Advent Calendars

Thanks giving has come and gone. Christmas time is here. In the midst of the season's "hustle and bustle" we encourage you to be intentional about setting your heart upon Christ; hat's what this Advent season is all about.

In fact Advent means “coming,” and for the Christian Church, Advent is a season marked by waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth in history (His first coming) and for the anticipation of Christ’s triumphant return (His second coming). It is a season of thoughtful reflection and repentance; an opportunity to rethink our priorities, to realign our lives with God’s desire for us, to seek forgiveness and to start anew.

On of the ways you can do this is through the use of an Advent calendar. Maybe that "calendar" is in the form of a devotional book you read each day. Or if you have kids (or are just a kid at heart), you could make a calendar. There are numerous ways to go about doing this. Here are 33 cleaver ways; and here are a dozens more; and here is a free one to download; and if you don't like that one, you could download this one. Or just go the simple route and buy one.

Whatever the case, make sure your calendar and time spent using it revolves around Christ and not just chocolate.

by Joey

Worship through Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We come to you this morning in the name of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Perfect Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and everything in between. We praise you this morning. Your love is beyond measure. Your justice inscrutable. Your compassion never fails. Your holiness unmatched. Hallow your name in Iraq and in India. Hallow your name through underground churches in China and open air churches in Africa. Hallow your name by raising up men and women from this church to carry the gospel to the nations.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, you will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This morning, Lord, we plead for your perfect will to be done here on earth. We grieve yet more reports of shootings and violence. We lament the religious persecution happening around the globe. Fires rage, wars continue, famines go without end, diseases spread. Racism and prejudice practiced often yet so often unnoticed. Abuse runs rampant. We lament and grieve. We release our burdens and worries to you.

Give us the grace to live today in light of the great Day when everything will be united, peaceful, and complete in Jesus. What a blessed Day that will be—no more divided self, but a united heart; no more discord in anything, but the beauty of God in all things; no more meanness anywhere, just the kindness of your kingdom everywhere.

We pray your gospel spreads through healthy churches here in our city. Bless our brothers and sisters at Church of the Advent, Redeemer City and Waterfront Church. Give grace to District Church, Veritas City and Redemption Hill. We pray for the Treasuring Christ Together network. Use the brothers and sisters in this network to foster healthy gospel churches that plant churches that Christ might be treasured. Advance the gospel on college campuses. We pray for O, S, and L as they labor at American University for the glory of Christ. Bless the efforts of B as he leads Chi Alpha and A as he leads Cru.

Father, for the glory of Christ, we pray that each member of Restoration Church would actively and humbly and winsomely and regularly share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Grant us the grace to cultivate meaningful relationships where we declare and display the saving, satisfying grace of Jesus. This morning, Lord, we pray for the elementary children in our church. Grant saving faith to C, O, S, E, W, I, T, J, E, S, Z, J, M, A, and C. From this early age teach these little ones to see and savor Jesus that they might rest in him all their days.

Our Father in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. We come to you this morning fully dependent upon you. You sustain our every need. We praise you for the many ways you have met our needs this past week. We have eaten food and slept in beds. We have clean water to drink. We have loved and been loved. We have enjoyed the aroma of coffee and the sweetness of chocolate. We have seen the leaves change color and the sun shine brightly. We rejoice in these good gifts. Open our eyes to behold the small wonders all around us.

Shift our focus from the immediacy of our fears and hurts, to the grandeur of who you are. When the cares of our hearts are many, remind us that your consolations outnumber them. We pray for those of us who are weary and downcast. Meet our needs in Christ that he might lift our spirits. Use us to speak words of hope and comfort and love to one another. As a church family give us the grace to care for each other well both physically and spiritually. We rejoice with those of us who are encouraged. Spur us on all the more that we might delight in Jesus and help others do the same.

Our Father in heaven, forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lord, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; we have not loved you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. Forgive us, Lord. We confess the greed that grips our heart and the harsh words that come from our lips. We confess our immorality and pride. We confess our self righteousness and sinful comparisons. We confess longing too much for the comforts of this world while neglecting to hope in the world to come. We plead your forgiveness by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Take his death as ours as we receive his righteousness. We rejoice in the life we have in the resurrected Christ. We rejoice that by our adoption in him, we call you “Abba, Father” and we rest in your unconditional love for us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Holy Spirit, we praise you that by your work in us, we can take up the armor of God and fight against the schemes of Satan. Give us the grace to do that this week. To put off sin and cultivate godliness. We praise you for the unity of the gospel we have and ask that you, Holy Spirit, would knit us together all the more that we would enjoy Jesus together even as we navigate the trails and hardships prevalent around and inside us.

