Worship through Prayer

Holy Lord, we praise you that your word stands forever. We praise you that you alone are eternal. We praise you that you, Lord, are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. We praise you that you do not grow faint or weary. We praise you that your understanding is unsearchable. We praise you that you give your glory to no other.

We rejoice in you this morning, Lord. And we rest in you. Many of us are tired and weary. We are faint and have no might. We are anxious and fearful. Yet, we rest in your promises. We graze in the pasture of your word. Give us strength, we pray. Cause our souls to wait eagerly upon you. Renew our strength, Lord. Remind us of all that you have given us. Holy Spirit, minister to our souls and apply the balm of the gospel that we would be refreshed, that we would find deep, abiding joy in the word and in communing with you in prayer, that we would eagerly seek out community looking for ways we can build others up.

Lord, we confess that we often find you dull and boring. We confess that we often walk in worry and fear forgetting your promises and your power. We repent of our sin. Help us hate our sin. We confess that we are more aware of what you haven’t given us or what we don’t have rather than being thankful for all that we do have. We confess that we think more about how others aren’t serving us than how we might serve others. We confess that we are quick to fight for our individual preferences even if that compromises the unity of the body. Forgive us, Lord. We repent of our sin. We confess that we often judge others by their appearances. We confess that we pridefully compare ourselves with others. We confess that we are impatient with people who annoy us. Have mercy on us, O God.

As we confess our sin, we celebrate our Savior. As we confess our sin, we cherish our blood-bought relationship with you, our Father in Heaven. We rejoice in your words that tell us, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sin…I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” So, this morning we return, we rest, we rejoice in you. Jesus paid it all, all to him we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow. Holy Spirit, warm our souls to the joys of this good news. Satisfy the taste buds of our souls with these unthinkable mercies and this lavish grace richly pour out upon us.

Make us heralds of this good news. Use us Lord to encourage each other. In our Community Groups help us, Lord, help us spur each other on toward love and good deeds. Use us to point each other to the joys of heaven as we walk alongside each other in the trials of this earth. We praise you for the gospel community and hospitality among us; deepen it all the more, we pray. Make us eager to serve others, to develop new relationships and deepen exiting friendships. Use us to see people come to faith in Jesus. Help us share the gospel with our neighbors and be a light to the nations.

Build up your church in the Middle East. Use us as an encouragement to R and E, and other gospel workers, as they labor. Grant our sister A much grace in these early days as she begins her work among refugees. Prepare our brother A as he gets ready to help a church plant in Leeds. Work mightily through our brother A and our sister M, and their children, as they look toward planting a Spanish-speaking church in Columbia Heights. We pray for our members that have recently left DC. Whether they are in Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Ottawa or Gillette, Wyoming use them to strength local churches and make disciples that delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. We praise you Lord that, in your kindness, you have made us a sending church. Let us rejoice in the many ways you’re using this little body to advance your gospel to the ends of the earth.

We pray for the children at Restoration Church. Thank you for the opportunity to disciple the littlest ones among us. We praise you for the dozens and dozens of members who serve in Restoration Kids. Help all of us enjoy and value teaching the gospel to kindergartners and first graders and pre-schoolers. As so many of our children get ready to start back to school, give them grace to not be anxious or worried. We thank you for the many teachers among us. As D, A, T, L, P, C, E and L and others get ready to start another school year, use them Lord. Use them to love students and teach them faithfully that they might be equipped to help humanity flourish.

We pray for this school. Continue to grant principal Kimberly M wisdom to lead this school with integrity and in a way that allows all students to thrive. We pray for Daniel I, who uses this room to teach his students. Use his creativity and giftings to help students enjoy learning and equip them to develop the arts. We pray for R and B as they start school here. Grant them grace Lord to make friends, for language comprehension, to learn the way of school here in the US. Use them as bastions of the gospel here at Woodrow Wilson High School. In your kindness Lord, give them joy and delight in learning and attending school here.

