Gracious Lord, we are grateful this day for life and the opportunity to serve. We take this time to acknowledge the great work of Your hands, as our very beings are made in the image and likeness of God. We thank You for the progress made in this nation and the State of California to recognize that all people bear the image of God. And we thank You specifically, during Black History Month, for the legacy of inspiration, innovation, perseverance, and victory accomplished by African Americans in the United States and throughout the world. As You O Lord, were the source of strength for the oppressed in generations passed, we stand in need of Your strength and guidance today. I pray for those here today to continue to do good works, to reap where they have not sown, and to be lights in the darkness, overcoming evil in all its forms. Help us to forge ahead into a future that is befitting of the sacrifices, suffering, and hard-fought victories of the past.
In Your Holy Name we pray.—AMEN.