For yours is the kingdom and power and glory forever and ever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Prayer of Lament

Psalm 13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Psalm 38:9-10 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.

Almighty compassionate Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you today with cries of lament and sighs of sorrow. Our hearts are troubled, our world is broken; we yearn for peace and flourishing, yet it so often feels so far away.

We feel the effects of death and disease as they assault our loved ones. At times we feel alone and isolated. God, we’re also exhausted by the physical, mental and emotional trials brought upon many of us. We think of those who are battling physical and mental illness, disease, and disability. We grieve the anxiety that ravages our lives, the darkness of depression that bleeds into every part of our soul, the highs and lows that destroy our relationships, all of it, makes us feel less than human.

And we confess that we often struggle to see you in the midst of these trials. Along with the Psalmist we confess our soul refuses to be comforted, our spirits faint in sorrow. How long, O Lord, until you return and wipe away every tear from our eyes?

How long, O Lord, until you return and put an end to all violence—whether it’s in the streets of Pakistan or the villages of Syria; whether it’s in a yoga studio in Tallahassee or a synagogue Pittsburgh? How long until there’s no more shootings based on skin color, no more violent threats based on political ideologies, no more persecution based on religion?

How long before there’s no more no more warring nations, no more ruthless dictators? How long, O Lord, before there’s no more assaults, no more abuses of power, no more trafficking of your image bearers? How long, O Lord, until there’s no more racism – both in our hearts and in our institutions? How long, O Lord, until there’s no more ending of life before birth? How long until there’s no more children in foster care? How long until there’s no more fights over immigration and debates over one ethnicities worth versus another?

We long, O Lord, to see all tribes, tongues, people and nations together forever. When will the dawn break on the Day of Jesus’ return to restore all things back to the way they are supposed to be, unbroken fellowship with you and each other on a renewed earth? We grieve today, but we grieve with hope because of Jesus. We have hope because sin is paid for, Satan is crushed, death is defeated. We have hope because you, O Lord, are forever faithful. So even in the midst of sorrow, we pray and sing and say, “It Is Well with our Soul.”

Prayer of Supplication 

Gracious God, we rejoice in your grace to us. We thank you for the many ways you are at work in and through our church family. Thank you for your grace that is growing D and H, F, T, and C into the image of Jesus Christ. Thank you for the grace that motivates the humble service of C&E, M&T, S, C, and so many others. Thank you, Lord, thank you for the unity we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit continue to knit our souls together that we might serve each other sacrificially, encourage each other regularly, speak to each other with kindness, and given generously.

Use our Community Groups as places where we help each other mature in Christ and mutually care for one another, both physically and spiritually. Give us the grace to be open and vulnerable with each other – bearing our sorrows, confessing our sins, applying the hope of the gospel to each other.

Thank you for the children of Restoration Church. For the glory of Christ, give us the wisdom and passion to disciple the youngest ones among us. Thank you for the many members who faithfully teach and care for our children each week.

We praise you that we have the joy of serving alongside other faithful churches here in DC. Bless the saints at Capitol Hill Baptist and 4^thPresbyterian. Build up our brothers and sisters at Grace DC, Redemption Hill, Redeemer Arlington, Rock Creek Church and Church of the Advent. We pray for our bother J as he perseveres in the hard work of planting Mercy of Christ Fellowship. Bring him more laborers; bring him men to serve as elders alongside of him. Bring him men and women to serve as deacons and every day disciplers. For the glory of Christ advance the gospel NE DC.

And advance your gospel among the Middle East. Sovereign Lord, we plead for the full and complete and accurate translation of the Bible into Behdini. Grant grace to Mike and E&J and so many others as they labor for this eternally important work. We pray for R&E. Surprise them with your grace and refresh them during their last two months stateside. We pray for J, J, W, C, K and L as they remain. Give them deep friendship with locals. Give them opportunities to explain the person and work of Jesus in a winsome way. Grant faith and repentance to many local people; raise up an indigenous church for the glory of Christ.