Lord, we are so thankful for who you are and what you have done. Retune our hearts this morning that we might not only sing your praise today, but rejoice in you all week. Take your word and plant it deep within us that gospel fruit might come in due season. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship though Prayer

Gracious Father, we come to you in the sin-covering, life-giving, heaven-opening name of Jesus Christ. We marvel that we get to commune with you, our gracious and merciful God. For the glory of your name, continue to fill Restoration Church with unity. Holy Spirit, bind us together and give us the grace to put our personal preferences below gospel priority. Holy Spirit, fill us afresh, and make our lives attractive with the beauty of the gospel. In our conversations with friends, neighbor, co-workers and classmates help us be wise, sensitive and grace-filled. Use our ministry to see people come to know and trust and treasure Jesus Christ.

This week, Lord, as Community Groups start back we ask that you would use our times together to help us delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. We praise you for the leaders and the hosts who serve us each week. Give N&A, H&L, D&M, K&N, J&T, B&M, D&J, R&S, H&K, L, C&T, W&T, myself and P, give us all a deep joy in using what you have given them to build up the body of Christ. Use our Community Groups as a place where we build each other up in maturity in Christ, a place where we mutually serve one another, and as a place where we encourage one another on our mission for Jesus.

We pray for the advancement of the gospel globally. Raise up indigenous believers and church planters among the BKs. We pray for our teams going overseas; use them Lord to be an encouragement to the workers on the ground. Use us, use our resources to get the gospel to the Ks. We pray for 20 Schemes as they labor to plant churches among Scotland’s poorest neighborhoods. Raise up many young men and women to give their lives to the schemes of Scotland. We pray for our brother A, M. For the glory of your name Lord, use them, use us, to plant a Spanish speaking church in Columbia Heights. Use us to see many people come to faith in Jesus. In your gracious providence, bring other men along side A to serve as leaders in this gospel work.

We praise Lord that we do not labor alone. We praise you for Capitol Hill Baptist Church and The Well in Silver Spring. Continue to grant faithfulness to Redemption Hill and Christ our Shepherd and Church of the Advent. Bless our brothers and sisters at Washington International Church and NCC and Redeemer Arlington.

And we all pray together…

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For yours is the kingdom,

and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Family Worship: Sunday, July 31

Our next Family Worship Sunday is this Sunday, July 31. Join us in praying that God will use these sweet times of corporate worship to exalt Christ, build up our church, and impart the gospel to the littlest ones at Restoration Church.

On these specific Sundays, the older children’s classes, currently K-5th Grade, will stay for the entirety of the main service. This will create an opportunity to train our children to worship corporately, both as members of our immediate families and the family of God.

For the Parents: The standard of conduct and behavior for your child will not be perfect on Family Worship Sundays. Your kids will actually act their age in the service. There will be distractions and chatter but that is good for the rest of the church to see and hear. Your children are an evidence of God’s grace to our congregation. Family Worship will create more opportunities to talk about the gospel with your kids including the importance of corporately gathering, worshiping God through music and the preaching of God’s Word along with reasons for the Lord’s Supper and baptism. Family Worship Sundays will also enable parents to be grateful for those who disciple their children each week in Restoration Kids as they have the privilege and responsibility of training children to worship corporately.

For the Children: The kids of Restoration bring an energy and joy to the rest of the church body that reminds us of life in our church. Children will see the reality and benefit of worshiping with their parents and others in the congregation. They will realize that mom and dad and the rest of the church are just as much in need of Christ as they are. Children will have the chance to watch their parents and those who disciple them in children’s ministry worship God together and in return see the need for corporate worship. Our prayer is that Family Worship Sundays will be another way to open the hearts of the kids God has entrusted to Restoration Church so they can understand the character of God and walk in the goodness of His grace from an early age.

For the Church: Family Worship Sundays will help those who do not have families see the importance of family. It is good for the rest of us to see and hear the children in our church because it calls us to pray for them, disciple them and care for their souls. It is an opportunity to see our greater church family at it’s finest. The service will be unfiltered with the visuals and noises that children provide. It is a chance to be blessed by the unpredictability that is family. It’s another aspect of biblical community marked by togetherness. Worshiping with all ages will help us as a church see even more the importance and responsibility to make disciples who make disciples. As a church, may we think about it not as a distraction but something that endears us to one another and magnifies Christ as His body.

by Joey

Encouragement from Madeleine as the Nali's Say Good-bye

Dear Restoration Church,

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

"Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we worship and adore you. God we praise you that you are wise always choosing what is best. God we praise you that you are holy completely separate from sin. God we praise you that you are love giving of yourself. God we praise you that you are just always doing what is right. God we praise you that you are true never lying or deceiving. God we praise you that you are unchangeable forever loyal and perfect. God we praise you that you are eternal having no beginning and no end. Yes, Lord, we praise your majestic name for who you are in all your splendor and beauty.

