You for being our Good Shepherd. As a good shepherd, You always find us when we are lost, You guide us back to life and You save us from eternal death and destruction. You are our Good Shepherd.

Dear gracious God, we are humbled and amazed at how You always come to us. Even while we were dead in our sins You came to us to give us new life. Our enemy, Satan, comes to steal, kill and destroy our lives. But you came to destroy the works of Satan. Because of Your work, You now give us abundant life. We are blessed with that amazing gift. Our lives are filled and overflowing with the gift of life that flows into us through the promise of our Baptism.

Dear gracious God, we come to You with praise and thanksgiving for sending Jesus to die for us and open the gateway into Your kingdom. In this world of confusion, where people are teaching and believing that there are many doors to heaven, help us to stand on your eternal Word and confess that there is only one door, Jesus, the only door to heaven and the only means of our salvation.

Dear gracious and eternal God, we come before You, acknowledging Your eternal wisdom in planning to save us through your son, Jesus, who was there in the eternal past. Jesus openly stated that, “before Abraham was, I am.” Sometimes we are preoccupied in our little worlds and ignore the truth of the Gospel. We are concerned about now, about here and about ourselves.

Eternal Lord, your kingdom has broken into our troubled world through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your Word and obey it, so that we become instruments of your redeeming love.

Dear gracious and loving God, You sent Your son, Jesus, from above to down below, where we are. Our Lord Jesus came from above and humbled himself to come to the lowest point of life, where sin and Satan reign, to set us free.

Dear gracious Lord, in this section of your Word you help us think and reflect on the length of our lives. Life on earth is our opportunity to live with You and for You. This is our moment to honor and serve You by honoring and serving others in Your name.

Dear gracious God, in this world there are so many people competing to be lords and rulers above others. Millions of people are committed to becoming higher than others. Our youth idolize movie stars, sport personalities and super stars in various fields. Lord God, help us to focus not on super stars, but on our super servant, Jesus.