You Cannot Love Me More, a prayer affirming God’s unconditional love

An Undivided Heart by Gillian Ross

You cannot love me more
You will not love me less
You love me fully
Now and always

Help me accept the gift of your love
Help me trust it
Help me accept it fully

There’s no need to earn your love
No need for anxious striving
No fear of misstep or failure

You release me from falsehood
You free me from shame
You make me alive with promise

You cannot love me more
You will not love me less
You love me fully
Now and always

Hallelujah!

You Cannot Love Me More © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Prayers Inspired by 1 John

Inspired by 1 John 1:7
If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Hallelujah!
Blessing and honor to God, the Beautiful and Holy One!
You are helping us walk together
Helping us walk together in fellowship and light

Hallelujah! You are
Drawing us together in the journey of faith
Cleansing us
Redeeming us
Fulfilling your goodness and hope through us
Making us light as you are light

Hallelujah!
Blessing and honor to God
Blessing and honor to the Beautiful and Holy One!

Inspired by 1 John 2:6
Whoever says, “I abide in him” ought to walk in the same way as he walked.

Welcoming One,
You abide in me, I abide in you
a mystery, a grace, a belonging
May this belonging bear fruit
May this belonging be seen by all
An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace

Make me a sign,
written in your hand, written on your palm

Make me a sign
Aglow in the shadows, lighting the way to you
Lighting the way home to you

Inspired by 1 John 3:14b
Whoever does not love abides in death

Love one another, as Christ commanded
As Christ demonstrated through deed and truth
As Christ made possible through death and resurrection
As Christ sustains through the gift of Holy Spirit

Love is life, choose life over death
Love is truth, choose truth over death
Love is righteousness, right relationship with one and all
Creator and creation, Sovereign and self
Choose righteousness over death

We love in word and speech, deed and truth
We love and abide
We love and live

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ
Glory to you, the Way, the Truth, the Life
Glory to you, the Resurrection and the Life
Love and Life are made possible through you

Inspired by 1 John 4:16a
So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

You love me
You love first
You are Love

You make it possible for me to love and be loved
For me to be born of your love, born again
For me to abide in you, and you in me
For me to abide in your love

Perfectionism is twisted and harmful
It’s not about being perfect for you
Your love for me is already perfect
It’s about you perfecting your love in me
Your love through me

You’re perfecting your love and perfecting my trust of your love
My trust of you, Love
Help me trust you
Help me accept the gift of you and your love

Inspired by 1 John 5:7-8
There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.

Testify, Brother Water
You who witness
creation from chaos
freedom of slaves
the bearing and birthing of Word Made Flesh

Testify, Sister Blood
You who witness
death pass over
genocide and sacrifice
the bearing and birthing of resurrection and life

Testify, Holy Spirit
You who witness
the way in the wilderness
the fire of Pentecost
the bearing and birthing of courage and call

May your truth and our truth speak the same story
of God’s grace, power, and transforming love

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Reading through 1 John is part of the 2023 Bible Reading Plan for the New Year. Consider this your invitation to join us. Click here for more information and the plan. 

Prayers Inspired by 1 John © 2023 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Strong, Fierce Love – a St. Valentine’s Day reflection and prayer based on Song of Solomon 8.5-7

matches-heart-2

Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her beloved?

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
leads us out of the dry, barren places
bears weight, we can lean on it

Under the apple tree, I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
opens, quickens
is more intimate than our first breath

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
makes a lasting impression
a tattoo of everlasting grace

for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
comes for us all
an unrelenting longing for our good

Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
is unchanging
unquenchable
unstoppable

If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

The strong, fierce love of God in Christ Jesus
is precious
priceless

Will you accept the gift of God’s love?

Rabbi Jesus
Promised Messiah
Son of the One, True, Living God
Fill me with your Spirit
Make me your love

It is your command
It is your way
It is your gift
It is You and your work

Yes, make me your witness
And yes, make me your will
But first and always, make me your love

Pause in silence to receive

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Strong, Fierce Love © 2019 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.

Worship and Sermon Resources for Trinity Sunday

trinity window

1. PRAYER: Holy Trinity, Community of Love by Lisa Degrenia
Holy Trinity, Community of Love,
Draw us together in your creative light

Root us in the ground of your being,
Vulnerable before one another,
Unashamed in your presence and each other’s

Make us joyful in the ways you gift each of us:
Quick to celebrate, serve, and share
Quick to live your love
Amen.

This prayer was inspired by the story of the creation of humanity found at the end of Genesis 1 and the beginning of Genesis 2.

2. PRAYER: Prayer to the Holy Trinity by Lisa Degrenia
Holy Trinity:
Creating Love
Saving Love
Sanctifying Love

You welcome us to your unity
Your community
You do not condemn
but make the way to new life, eternal life, with you through Christ
Hallelujah!

Grant us grace to receive the fullness of your mercy and healing and transformation.
Free us from all things that block living your love fully,
so we may be joyful and faithful in all things,
so we may speak your words with truth and fruitfulness,
so we may live and lead wisely,
so we may be your instruments of peace and hope,
so we may love as you love.

Glory to you, forever!
Honor to you, forever!
Praise and blessing to you, forever!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!

3. PRAYER AND HYMN: Joyful Praise
Great for opening a worship service. Combines verses of the hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee with a prayer from I, Francis by Carlo Carretto

4. CALL TO WORSHIP: Receive and Rejoice by Lisa Degrenia
Receive and Rejoice!
Rejoice with an indescribable joy
Inexpressible
Unspeakable
A joy greater than words
A great and glorious joy
Loose
Liberated
Boundless

Receive and Rejoice!
A joy worthy of new birth
Of a living hope
A joy anchored in the imperishable
The Eternal
Undefiled and Unfading

Receive and Rejoice!
This joy was chosen for you
Destined for you
Sanctified, sprinkled and saved for you
By the Merciful One
God… Father of grace and glory
God… Son and Savior
God… Spirit and Sustainer

Receive and Rejoice!

Based on 1 Peter 1:1-9 (NRSV)

5. RESOURCES: Trinity, Community, and Love
Quotes, an original prayer, plus an original poem/song lyric

6. REFLECTIONS: by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Holy Trinity posted May 26, 2021

Holy Trinity – Part II posted June 1, 2023

7. PRAYER: a prayer from the Eastern Church

Glory to the Father, our true and only hope
Glory to the Son, our true and only refuge
Glory to the Holy Spirit, our true and only protection
Glory to the Holy Trinity, our true and only light
Now and to the ages of ages, Amen

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© 2023 (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com)

You are welcome to use this work in a worship or devotional setting without asking permission. It’s always a treat to hear from you if you’re using it. Leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in a book, blog, etc.

Nicodemus and Jesus- Worship Resources based on John 3.1-21

Nicodemus coming to christ

Christ And Nicodemus On A Rooftop, by Henry Ossawa Tanner

1. PRAYER: Water and Spirit by Lisa Degrenia
Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” – John 3:5-6

Holy Spirit
Pregnant with twins- Truth and New Life
Welcome home to my spirit
Let it be with me according to your word

Reveal yourself in my thoughts
Bring forth encouragement and counsel
Deliver righteousness and justice in every choice
Carry hope and healing in every touch

Give birth not just in me, but to a whole new generation,
a people so full of your gifts and power they never labor in vain

Open our eyes to the glory that is possible
Open our hearts to the great responsibility- is it of flesh or is it of you?
Open us to the fullness of you. Amen.

2. REFLECTION: Dear Nicodemus, Remind Me by Steve Garnaas Holmes

3. SERMON: There’s More to Life, Nicodemus by Lisa Degrenia

4. PRAYER: Make Me Your Love by Lisa Degrenia
Rabbi Jesus
Promised Messiah
Son of the One, True, Living God

Fill me with your Spirit
Make me your love

It is your command
It is your way
It is your gift
It is You and your work

Yes, make me your witness
And yes, make me your will
But first and always, make me your love

Pause in silence to receive
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© 2021 You are welcome to use the original portions of this work in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.