Opening Prayer
O most great and mighty God, whose glory is above all our thoughts and whose mercy is over all thy works; let the inspiration of the Holy Spirit assist us in all the duties of this sacred day; let us join in the praise of thy church with ardent affection; let us hear thy word with earnest attention and let the prayers and sacrifices of thy holy church, offered unto thee this day, be graciously accepted. Being created by thee, let us ever act for thy glory and being redeemed by thee, let us render unto thee what is Thine; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—John Wesley, 1703-1791
TEXT
John 11:11-16 ESV
After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Read
O Lord my God,
teach my heart where and how to seek you,
where and how to find you.
Lord, if you are not here but absent,
where shall I seek you?
But you are everywhere, so you must be here,
why then do I not seek you?
Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your heights,
for my understanding is in no way equal to that,
but I do desire to understand a little of your truth
which my heart already believes and loves.
I do not seek to understand so that I may believe,
but I believe so that I may understand;
and what is more,
I believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand.
—St. Anselm, 1033-1109