This morning, Holy Spirit, as we turn our attention to Ephesians 3, open the eyes of our hearts that we might behold wondrous things from the Word. Because we do not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God, we ask that you would feed our souls with morning with the soul-satisfying, joy-producing, feast of Christ Jesus. Grant our brother Nathan grace as he preaches your word to us.

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Lord, indeed our sins are many, but your mercy is more. You are rich in love, patience and kindness towards sinful, rebellious people. You are united in your character as one in three, perfectly loving from before time began. We praise you Lord, for you are good. We sing to your name, for it is pleasant. We praise you that you chose a people for your own possession. You are great and are far above all other things we may be tempted to worship. You are sovereign in your will and sovereign over the majesty of changing seasons. We praise you for the beauty of changing colors in the leaves, and the way you have ordered your creation throughout the year. You were sovereign to free your people from slavery to sin through the death of your firstborn, just as you freed your people from slavery in Egypt. You are the God of nations and you build up and strike down rulers and authorities. Your name endures forever, your renown, O Lord throughout all ages. You are full of compassion on your people, uniting those who were strangers and aliens to be members of your household, building them into a holy temple to magnify your name.

Lord, we confess that we don’t always act like a people united into one household.  We are inclined to show love to people with whom we have much in common while neglecting to love our brothers and sisters that we have nothing in common with apart from Christ.  We harbor attitudes of racism in our hearts and actions. We proudly consider ourselves better than others instead of emulating Christ who came to earth not to be served, but to serve.  We love to glorify ourselves but are so slow to think of your glory.

Thank you Lord that you sent Christ into this world to pay the penalty that our sins rightly deserved.  And thank you for new life in Christ, freeing us from being slaves to our sin.

Lord, we pray for the victims of the shootings in Pittsburgh and Louisville yesterday. Our hearts cry out for justice against the perpetrators of such violence, and we pray for wisdom, integrity and diligence for the authority figures involved with these events, that they would administer justice well. We pray that you would return soon to bring a new heaven and new earth without racism or shootings. We pray for an end to anti-semitism and white supremacism. We pray that you would work in the hearts of all people who desire to carry out racial violence and show them the error in their ways. We pray also for the families of those who lost their lives yesterday. We pray for your peace and comfort as they grieve. We pray that you would surround them with people that would image your love and be a help to them. We pray that you would use these acts of evil for good, that you would use it to show those who speak in racially inflammatory ways the consequences of their words and call them to repentance, that you would give the families of victims the strength to image you in radical forgiveness, and that you would draw people to yourself.  We pray also for the wounded, for safe and speedy recoveries, and for those who were present and uninjured physically but suffer psychological scars from what they’ve seen. Show them your love and comfort them Lord.

Thank you that your sent your son to reconcile your enemies to you and in so doing reconcile them to each other.  Thank you that you are a God of justice, and that even as we grieve over loss of life and the brokenness of our world, that you grieve all the more, and that you did not just grieve from afar, but entered in to our brokenness in order to bring peace.

We pray that you would make Restoration Church a beacon of unity in a world that seeks to divide.  We thank you for the many ways in which our church has diversity of people being brought together by the gospel and we pray for increased diversity, and increased unity among those who the world might expect to be divided, that we would vividly demonstrate your power to unite those that would not otherwise be united.  We pray also for the churches in Pittsburgh. We pray that you would enable them to love their Jewish neighbors in their community well. We pray that Central Church of Pittsburgh, H2O Church, Renaissance Church, River City Church and the other churches near Tree of Life Synagogue would act out your love in their communities and preach your gospel faithfully.

Lord, we ask that you would glorify your name in Washington DC, in Pittsburgh, in Louisville, and throughout the world.  Hasten the day of your return we pray. In Jesus name, amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Father,

We praise you for your great mercy and power.

Your mercy is amazing! You took sinners, dead in their trespasses and you brought them back to life. Death was the just punishment which you had inflicted on us due to our rebellion and you owed us nothing, but you showed us mercy. And the mercy was amazing!

You did not try to pour out “comfort” grace on us, whereby our quality of earthly life improved. You did not take it upon yourself to provide us with food or healing or peace among ourselves or consequential lives. You gave us life-giving grace. You loved us when we didn’t love you back.  You brought us to eternal life, you welcomed us in your presence, you made us part of your family and you promised to continue to bestow rich grace upon us in eternity. Your mercy and your grace are amazing!

And Father, how powerful you are! We are but specks of dust, blown left and right by the wind. But you are almighty. In Christ, you bring dead people to life. You provide good things for them to walk into and you provide eternity for them.

