O God of heaven we humbly place ourselves before you this morning. We take our refuge in you. You are our Lord. We have no good apart from you. It grieves us to see the sorrows of those that run after other idols and multiply. But you Lord, you are our chosen portion and our cup. You hold our lot. Truly, the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places and we…oh we by your grace have a beautiful inheritance.

We bless you Lord, you the one that gives us counsel. We set you before us…and may we set you before us continually. And because we do, Lord we are confident that because you are at our right hand, we will NOT be shaken. Therefore, our heart is glad and our whole being rejoices. For we, your saints…we dwell secure in Christ Jesus. Yes, in Christ you will not abandon our souls to hell. Instead, you have made for us a pathway of peace that leads to life everlasting…you have brought us to you, the presence of the fullness of joy and where pleasures are found forevermore. Blessed is your name, o God!

We beg your forgiveness for the ways in which we don’t set you before us. The ways we have sought out idols this past week. Forgive us for following the idol of personal pleasure where it directly deviates from your path. Forgive us for the adultery that we committed this week. Lusting after men and women that weren’t ours in marriage. Give us eyes to see the destruction lust causes to our souls and the glory it robs from you.

Forgive us for the ways we feared our fellow man more than we feared you. Forgive us for failing to speak up for the cause of Christ when opportunities were clearly presented to us to speak, but instead we shrank. Forgive us for the ways we have failed to pursue others for their good and your glory.

Forgive those of us that drank too much or said too much. Teach us, Lord, to be more discerning with our handling of drink and the handling of our tongues. Cause us to remember that we ought not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but instead may we all things to build others up in Christ Jesus, and not tear others down by abusing our personal freedom.

We are a collection of deeply flawed men and women…and yet, you have shown us mercy upon mercy, grace upon grace in the person and work of Christ. We are saints in Christ Jesus. We have been declared holy, not because of any holiness of our own performed by the law…but we are holy because of the righteousness that came from heaven and was secured for us on the bloody Cross. Oh God thank you for forgiveness! Thank you that through our faith in Christ we have been Justified through the blood of Christ that has propitiated your wrath. This is our plea. We plead the blood of Christ and rejoice in the forgiveness we have received through it.

And so we thank you for this Great salvation. The song of our souls that orients us towards heaven, our home. And Lord, thank you that you have granted us passports to heaven…our true home. We long to see our Savior and enjoy Him face to face forever.

Until then we know that we have a mission here to display your infinite glory on earth as the church. So, we turn now to plead for you to work through your people.

We pray for our sister Z whose body has been riddled by a stroke. Lord, we rejoice she still rejoices in you through all that she has been through. But Lord, we pray that she would be able to join us here more regularly that we may enjoy her company and she may hear your word preached. And if not here, we pray you’d grant her another Gospel believing church nearby where she can get to more regularly.

We pray T and J in these early days of marriage. May they build habits of grace towards one another as they both pursue a passion for your glory. Lord, do the same for D and L and A and K, and C and A as they prepare for marriage themselves.

Lord, I pray for K, J, and J. May these days in their lives be marked by prayer and fasting where their one plea is to have more of you as their daily portion. May you hear those prayers and meet them in their times of need.

Father, we pray you’d grant Restoration Church to see a harvest through the proclamation of your Gospel throughout Washington, DC. Grant that we would see 5 or 10 people come to faith in Christ as a result of our being generous with our time and intentionality in turning conversations towards things of depth. Please, we pray you’d grant more people to believe for your glory here in DC. May we rejoice with the angels at the baptism of these saints in the coming months.

Lord, likewise, we join the call of our church planting network, Treasuring Christ Together to see 10 or more new believers in all the TCT churches this year. May we come to the close of this year and hear about magnificent ways in which you moved through Jubilee Church in Minneapolis, Grace Church in Memphis, Treasuring Christ church in Raleigh, Desiring God church in Raleigh, Covenant Life church in Tampa, and Kaleo Church in San Diego. Lord we plead you would do this.

Father, we plead that you would also move among the nations. Amongst the unreached peoples in India, the unreached peoples in China, Cambodia, and Pakistan. Lord, send more and more missionaries that are equipped with languages and an unceasing passion for your glory amongst those have not yet heard.

Lord we pray for the people that are mourning in Manchester, and in London, as well as Istanbul, as well as Mogidishu. God please, end the violence that these soldiers of Satan are bringing about. Bring peace and justice amid the world….and do it soon, we pray. May Christ return soon and establish the world we all long for. Until then, God give peace to the hurting and resources and wisdom to governments that may rid the world of such evil.

Finally, Lord. We pray for our brother Joey who will open up the word you have breathed out. Grant him freedom and the fullness of the Spirit and grant us ears to hear your word. Father we thank you your servant J. His tireless efforts to be light in the darkness are an encouragement to so many of us. Use him to create more and more courageous men and women that spend themselves for Christ. Do that now as he comes to preach in just a moment.

God thank you that you hear our prayers. We commend all these things to you and we ask them in the name that is above all names…Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen