Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith –
May we join the story told by so great a cloud of witnesses.
The story of how, by faith, people passed through the Red Sea’s waters. By faith, walls fell. By faith, prophets administered justice, shut lions’ mouths, won strength out of weakness, and received their dead by resurrection.
The story of suffering, chains, imprisonment, and stoning. The story of wandering in deserts and caves.
The story of laying aside clinging sin and running the race set before us in our time.
The story of ever and always looking to You, who endured the cross and now sits at God’s right hand.
May the story of our ancestors and present-day saints guide and encourage us as we live by faith and as we enter together into the something better that our God has provided.
Amen.