Lord God
not all of us are athletes,
not many of us can even run
but we all are disciples of Jesus
willing to follow where we are lead
as people of the way
together, joined to one another through our grafting into Christ
with all in this church and all churches throughout this land
we praise you we are brothers and sisters
we thank you that your deepest desire is for us to be the best we can be
in our service to you
and to your creation
Christ Jesus
reach out and touch us
fill us with the Holy Spirit
that we may reach out and touch others with your healing caress
bringing wholeness to the broken in spirit
bringing wellness to the sick
bringing strength to the weak
bringing hope to the forlorn
in this church,
in our families
in our communities
And teach us to set aside all within us which would prevent wholeness and wellness coming into this place
Lord God
we praise you that you have removed our sackcloths and clothed us with joy
joy in knowing your love
may that joy be infectious to others
that they may see that joy in us and wish to know that
may we find joy in the service of Christ Jesus
in and through whom we run the race
a race where we are determined to do the best we can
to your glory and honour
Now and forever
Amen