God With Us?

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of You Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Those are the words we pray together each week at FBC before the pastor's sermon. We call it the 'Prayer of Preparation' because it helps prepare us to receive the kerygma (Greek for 'proclamation, announcement, preaching') of the church.

Many of us do not know the origins of this prayer, which has nonetheless become very familiar over the years. It was written by St John Chrysostom, one of the great Greek Fathers of the Church. He lived during the last half of the 4th century, was appointed (against his will) Archbishop of Constantinople, and was/is famous for his preaching.

The elegant words of John Chrysostom brought this response from our pastor on Sunday: "God is with us and our only prayer is that we listen up."

Listen, we shall. And, listen, we are already. These are exciting times at FBC, as we are reaching out to our neighbors in need of a hand and our neighbors in need of a church family--and some need both.

God is at work. Won't you join in what God is already doing?

**NOTE**

The Prayer of Preparation was originally written in Latin as:

Deus, cui omne cor patet et omnis uoluntas loquitur, et quem nullum latet secretum: purifica per infusionem Sancti Spiritus cogitationes cordis nostri, ut perfecte te diligere et digne laudare mereamur, per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum. Amen.