A litany that uses Psalm 126 as a framework for gratitude about our community and God’s work among them.
Generous God,
We have so much to be thankful for as your people have throughout generations.
We thank you for your faithfulness to each of us individually.
Today we give you particular thanks for the ways you are forming our community.
We join with the Psalmist to rejoice in your restoring work:
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
We give you thanks:
For the vision and guidance you give us.
For your invitation to partner with your work around us.
For the expected and unexpected delights of our life together.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
We give you thanks:
For how laughter and play bring us together.
For the infectious giggles of the children among us.
For the seasoned chuckle of our older saints.
For the joy of your Spirit that infuses all that we do.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
We give you thanks:
For the things, great and small, you have done among us.
For the relationships restored and friendships healed.
For the new friends who have joined us and the old friends you brought back.
For preserving the faith of so many through generations.
For meeting us each week in our worship together.
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
We give you thanks:
For the stories of redemption in our community.
For our shared celebrations:
for birthdays and baptisms,
for anniversaries and graduations,
for our festivals and feasts.
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
We give you thanks:
For the relief of your presence amidst challenge and loss.
For providing us support through your people.
For your Spirit’s healing work in our lives.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
We give you thanks:
That you welcome and hold our grief and our lament.
That you never stop redeeming our sorrow.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
With your people of all times and all places we hold onto this hope:
Because of Jesus, and by your Spirit,
You are at work restoring our world,
Bringing an end to all tears and filling your creation with abundance.
We give you thanks.
The Lord will do great things for us.
Amen.