Thursday, May 21, 2009

Graduation Invocation

I was asked to publish the invocation I gave at a recent homeschool graduation ceremony. Here it is

O God , our Father,


You have called us to worship You in Spirit and in Truth.
You have called us to love You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
You have called us to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth.
You have called us to receive children as a blessing, and to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
You have called us to diligently teach our children Your commandments, to talk of them as we sit in our homes, as we walk by the way, as we lie down, and as we rise up.
You have called us to obey Your Great Commission, to make disciples in our homes, in our cities, and in every nation.

Thank You, Lord, for the calling to homeschool.

Thank You for the strength to heed the call.
Thank You for the grace and power of Your presence to persevere in it.

We now ask Your blessing on this assembly.
We ask that You would continue to bless the fruit of our labor.
We ask You to preserve our freedom to educate our own children.
We ask You to sanctify and motivate our students.
We ask You to grow them in knowledge and faith, in love and good deeds.

We ask You to direct our graduates with wisdom, and discernment, and vision.
We ask You to raise them up into godly men and women, husbands and wives, churchmen and statesmen.
We ask You to bring restoration to our community and to our nation through them.
We ask You to renew their minds and transform them into bold and effective ambassadors for Christ.

O, God, we ask You to pour out Your Spirit upon us. Fill us with Your holy cause.
May Jesus Christ be known among us and to the very ends of the earth.
May we be changed more into the likeness of Christ by our gathering.

May this evening bring You glory and honor, for the furtherance of Your gospel and for the expansion of Your kingdom.

We ask these things in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.