Oh God, there is no God like you…majestic in Holiness, full of splendor and glory. Blessed be your Name, Father…all power, majesty, and dominion are yours. Great is your Name and Greatly are you to be praised.
May the sea and all that fills it, praise you. May the coastlands and all their inhabitants, praise you. May the desert and its cities lift up their voices to you, our God. May voices shout, this morning on the tops of the Andes mountains that there is no God, but you! May the whole earth give glory to you, our Lord. We have no hope, but in you and you alone.
We confess that this week we have put our hope in a thousand lesser things. From relationships to technological gadgets we have longed for things in creation more than you, our Creator. We have ears, yet it is rare that we sit still to hear from you. We have eyes, but it is not often enough that we stop to wonder at your handiwork in the world. We can speak, and yet, our mouths do not offer you the praise that you are due. We have minds, but we confess that it is few and far between that we meditate on the glorious redemption that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Having ears, we, too often, listen and believe lies. Having eyes, we look for our own glory. Having mouths, we speak of trivial things while neglecting things of greater consequence. Having minds, we often dedicate them to good things, but we don’t draw lines back to how those things can be made great if they find their home in you.
We confess the guilt of how trivial we are when it comes to you and your will for our lives. With our mouths we praise our Lord and Father and with it we also curse people who are made in your image…have mercy on us in our sin.
Deepen in us a holy affection for the things of God. Open up a way in our minds to attend to our daily responsibilities while also seeing that you are not disconnected from those things. Help us not just believe that you are Sovereign over the Universe, reigning Redemptively from a throne of Grace, but help us SEE that in our daily lives, help us HEAR that on Wednesday at 3:43pm, help us SMELL the splendor of your glory even while we walk to work…oh God, rescue us from trivial lives that take you as our Lord, yet live as though you are not, except for an hour and a half on a Sunday morning.
Thank you for the Forgiveness of Jesus Christ that is found in Jesus Christ. Thank you for His love and forgiveness…thank you that as we trust Him, our sins are not held against us, but they are pushed away as far as the east is from the west. Thank you that in Christ…we can have hope in the darkest of days and rejoice in the brightest of mornings.
Teach us to Rejoice that this Truth is being Resounded in a hundred thousand different places around the globe today…in all different tribes, tongues, and languages. Remind us, Father, that this glorious Gospel is not American, not white, not black, not 21st century or domesticated to our neat categories. Let us live in the freedom of your grace knowing that a day is coming when all those who have dedicated their lives to Christ will stand together and sing to you as ONE body…hasten that day, Lord God.
For we are mindful of the poor in Burundi, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. Give them relief, we pray in the name of Jesus! We are mindful of the poor here in our own city…God grant them relief and show us how we can be your hands and feet in that process!
We are mindful of Senior Citizens here in our own city that have largely been forgotten by our society…because they no longer have anything to offer us. God bring friends and neighbors around them to offer them the warmth of friendship and the love of Christ. Grant that we, at Restoration Church might be particularly helpful in this endeavor. Grant that many would come to join us in worship here each Sunday.
We are mindful, Lord, that there are churches in this city that love you and long to be effective for your glory who are hurting this morning. Give them life through the proclamation of your word and grant that their congregations would grow with people who have been changed by the glorious Gospel….be they Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, or Lutheran churches…revive churches in our city with Biblically Faithful, Gospel loving, mission minded people…do the same for us here at Restoration Church.
Lord, we also pray for the unborn and the mothers and fathers that are considering abortion. God, may they choose life…and may we in the church stand to provide care for those children. May our hopes not rest in the halls of Congress, but may it rest in you as we seek to impact our common man with news of life, not death. Protect little boys and girls in the wombs of mothers…let us be the generation that sees abortion, as we know it, come to an end…yes, grant our elected officials the courage to stand against abortion, even if it may cost them their jobs…because they know that it is that important.
Now…as we turn to your word in just a moment, I pray for us this morning that we would be active listeners. Eager to hear your truth and live in light of it. Grant grace upon grace to your servant Joey as he comes to preach your Word. Thank you for our brother and all the ways he serves this community, and this church. Likewise, thank you for our brothers Chris and Deholo who give some much additional time to already busy lives in order to serve this body with their gifts.
For the glory of your Name, Lord God…be pleased to move in us, now…Amen