Graciously heavenly Father, we come to you boldly and confidently knowing that because there’s an empty tomb on earth, Jesus occupies the throne in heaven. We come to you as your sons and daughters, united to your eternal Son, Jesus Christ, through the power and fellowship of the Holy Spirit as he births faith and repentance in our hearts.

We come praising your name for the sake of your glory. Above all else, we plead with you to hallow your name. “Our Father in hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We praise you, our Triune God, united in all your eternal perfection; your goodness is inexhaustible; your mercy and grace know no bounds; your essence the definition and standard of truth and love. Oh, how marvelous and majestic you are; we come to adore your unending perfection and praise your infinite worth. Cause us to be so captivated by your goodness that we long to delight in nothing more than you.

But we come confessing that is not always the case; we often rebel against you. Instead of seeking your kingdom and your will, we often seek our own kingdom and ignore your will. Instead of desiring you above all things, we often attempt to use you longing more for the things you give than for You yourself. Forgive us our sin we pray. Give us the grace to take your good gifts, to have good desires and let them all roll up into worship of you, our great and glorious God. We confess that we often care more about what the world thinks of us rather than striving to be set apart, to be holy as you are holy. Forgive us our sins we pray. We confess that we are harsh with those around us when they criticize us or don’t do what we want. We are selfish and prideful. Forgive us our sins we pray.

We praise you that in Christ Jesus, the power of sin no longer has control over us; let us be sober-minded, controlled by the love of Christ. We praise you that in Christ Jesus the penalty of sin no longer condemns us – he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; let us rest in the gospel of grace and actively turn from sin and live in righteousness. We praise you that in Christ Jesus the presence of sin will one day be no more; let us look to our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for us.

Cause us to realize that you have called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light, because you want us to proclaim the excellencies of Christ Jesus not just to those among us, but also to the world around us. For the sake of your great name, give us the passion and boldness to humbly yet eagerly share the gospel with our friends, families, fellow students. In the name of Christ Jesus, use the ministry and members of Restoration Church to see at least 2 more people come to faith in 2013. Help us not just see them come to faith, but to disciple them into maturity that they to might be disciple-making disciples. Do this, in the name of Jesus Christ we ask.

And we ask that you would increasingly work in our church. As we think about marriage this morning from your word, purify, preserve and protect every marriage in our church. Give husbands the grace to lead through sacrificial service; to repent quickly; to give of their time and energy generously. Give wives the grace to love through sacrificial service; to repent quickly; to give of their time and energy generously. We pray especially for Will and Lauren and Vern & Sam as they lay the foundation for their marriage in these early days. Give them grace upon grace to learn how to live with and serve one another.

We pray for those planning to get married in the near future – for Travis & Megan; for Luke & Liz; for Hector & Kathryn; for Joe & Janae – help them prepare for marriage with the gospel informing thought and desire. Father, we also pray for the men and women here who long to one day be married. Give them grace to navigate the complexities of life, to wrestle with the desires of their soul and to ultimately live out of their identify in Christ.

Display your manifold wisdom through our church; continue to grant us great diversity – racially, generationally, and economically; make it so abundantly clear that Restoration Church is held together by nothing other than the gospel; that our church would be a place where we rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, listen to those who are struggling, and comfort those who are hurting. We ask that you would do this not only in our church, but also at Greenbelt Baptist, and Redemption Hill, and Del Ray Baptist, and Sojourn Fairfax. Do this all for the fame of Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.