Ah, Lord, how powerful you are! Our hearts are more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. We love all the wrong things and hate the good things. People have tried for millennia tame the heart and to shape people to do good but have only created monsters. But you, in your great power have taken our monstrous hearts and renewed them to love what is good and to love you, the Good Lord. In your great power you freed us from our fleshly, fallen desires and affections and gave us godly desires and affections.

Father, how powerful you are! How many of us could stand our hearts and our lives being torn apart by our acts of love? And what acts of love! Love for enemies and for rebels, who still don’t get what you have done for them. But in your great power, you loved, you suffered, and you conquered. The world has power to build castles of sand and to destroy. You, however, have power to love your enemies into eternal life!

We thank you Father that we are blessed to receive the benefits of your mercy and power. You saved us in Jesus and made us new. We thank you Father that we can love you and love good, rather than live in the lusts of our flesh. We don’t have to serve our primitive instincts anymore. We thank you we don’t have to live lies and to work hard to maintain lies to feel good about ourselves. We thank you that you are giving us new affections and works to walk into, works that are for your glory. We thank you that you gave us a place in your presence and that we will be able to enjoy your beauty forever.

We thank you Father that you have not left us alone but have given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee and to guide us in the truth. We thank you that you have put us in the church to encourage and to love one another and to proclaim the great news of your mercy and love. We thank you that you provide for us not only these amazing, unimaginable things, but also day-to-day grace in a lot of small ways we tend to forget.

Father, we pray for your name to be glorified. You alone deserve glory and we pray that we, as individuals and as an assembly of saints, would work, strive and sweat to give you glory, rather than to ourselves. We pray that we would be captivated by your plans and your goals, rather than with whatever the world wants us to be captivated by.

We pray Father that we would no longer live in the lusts of the flesh, but in increasing affection for good, truth and love. We pray that we would cultivate these in each other’s lives and not walk in the course of the world anymore. Father help us conduct our lives, the lives you re-created a great cost to yourself, in a manner worthy of your grace. We pray we would accept the good works you prepared for us to walk into. Father helps us not miss the daily acts of love.

Father, the greatest accomplishment in the history of the world is yours. The good news of salvation in Jesus has no equal. Prophets of old and kings wanted to have seen these things and angels cannot get over them. And yet, we Father, so often forget them and casually look over them. And we don’t talk about them for fear of earthly loss and suffering. We pray Father our eyes would be enlightened to grasp what you have done and to proclaim it.

Help us love our lost neighbors enough to tell them the Gospel. Help us love one another enough to be a testimony to your amazing grace and power. Help us love our brothers and sisters in the Middle East who are hunted and cast out for their faith in Jesus. Help us pray, encourage and serve them. And help us, we pray, to follow in their footsteps and carry our crosses.

We pray for your church Iran, that it would continue to grow. Give the Iranian people thirst for true life, dreams of Jesus and to enable them to hear the Gospel and believe it. We pray that you encourage and strengthen your servants there to preach the Gospel, to take away their fear of pain, fear of losing their families and fear of losing their lives. Father, please protect them from evil.

In Christ’s name, Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Merciful and gracious, Lord, we are thankful that we do not labor for the gospel alone. We praise you for other healthy churches in and around our city. Bless the faithful labors of Del Ray Baptist, 4^thPresbyterian, Arlington Baptist Church, The Well Church in Silver Spring and Restoration City Church in Alexandria. Build up your people and bring many to faith in Christ through Mercy of Christ Fellowship, Waterfront Church, Mercy Hill, McLean Bible Church, and Pillar DC.

For the glory of Christ, we pray that you would use gospel-motivated ministries like The Central Union Mission, DC127, Mission Muffins, and The Porch to bring hope to the hurting and healing to the broken. Give the leadership of these ministries wisdom and insight as they seek to steward limited resources for your glory and our neighbor’s good.

Holy, all-wise, sovereign, God, we pray for the government officials in Washington, DC. Give Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Newsham and Fire Chief Dean wisdom as they seek to reduce violent crimes in the District. Give these city officials a sense of compassion and justice that they might bear your image and serve your image bearers. We pray for the social workers and school administrators and teachers in our communities. In your common grace Lord, give these men and women the resources they need to effectively serve those in their care. Tear down every biased or prejudiced system that unfairly discriminates and prevents children from receiving a robust education.

