O most gracious God, Power of Life, we praise you that you have not abandoned us to the living death of despair, but that, with Jesus Christ, you have lifted us up from  all that threatens to take away our living.  We ask that we might live in newness of life, that we might know the power of resurrection, and that we might become the evidence of your presence in our community, our city, and in the world.  We are grateful for your love that never lets us go and for the assurance that nothing, absolutely nothing can ever separate us from your love in Christ Jesus.  Amen