Gracious heavenly Father, we come to you this morning, resting and rejoicing in our all-sufficient, sin-bearing, death-defeating, live-giving, heaven-brining Savior, Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit that we are adopted sons and daughters. Satisfy our souls this morning. By your tender mercies heal our wounds, feed our souls.

We pray for those here this morning who are downcast and weary. Encourage them with your word. Use the brothers and sisters around them to speak the truth in love and bring encouragement to their hearts. We pray for those who feel like they are losing the battle against a particular sin. Give them grace, Lord. Use this church family to honesty and vulnerably walk alongside each other as we all fight sin and struggles. We pray for those among us who have been taken advantage of physically or emotionally, those intimately violated. Bring the healing balm of the gospel to remind us we are clean, lavished, loved in Christ Jesus.

We pray for those of us who souls are parched, those of us whose spiritual life is bone dry. We know you and your word shouldn’t be boring and dull, but that’s what we feel. Holy Spirit, invigorate our hearts with truth, captivate us with the work and wonder of Jesus. Draw our gaze toward heaven that we might hope not just in better feelings, but a better world.

We thank you Lord for the many ways you are at work among us. We pray for those of us who are married that we might honor you with our words and sacrificial service to our spouse. We pray for Andrew and Esther – on this, their first day of marriage, we rejoice with them and ask your blessings upon them. Use all the marriages at Restoration Church to display the shape of the gospel. And use those of us who are unmarried to display the sufficiency of the gospel. We praise you for those of us who are unmarried and the many ways our brothers and sisters single-mindedly serve Christ and his church. Build them up and use them to build others up all the more. Father, keep us from idolizing marriage or idolizing singleness. Remind us they are both gifts from you and give us the grace to steward whatever season of life we are in for the exaltation of Christ, edification of the body and evangelization of those who are not Christians.

Father, we praise you for the 45 men that were at the retreat this past weekend. For the glory of your name, cause us to be men who develop and deepen honest, vulnerable, Jesus-exalting relationships with each other. Give us the grace to reject passivity, accept responsibility, lead courageously, seek the greater reward and remain humble. May every man and women at Restoration Church seek to see your face, O God. May we strive to live out Isaiah 66 – pursue humility, be contrite and tremble at your word, for these are the ones to whom you look.

Holy Lord, we are mindful of the brokenness of this world. We pray for those grieving the loss of loved ones from the Las Vegas shooting. We pray for the churches in Las Vegas as they minister to the hurting and hopeless. We pray for an end to senseless, evil, wicked mass shootings. We pray for an end to the evil of racism and social injustice. We pray for an end to elective abortion. We pray for an end to oppression of the impoverished and vulnerable. We pray for an end to the evil of terrorism.

Sovereign King, though we are weary of news of shootings, hurricanes, political unrest, volcanoes, terrorism and more, we do know that you are good. We know that apart from you, we have no good. We know that you have done everything necessary through Christ to reconcile us and the world back to yourself. Give us the grace to journey toward heaven with hope that transcends circumstances and news cycles. Birth in us, a deeply rooted, anchor of gospel joy as we navigate the brokenness of this world looking the to the world to come. Do this Lord, for the glory of your name and the gladness of our souls. Amen.