Father, we praise you this morning…as servants of the Lord we praise you, we offer you blessing, honor, and ALL glory…for you alone are worth it, Lord. We bless your Name from today as we will do forever more in the New Jerusalem. And we ask that your name and your Glory be heralded from the rising of the sun to its setting.

You, Lord are high above all nations…and your glory is above the heavens. As we are in the throws of an election year here in our own country we are mindful that you are not elected and you are the ultimate ruler of all that are elected.

Who is like you, oh Lord our God? You raise the poor from the dust and you lift up the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes. Blessed is the man who fears you for fearing you…being in awe of you…gladly sitting beneath you as our authority is the beginning of wisdom.

And yet we oftentimes do not do that. Though we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord our lives do not match up with that confession. Have mercy on us Lord. How thankful we are to know that you are a God that forgives. So forgive us…

Forgive us for our cold and dull hearts, forgive us for apathy. We take the name of Christ and yet all too often we are enamored by the world. We say we love Jesus and yet we don’t enjoy communing with Him in prayer. We say we love your word, and yet we often don’t memorize and/or meditate on it. We claim to be changed by His love and yet we are often more guided by lesser loves. We are not as prone to discipleship & evangelism as we ought to be and we are slow to even bring up the name of Jesus in our personal conversations amongst fellow brothers and sisters. We are too prone towards gossip, sexual immorality, greed, and laziness. We often are guided by the passions of our flesh more than we are guided by your good, pleasing, and perfect will. We often stumble into our days hardly taking any notice of your Redemptive rule, not only in this world, but in our lives. We are so clumsy with our faith, Lord…have mercy on us in our sin. Forgive us for our cold, dull, and oftentimes apathetic Hearts and grant us deeper convictions born out a deeper love to you and cause us to live as those that are guided by the Truth and not be blown about in this world by every wind of doctrine. Or worse, be blown about by whatever it is that pleases us the most.

Father, how thankful we are for forgiveness…oh how freshly we are reminded of our need for it. And with you Lord, there is forgiveness. And how glad we are to know that not only do you grant forgiveness, you grant ABUNDANT forgiveness to sinners like us! Lord you sent your Son to not only pay the penalty for our sins, and not only to remove our sins, and yes, not even to only purchase us out of our sins…but you sent your Son to wash ALL of our sins away as white as snow in order that we might be received into glorious presence as sons/daughters. We are the prodigal that has been welcomed back home after running from you…we are the ones that have received a robe when we should have received ridicule…we are the ones that received a ring, when we should have received your scorn. We are the ones that are received back as family with a room in your house, when we should have been banished, left to find a home of our own. Your Grace is abundant! Your Love is astounding and therefore we hope in you Lord. Our hope is in you…its not in us, its not in the world, its in you.

So, we pray that you would grant wisdom to the leaders of our country. Be they governmental leaders, emergency personnel, educational leaders, or even parental leaders. Please, Lord, move in them in such a way as to accomplish your will. Grant that they would strangely move in accordance with the beauty of your character in order that peace might be had in a world that so desperately needs it. Help us to know our role in that great endeavor.

Work in the midst of business leaders in places like Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti, and give them diligence and insight to build a sustainable food industry that would be able to supply the people and not need outside support.

Work in the midst of the leaders of local churches to call their people to pray and labor towards a kind of harmony that would go on to eradicate racism that exists here in America, but also around the world. Give those of us that exist in the dominant cultures around the world to understand the experiences of those that struggle in the minority cultures so that we can learn to be compassionate and see a world that doesn’t make value judgments based upon the color of one’s skin or the cultural or family background of an individual.

Oh Lord, plant churches and strengthen churches to be the beacon of light around the world that might serve as a picture of what life is supposed to be like–free from prejudice and full of pleasure in the all satisfying love of Christ, our hope and great reward.

Thank you for the many that are so faithfully being these kinds of people in this church. We are encouraged and inspired by the example of the many couples that are pursuing adoption because they have seen their adoption in Christ. We are encouraged by those that are caring for foster children because they have understood how Christ has taken them in. Thank you for the many faithful saints pursuing Christ in discipleship here at Restoration Church and grow us ALL to lean into the harvest of Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, Cathedral Heights, Friendship Heights, American University, Georgetown, & GW.

Thank you Father for the ways M has done that for now 5 years. How she has sacrificially given of her time, talents, and treasures so that others might come to DELIGHT in your Redemptive Rule. Oh Father how good it was to receive our sister here as a co-laborer. You have used her and you have manifested your manifold beauties through her. Go before her and do as you did here as she leaves to serve you there.

And thank you Father for M & L. These two have served as pillars in the life of our church for years. They have served you by serving us as Community Group leaders, disciplers, children’s ministry leaders, and encouragers to the leadership of this church. Grant that they would continue pursuing Christ as they leave this place. Go before them and provide a church where they can serve and be served. Let them not grow weary in doing good, but may we soon learn that they are thriving all the more where they are.

Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for Jesus…He is all we have…were it not for Him we would be colossal failures…but with Him we can do all things. Thank you again for Grace, for Mercy, and for Love. We praise you Father…we praise you.

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