And we pray not just for our local leaders and laws, but also the leaders and government at the national level. Grant our President, representatives, and senators wisdom and surround them with wise counselors. Give them a deep sense of their responsibility to serve the country not just seek personal gain or only pursue political agendas. Sovereign and gracious God, bend these hearts toward true justice and righteousness that promotes the dignity of all people – men and women, all races and ethnicities, all religious backgrounds, all sexual orientations, all ages – from the womb until natural death. Grant discernment and the conviction to do what is right even among those leaders and officials who deny you.

We pray for those of us who are angry or hurting and those of us who are hopeless or weary because of the constant barrage of skewed news stories, unfair caricatures, and intentional divisiveness. We admit that we desire justice but we often don’t know exactly what justice requires.We also pray for those who are hurting because recent events have brought painful reminders of how they have been hurt and abused in the past, and perhaps ignored or marginalized. Comfort us in your steadfast kindness, oh Lord! Help us, in our conversations with those inside the church and those outside, both those in person and those online, to always speak in a manner that gives grace and builds up, not to destroy.

Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we pray not only for what’s near to us, but what’s near to your heart – and that includes the nations. Raise up church planters among the unreached in Bhoi in India and Socotran in Yemen. For the glory of Christ, establish an indigenous church among the BK in NIQ. Grant grace to M and E and J and others as they labor to complete the B New Testament. Gracious God, use the former Restoration Church members in Uganda, Switzerland, Australia, Korea, Croatia, Germany, Rawanda, Canada, and Guam, to make disciples that delight in the supremacy of Christ. And raise up more laborers for the harvest among the nations!

Let us, Lord, let us as Christians be a light of hope and happiness. Holy Spirit remind us that you have sealed us in Christ and in him we have an eternal inheritance. Our hope is not in this world, but in the One who will usher in the world to come. We praise you that King Jesus is on the throne right now and forever more. We praise you that he is reigning and he is soon returning to restore the world back to perfection, uniting all things in heaven and all things on earth. We pray rejoicing and resting in his name, the name of Jesus. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Father, we gather here this morning and we declare, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We praise your holy name this morning. We proclaim your excellencies and savor your goodness. Triune God, we worship you. Father, we praise you for planning our salvation. Jesus, we praise you for purchasing our salvation. Holy Spirit, we praise you for preserving us in our salvation.

Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts this morning that we might behold the wonders of our redemption in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. Replace the false ideas that assault our conscience telling us that we are too rebellious or too unworthy to be redeemed from slavery to sin. Remind us of the extravagant grace found in Jesus.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come before you freely admitting our rebellion against you and disordered loves for things other than you. We repent of the greed that grips our hearts and the slanderous words that come from our mouths. We repent of the bitterness we harbor and the selfishness we enjoy. Forgive us, O Lord, we pray. We confess that some of us have decidedly pursued immorality this week; some of us have willfully abused drink and food and other substances; some of us have lied to our spouse. Forgive us, O Lord. We confess that we often long more for your gifts than for you. We acknowledge that we doubt your goodness and struggle to believe you are actually for us. Forgive us, O Lord. We praise you that in Christ Jesus – through his blissful life of perfection, his sin-bearing death of crucifixion, his heaven-purchasing resurrection – we have all that we need to be redeemed from our sin and into your sweet presence, now and forever.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for those of us who are weary and downcast. We pray for those of us who are grieving this morning, those who feel the pressures of life pressing in on their soul, those who are tangibly aware of the brokenness of this world. Lift up our souls with the hope of the gospel, with the reality of heaven. Give us gracious words to speak to each other that we might build one another up. Give us the grace to be true friends who weep with those who weep, who carry each other’s burdens and sorrows as our own. Give us the grace to know others and genuinely understand them, not just seek to be known and understood.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for those of us who are encouraged and excited about all that you’re doing. Fan the flames of gospel passion that burn deep within us. Use us to encourage others, to evangelize those who do not know Jesus. Use us to eagerly disciple others and cultivate unity and to serve the marginalized, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with you, our God.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for other churches in this city that preach and practice the gospel. Bless Capitol Hill Baptist and Anacostia River Church. Give wisdom to the saints at Redeemer City and Veritas Church. Exalt Jesus through Union Church, King’s Church, Grace DC, Church of the Advent, Christ our Shepherd, and Mercy of Christ Fellowship.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us and you are uniting all things, things in heaven and things on earth in Christ. So we come praying for heaven to break-in to earth now. We lament the brokenness of this world. We mourn that your image bearers are abused, marginalized and exploited. We grieve that suffering exists in so many forms around the world. We lament famine and poverty and hurricanes and tsunamis. We praise you God that in your justice you care for the oppressed, weak, vulnerable, and for the otherwise helpless in this world; help us bear your image in this.

For the glory of Christ, bring an end to racism – both the kind that resides in our hearts and that which permeates many institutionalized structures and systems. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to poverty and famine. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to fatherless homes and human trafficking. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to every kind of abuse – both that which we regularly see in the news and that which hides behind closed doors. And, Lord where it’s hidden in the dark, expose it that the light of the gospel might burst in with healing. Use us, Lord, use us to holistically care for those around us. Use the people and resources of Restoration Church to care for the hurting; to stand for what is right, good and true; to promote justice and demand the end to injustices; to give hope to the hopeless.

This morning, Lord, we are sorrowful, yet we always rejoice. We rejoice because the tomb is empty and heaven is coming. Sustain us and strengthen us and use us for the glory of Christ and good of our neighbor until we meet Jesus face-to-face. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Blessed be you, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

We praise you, Father, because you blessed unworthy sinners to whom you owed nothing but justice for their rebellion. We praise you, Father, because you blessed us with every spiritual blessing. You provided redemption in Jesus, the forgiveness of our evils, you made known to us your will, which was hidden from us, you gave us an imperishable inheritance, and the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance. The power you used to raise Christ from the dead is the same power who is at work in our lives.

We praise you, Father, for blessing us in the heavenly places where you are. You did not leave us cursed as we deserved, witting and unwitting participants in rebellion against you, together with powers and principalities more powerful than us, but you transplanted us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

We praise you, Father, for choosing us before the foundation of the world, thus taking away all reasons for human pride. Before the world was, you appointed that we would be sons and daughters through Jesus, even heirs. Servants would have been more than enough, but you made us sons and daughters. Blessed be your name!

Father, we confess we have not thought enough about your blessings. We have loved the world and the things of the world. We have loved the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. We treated you like second best, something good to have in the service of fulfilling what our instincts told us was good and desirable.

We confess we have behaved like rebellious children. We heard the truth of who we are, sons and daughters, beautiful heirs, loved and cherished by you, and we heard the truth about how we should live. But we turned around to follow our sinful instincts, believed lies, and sought the approval of the world. We thought you were too distant and slow in fulfilling your promises. So we took matters into our hands. We found your calling to be to the praise of the glory of your grace, to be too boring and not fun. We believed the lies of the world and acted upon them.

Forgive us Father our rebellion. Forgive us for trampling on your sacrificial love. Have mercy on our souls! Help us turn our back on our sins!

We thank you that in Christ you provide forgiveness of sins. We thank you that you treat us as sons and daughters and that your response to our rebellion is one of a father’s loving discipline and guidance. We than you that you do not leave us prey to our sinful instincts and desires but put boundaries to keep us from all sorts of evils and, ultimately, death.

We thank you for your Word, which you gave us to guide us and to tell us what is true and what is not. We thank you for your Holy Spirit who helps us understand your word and who is a pledge of our adoption as sons and daughters. We thank you for the church which you have saved to reveal your glory and grace. We thank you that we are not alone, having given us both the Spirit and the church. We thank you that we have plenty of opportunities to love our neighbors and, especially, our brothers and sisters.

We thank you Father for your calling. We thank you that you have not called us to be CEOs, presidents, do-ers or think-ers, or great men and women who accomplish great feats. We thank you that you have called us to be sons and daughters of the Most High God. We thank you that you have called us to be for the praise of the glory of your grace!

And we pray that we would indeed be to the praise of the glory of your grace. We pray that we would live by faith in your promises and grace, not by what we do. We pray we would seek your glory, not our own. We pray we would praise you more, Father. We pray we would be quick to speak well of you.

Father, we pray that we would love one another, even as it is difficult. Let us not rely on our own understanding or power, but on your grace and let us give you praise when you provide help in loving our brothers and sisters. Help seek not be self-preoccupied, but quick to spot needs in the lives of our church family, and quick to act. Help us rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Father, we pray that we would proclaim the Gospel in this city and beyond. Let us not be afraid of the world and its push-back but be bold to declare your grace to save. Help us not be afraid but look to the cloud of witnesses who surround us, starting with Christ and the saints of old and ending with today’s saints who suffer for your name all of over the world. Let us not shrink back in fear, but live as sons and daughters, pre-destined for life, proclaiming your glory.