We praise you for giving us the Bible, your perfect Word. We praise you that the Bible is authoritative; perfect in all it says telling us what is right and good. We praise you that the Bible is clear and can be understood by children, yet is also beautiful to capture the hearts of the most learned. We praise you that the Bible is sufficient and it alone is enough to teach us about Jesus and the joy and salvation found in him. We praise you for your Word; help us to trust it and treasure it and mediate upon it as it points us to Jesus.

This morning Lord we praise you for the supreme joy and delight found in Jesus Christ. We praise you for rescuing us from the slavery of sin. We confess that we rebelled against you. We have dishonored you with our thoughts, words and deeds. Forgive us, Lord. We repent of our sexual immorality and impurity; we repent of our idolatry and jealousy; we repent of our fits of anger and our divisiveness; we repent of our gossip and slander; we repent our envy and drunkenness; we repent our laziness and selfishness. We praise you that it’s your grace that leads us to repentance that we might taste the heavenly joys of Christ. We praise you that because of Jesus, through his sacrificial death and life-giving resurrection and victorious ascension, sin is conquered, Satan is defeated, and death is destroyed. Birth in us a deep hope and longing for heaven that our minds would be set on things above.

We pray for those here this morning that are worried and anxious. Holy Spirit, calm their spirit with the comforts of Christ. We pray for those here this morning harboring bitterness. Holy Spirit, remind them of how much Christ has forgiven them. We pray for those here this morning feeling ashamed and guilty because of something they’ve done. Holy Spirit, point the to Jesus and wash them afresh in the purity of the gospel. We pray for those here this morning that have been grievously sinned against and taken advantage of. Holy Spirit, remind them of what it means to be a precious child of the Father. We pray for those here this morning struggling with substance abuse, for those who are weary of fighting a particular sin. Holy Spirit, birth in them the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience and self-control. We pray for those here this morning who are not trusting in Jesus alone for salvation. Holy Spirit open their eyes that they might behold the glory of Jesus and be fully satisfied in him.

For your namesake, O Lord, advance the gospel far and wide. From the underground churches in China to the public churches in Venezuela, hallow your name. Get the gospel to the 25MM unreached Pashtun people in Pakistan and to the 20MM Kurmi people in India. For the glory of your name, continue to use this church to raise up gospel workers to take the good news of Jesus to our neighbors and to the nations.

Father, we look at the world around us, and the brokenness is tangible. We pray for an end to elective abortions. We pray for hope and healing for those who have been forced or chosen to have an abortion. That probably includes some here this morning. Use us, Lord, as a place of grace and compassion. We pray for an end to modern day sex-slave trafficking. We pray for an end to domestic abuse. Heal those here Lord who have tasted these things first hand. We pray for an end to terrorism and religious persecution – not just against Christians, but against all faiths. Bring about peace, for you are a God of peace. We pray for an end to racism. We pray specifically for our minority brothers and sisters who bear the weight of systemic injustices, both seen and unseen. Give us the humility to bear each other’s burdens; to weep with those who weep.

Give wisdom and justice to national leaders all over the world; give prime ministers and presidents and kings and queens and dictators a deep desire to bring about human flourishing. We pray for the government here. Grant President Obama and Congress and elected officials integrity and humility and boldness to do what is right, what is the good for the people they are entrusted to lead and serve. Grant us the humility to respect those in leadership even when we disagree with them. We thank you that we find ourselves in a place of peace and order. Let us not take that for granted but be wise making the best use of our time.

Father, you have given us so many good gifts – the N. family, this church, children to disciple, songs to sing. We praise you. Cause these gifts to make us long for heaven, to yearn for you the great Gift Giver. Remind us of the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, point us to Jesus that we might find our greatest delight in him as we labor here and look forward to heaven. We pray all of this in the name of Christ. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano