Almighty God we come to you this morning declaring your greatness and your goodness. You never grow weary or faint; you never sleep or slumber; you never take a day off or lose attention; you never grow impatient; you are never overwhelmed or unsure about what to do. You are eternal and inexhaustible; you are infinitely wise and meticulous in your compassion. Cause our souls to rest in your goodness, which you show us in Christ Jesus. Amen.

We praise you this Advent season; we look back at the incarnation and marvel that Jesus would take on the fullness of humanity for our sake; we lean forward in anticipation of his return. Holy Spirit, teach our souls to wait; how to long for Jesus’ return yet rest in the present. We rejoice that “A Son Is Given.” We praise you that Jesus, your eternal Son, the Son of God, is holy and his holiness heals. We praise you that the holiness of Christ is more contagious than our sinfulness. In faith we touch Christ this morning; heal us we ask. Comfort the hurting; give hope to the weary; give faith to the doubting. Amen.

We pray for our sister D this morning. Continue to help her body make a full recovery. We praise you for your zealous faith and unwavering hope in Christ. We pray for D and P. Continue to increase their conformity to use them to build up the body of Christ here at Restoration Church.

Lord, we praise you that Jesus, the Son of Man, has all authority and will one-day restore all things in his perfected Kingdom. Use this church to make disciples of our neighbors and the nations that delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ with a heavenly hope. Give each one of us the boldness and humility and wisdom to speak of the glorious good news of the gospel to our friends and family members and co-workers and classmates. For the glory of your name in Christ Jesus, we ask that you would use our church to help people trust and treasure Jesus. Do this, Lord we ask for our joy and your glory. Amen.

Holy Spirit, this Advent season, remind us that Jesus authority is a good authority and all that he calls us to do is for our ultimate happiness. We praise you for our sister E’s testimony to the authority of Christ in baptism. Remind us, Lord, remind us the holy life is the happy life; that sin never fully gives us what we truly want. When we are prone to wander call us back.

We confess our sin; not just our outward rebellion in what we do, but our inward hope in something or someone other than You. We confess that we look to our spouse to provide only what you can. We confess our pursuit of and participation in romantic immorality. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our distrust of and dullness for You and your word. We confess our anger that results from thinking of ourselves better than other. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our abuse of alcohol and over indulgence of food. We confess our bitter envious thoughts of those who have what we want. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our impatience in parenting. We confess our selfish, me-centered view of the church. We repent. Forgive us Lord. Amen.

And we confess Christ. We confess his righteousness is our righteousness. We praise you that our sin does not define us – Jesus does. We repent of our rebellion and rejoice in the soul-satisfying, Satan-crushing, joy-purchasing, death-defeating, heavenly hope of Jesus. This morning we look back to a cradle in Bethlehem; we look back to a cross in Jerusalem; we look back to an empty tomb. And we look forward. We look forward to heaven on earth – enjoying you with your people forever and ever. Amen.

We praise you that we labor for the glories of Christ in this city with many other faithful churches. We thank you for Redeemer City and Redemption Hill and Capitol Hill Baptist. Use these brothers and sisters to magnify your mighty name. We thank you for McLean Bible and National Community Church and All Nations DC. Advance your gospel through these churches. Amen.

Lord, your word tells us to pray for our enemies and so we do. We pray that in your sovereignty that the leaders of ISIS would come to faith in Jesus. In your unfathomable grace save Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Muhammad al-Shimali. Turn these men from false worship and persecution to true worship and gospel proclamation. Do this Lord for the glory of your name. Take the men and women of Al Queda and bring them to faith in Jesus. Open their eyes that they might behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Lord you did this with the Apostle Paul; you did this with us; we trust that you can do this with them. We also pray that you would restrain the evil these organizations are able to spread. Cripple their efforts to persecute, slaughter and terrorize. Bring about peace in the Iraq and Syria and Turkey and Sudan.

We praise you Lord that you sent forth Christ to die for us when we were still your enemies. We praise you for the hope and grace and mercy found in Christ Jesus. Cause us to increasingly understand the depths of the gospel that we might be fully satisfied in you. Use our brother N. this morning to unfold the wonders of your word that we might worship you with all that we have for all that you are. We pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen.