Holy, majestic and mighty God we gather there this morning to praise your name. Your way is perfect. Your word proves true. You are a shield for all who take refuge in you. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. And your name is most hallowed in person and work of Jesus Christ. By the indwelling presence of your Holy Spirit saturate our souls and stir our affections for Jesus. May his grace shape us; may his sacrificial love motivate us; may his death humble us; may his resurrection overwhelm; may his gospel delight us; may his mission overflow through us.

We pray this morning for Restoration City Church, and for J and D as they begin to plant that church. Give them much grace in these early days as they work through the logistics of trying to start a church. And give them, and all those connected to Restoration City Church, a great zeal to know and share Christ. We also pray for Capitol Hill Baptist and Grace DC and Christ Reformed Church. May these churches faithfully shepherd your people and seek that make disciple making disciples.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for those peoples around the globe that have not heard of the name of Jesus. We pray for the 588 language groups in SE Asia that do not have the Scriptures. Bring your word to these peoples we pray. And we pray for the 43MM Rajput Hindis in India and the 17MM Isan in Thailand. For the glory of your name, raise up missionaries to carry the gospel to these peoples.

Father often times we are so concerned with our own little lives, we neglect to think and pray for those who do not know you. Our hearts are often cold toward your global glory. Forgives our sin, we pray. Give us hearts that yearn to make Christ known locally and globally. We pray for our brothers A and L as they finished up their work among the T people. In these last few months give them great grace to finish well and praise you for all that you’ve done in and through them.

We pray for our own church; make us a people marked with a supreme delight in Christ; a people who make disciples of our Lord Jesus. As we study your word this morning, use it to shape us and strengthen us and sustain us. Use your word this morning to exhort the wayward, comfort to afflicted, encourage the weary, and spur on the faithful. We pray for our efforts to plant a Spanish speaking church in Columbia Heights. Use the Bible study already taking place to draw men and women to yourself. And we pray for our continued efforts to strengthen Haitian pastors. We thank you for the funds our people raised to translate What is a Healthy Church? and pray for Pastor Enel as he finalizes that translation. For the fame of Jesus, use this resource to strengthen Haitian Churches that they might plant more and more healthy churches.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for the continued unity of our church. Help us reflect you – God the Father, Son and Spirit in perfect loving unity. May we be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit of the bond of peace. We praise you for the way this church body sacrificially serves one another; that’s an evidence of your grace and we thank you for that. Help us to be quick to confess and repent of our sin. Help us to be quick to forgive one another. Fill us with your Spirit that we might be a community marked by humility and grace and compassion and zeal for Christ.

We pray this morning for our brother R. Give him an increasing joy knowing that he has been ransomed by Christ Jesus. May your word be sweet to him this week. And we pray for N and A. We praise you for the many ways they serve our church. Use their marriage to reflect the gospel of Christ. And we pray that as they raise J and E in the Lord, you would save these two little boys for the glory of your name.

And we pray for ourselves. We gather here this morning knowing that we fall short of your glory, short of perfection, short of worshipping you and you alone. In fact, if we’re honest, we know that we don’t just fall short but we, at times, willingly rebel against you. We knowingly lie trying to protect our name. We chase sexual immorality and looking for companionship. We burst out in anger trying to right where we think we’ve been wronged. We self-righteously compare and condemn trying to prove our goodness. We pursue drunkenness and getting high looking for pleasure or escape. Father, in these ways and more we have sinned against you. We are sorry. We repent of our sin. We trust in Christ knowing that only he can cover our sin and bring us back to you. Thank you for the sin-bearing death of Jesus and his sin-defeating resurrection. It is in Christ that you are our Rock and Refuge, our Savior and Deliverer. We praise you in the name of Christ. Amen.