Worship

Fear and Hope

/ The Pastor

Holy God,

there is much to fear in this world.
Satan is running around
trying to lead us astray through false worship.
He is trying to drag us down into hopelessness.
At times Satan succeeds
and thus paralyzes us with fear,
so much so,
that the Gospel is not proclaimed.

But we ask that You may send Your Holy Spirit
to teach us
and remind us
of the victory we have through faith in Jesus Christ.

Show us the cross.
Show us the empty tomb.
Show us Jesus.

May we see the life we have in You
and know that death has been defeated.
May we rejoice in You
and thus share this Joy with others.
And in the end,
may You and You alone be glorified.

Now may the words of my mouth
and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

You

/ The Pastor

Holy God,

Bless this night.
Protect my dreams.
Watch over my family.
Keep me free from Satan’s attacks.
Grant me peace.
Heal my pains.
Strengthen my body.

But if trials and tribulations
should happen to come my way;
if suffering is the order of my life;
if pain is my reality,
then I only ask that my faith is guarded,
that my response is one that glorifies
You.

May this life of mine;
a life crafted by
You,
draw others to
You.

And may my life’s refrain be:
All glory be unto You.

In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen

The Pastor -|—

Never Ending

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Holy Father, loving God,
in this life we live in the reality
that all good things come to an end,
but You,
the Supreme Good,
ever ends.
It’s that reality we cling to
and the reason we gather to worship You.
You formed creation out of nothing with a simple Word.
You sustain creation with Your mighty hand.
You redeem creation with Your love and grace.
Oh God, in the same way
create faith here this morning with Your Holy Word.
Sustain faith through Your Holy Spirit.
Renew faith through Your love and grace.
May all who hear Your Word this morning look to You.
Strengthen us and embolden our words and deeds
that You may be glorified.
All praise, glory, honor and worship be unto You,
holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Escaping Words ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,

words escape me
as I try to bring you the glory that is due Your holy name.
For our human language can not come close
to ascribing to You all that You deserve.
So all we can do is to come before You;
humble and contrite,
falling on our knees before Your holy throne,
to attempt to worship You as the saints in heaven do.
And as we worship You
we come before You with thankfulness
that Jesus suffered death on a cross
and subsequently rose from the grave
to give us the victory through faith.

And so we come before You as sinners in need of Your mercy;
as sinners in need of Your Spirit.
Fill us now with Your Holy Spirit
and may we run to those around us with the Good News
that Jesus is alive and well.
May the Gospel burn within us;
driving us to speak boldly in Your name.

All worship, praise, honor and thanks be unto You,
holy Father,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

The Son of God ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy Father,
You sent Your one and only Son,
Jesus
to bear the sins of the world for our sake.
You sent Jesus to suffer the cross and enter death
so we could have the hope of everlasting life.
Jesus, Your dear Son,
received the full cup of Your wrath
that we would be spared from it.

Oh God,
may all who hear these words be drawn to You
and make the confession that Jesus,
Your Son,
is their Lord and Savior.
May these words spoken here
convict people to run to you;
confessing their sins and thus hear forgiveness.

But we also remember those who are not here;
who are not hearing these words.
May we be sent out to preach this Gospel.
May those who don’t know Jesus
be overwhelmed by Your Spirit and thus be saved.
Oh God,
holy Father,
bless us now and forever more, as we long to bring glory to Your most holy name.
It’s in the name of Jesus I pray,

Amen.

A Prayer of Praise and Adoration

/ The Pastor

Holy, holy, holy, is Your awesome name, oh God.
Holy, holy, holy are You above all others.
You created with a word,
You save us by Your Son.
You sustain us with Your Spirit.
Oh God,
there is no god that can do that.
There is no god like You.
But yet we insist on trying to find another.
We insist on seeking a savior that can not save.
Oh God,
convict our hearts to see, that You and You alone are the One.
Convict our hearts to hear Your Word of life, Jesus Christ.
Convict our hearts to turn and run away from our sin.
Speak to us Life.
Show us Your glory.
Forgive us our sins.
Send us by Your Spirit.
Heal us that we may live.
All praise, glory, honor and worship be unto You,
holy Father,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Amazing Grace ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
how amazing is Your grace
and how sweet the sound is to our ears;
for You have saved wretches such as us.
We were once lost but now we’re found;
once blind but now we see.

Oh God,
may Your grace continue to teach our hearts to fear
that our worldly fears may be relieved.
Oh how precious You grace indeed is,
from that very moment we first believed.

And despite the many dangers, toils and snares
that will certainly come our way,
Your amazing grace will continue to lead us home;
as You have promised good to us
and thus, through Your most trustworthy word,
our hope is secure, all our life long.

And when we have been worshiping You,
in Your holy courts for 10,000 years,
we will have no less days to praise you than when we first begun.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

All praise, honor and worship be to You,
holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Speak that we may Speak ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Creator God,
in the beginning You spoke life into existence.
To remain silent, then,
would have meant our non-existence
and
it would have meant no one to glorify Your holy name.
And so we exist;
to worship You, to praise You, to glorify You.
And to do this we must speak and abhor silence.

Holy God,
stir in Your people a burning desire
to speak the Truth of Your love and grace through Jesus Christ.
May the fear the world proclaims
be silenced through our faith in the one who overcame the world,
Jesus.
May the flaming arrows of the evil one
lose all its potency through Your holy Word.
May the shield of faith
embolden us to speak the name of Jesus no matter the situation.

Send now Your Holy Spirit
to bring power to the words of Truth
that we will hear this morning,
for through them You create faith and thus life.
Send us forth, then, in Your power
to the glory of Your awesome name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Grace and Mercy ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Father God,

Your grace and mercy is something that doesn’t make sense.
I mean, sinners, us, receiving mercy and forgiveness.
Sinners receiving chance after chance to change our ways and be obedient.
Sinners who constantly turn on You.
Sinners who would much rather be their own god
or acquiesce to weak worldly gods.

To reflect on such depravity sends chills up and down my spine.
But it is because of such depravity
that Jesus comes.
It is because of such darkness within
that Jesus is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
It is because of such self-glorification
that Jesus dies and rises,
FOR US.

Oh God,
may Your Spirit continue to shine the light of Truth in our hearts
that we may always run to You.
And once in Your arms
may all worship and thanksgiving be given to You
for Your incredible grace and mercy.
Oh God, there is no god like You
and therefore You are worthy of all praise.
All glory be unto You, oh God, through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Abba Father ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Abba Father,

we come in awe of your incredible love
as we think about what Jesus did for sinners.

He marched toward the cross
where he would take the sins of the world upon his shoulders.
Jesus faced a wrath
that was and is rightly ours.
Jesus took the punishment
that we deserve.

Abba Father,

we are humbled by such love
and blown away by such grace.
May the words we hear proclaimed this morning
be holy words that come from you;
that we may be Spirit-fed.
May the Good News of Jesus Christ
embolden us to be faithful unto death
as we proclaim the life and death of Jesus.

Come Holy Spirit, come;
opening our eyes and ears to see God’s glory.
It’s in Jesus name I pray,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—