O God, Creator of heaven and earth,
whose gracious Word is irresistible but not coercive
and whose authority is displayed but not caused:
In Jesus the Christ you authorized your people’s freedom not to resist your grace;
so lead your church to continual obedience, to works of healing and acts of liberation,
we pray, in the Holy Spirit who with the Father and Son lives, now and forever. Amen.
Joshua Bode is the pastor of Woodstock Reformed Church in Woodstock, New York.