Father make your name great! Empower your church to proclaim your glory! Provide grace to your people who suffer for the Gospel in the Middle East and Africa. May they know and believe that they are Your loved sons and daughters. Help them love one another as well as their enemies, who are enslaving and killing them and their families. Help us not close our eyes to the suffering of our brothers and sisters but love them in any way we can.

Father blessed be your name. In Christ’s name, Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Gracious heavenly Father, we come before you with confidence and boldness in the name of Jesus Christ. We praise your holy name. We rejoice in your mercy and steadfast love. We rest in your grace and peace. Holy Spirit, remind us of all that we have in Christ Jesus.

We pray for those of us who are weak and weary this morning. We pray for those of us who have lost loved ones – give us the grace to mourn well and grieve with hope. We pray for those of us with unmet desires – whether that's a spouse or children or a different job or anything else. Give us the grace, O Lord, to desire legitimate things yet not be driven to despair when those things don’t come to be. We pray for those of us who are trusting in Christ yet still struggle with the guilt of sin that we have committed or the shame from being sinned against or taken advantage of.

In your kindness Lord, soothe our self-condemning thoughts, apply the balm of the gospel to our shame-shackled hearts reminding us that the Jesus Christ – his perfect life, his sin-paying, shame-shattering death and his Satan-defeating, grave-conquering resurrection – says what’s most true about us. Holy Spirit, give us the grace to understand more fully who we are in Christ Jesus – that the Father thinks about us and feels for us the same thing he feels for his beloved eternal Son, Jesus. Wonder of wonders, O Lord, comfort us with these glorious truths this morning.

We pray for those here this morning who are not trusting in Christ alone for the joy of salvation, those who are trying to do enough good deeds to earn your approval, for those who think they have to clean themselves up before coming to you. Holy Spirit, give the gift of repentance and faith that those who are blind might see, that the lost might be found, that the prodigals might run home realizing all the while their Heavenly Father accepts them fully in Christ Jesus.

This morning Lord, we rejoice in your kindness to our church. In your sovereign grace, you have given us deep unity in the gospel. May we celebrate our diversity while cultivating that unity all the more. Help us put personal preference below gospel priority that we might walk in unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Lord, you have raised up elders and deacons and community group leaders and Restoration Kid disciplers many other choice servants. We ask that you would give us even more humble, servant leaders that we might continue making disciples that delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Strengthen and mature many of our men that they might become elders in the next year or two.

As CGs start back, we pray for our leaders. Give these men and women grace as they do the difficult work of serving week after week. Use our CGs to help us treasure Christ and encourage each other as we journey toward heaven together.

This morning, we pray for D&J, as they begin their marriage, give them fun and laughter. More importantly, mark them by humility that they might joyfully serve one another as they picture Christ and the Church. Strengthen all of the marriage at Restoration that everyone of them might display the sacrificial love of Jesus and his bride. And we pray Lord for all those who are unmarried. We praise you for them and thank you for the ways they remind us of the sweet sufficiency that Christ alone provides. Encourage our brother and sisters we pray.

We thank you Lord that we get to labor alongside other churches here in Washington, DC. Give grace to Washington International as they look for a pastor. Continue to use Grace DC, Grace Meridian Hill and Grace Mosaic to exalt Christ. For the glory of Christ, plant many more churches through Capitol Hill Baptist and Redeemer Arlington. Give grace to The Well in Silver Spring and Sublime Gracia in Columbia Heights – use them to see many come to faith. And we pray, O Lord, for the eternal glory of Jesus Christ that you would advance the gospel among the Kurds in Iraq. Grant J&J much grace as they get settled back in country. Give R&E much rest and rejuvenation as they spend time stateside. Raise up men and women from among us, Lord, to take the gospel to the nations.

This morning, as we begin our sermon series in the book of Ephesians, we pray for Nathan as he faithfully and tirelessly labors to preach your word. Give him grace in his effort to feed us with your word. And give us soft hearts to hear your word. Holy Spirit convict us, change us, rebuke us, encourage us, motivate us with the glory of Jesus Christ revealed from the pages of Scripture. We pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano