12/30/2016
Dear United Methodist friends,
Joy to you in this glorious season of Jesus' birth!
We begin the new year as the first Conference in the United Methodist global connection to engage in a week of prayer for the mission of our church.
With our Wesleyan family in every place, we pray in this season the Covenant Prayer, asking God to use us in expansive ways, beyond our hopes and wildest expectations. In visible and invisible places, receiving honor or dishonor, experiencing joy and challenge.
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Thank you for participating January 1-8 in the North Carolina Conference Week of Prayer. Each of us can participate in natural ways, in the settings where we regularly meet, worship, learn and serve. Each of us can participate in our personal times of private prayer and with our households. Praying together will be a means of great blessing, as we give ourselves anew to God and love together as Christ's people in this new year.
With gratitude to God for each of you and for your prayers,
Hope Morgan Ward
