Jesus

Cling to Jesus ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
Lover of my soul,

the depths of my betrayal is unsearchable
and there is no limit to my sinfulness.
I can not claim innocence
or even begin to mitigate the charges levied against me.
When all is said and done,
and I stand in Your holy court,
I have no defense of my own that will hold water;
for anything that I could say I’ve done
is filled with deadly holes.

On my own I am sunk.

But Jesus is my hope,
for he does not forsake me
and therefore I cling to his righteousness.

May Your Holy Spirit be sent to me
that I may always cling to Jesus
and thus be acquitted of all charges;
for Jesus has already be charged, tried convicted, sentenced and punished,

FOR ME.

Jesus bore it all that I would not have to.

Oh God, You are an awesome God
and I’m unworthy, therefore
all praise and glory be unto You, holy God, through Christ Jesus my Lord.

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Jesus’ Body and Blood ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
it’s a humbling and awesome thing
to reflect on the cross of Jesus.
To think that Jesus obediently and willingly
had his body broken
and blood spilled,
for me,
is something that sends me to my knees in thankfulness and worship.
But what is even more profound and awesome
is to think that, through faith in Jesus,
I will be drinking of the fruit of the vine with him
in Your glorious kingdom someday.

Oh God,
You are holy and great and merciful.
You are compassionate and forgiving and loving.
We are unworthy but yet redeemed through the blood of the lamb.
May we cling to this New Covenant;
never taking it for granted.
And may we long to proclaim this Good News through word and deed.

All glory be to you, holy Father, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

God of Peace

/ The Pastor

God of peace,

Unpeace is something I do not desire.
Conflict is something that wears on me.
Discord is something the brings me down.

Oh God, bring me peace.

Waves batter against me.
Storms rage all about me.
Satan is working overtime around me.

Oh God, bring me peace.

People speak evil about me.
People plot against me.
People seek my demise.

Oh God, bring me peace.

Amidst the unrest it is tempting to take matters into my own hands.
Amidst the unrest it is tempting to lose the faith.
Amidst the unrest it is tempting to give up.

Oh God, bring me peace.

But then I remember that You have never promised peace
in this world.
You never promised that the road would be
easy.
You never promised to dismantle the storms
in my life.

You promised peace.
You gave Jesus.

So…

 Amidst the unpeace,
in this world.
Amidst the conflict,
in this world.
Amidst the discord,
in this world.

May I always know the peace of Jesus,
within.

God of peace,
I praise you.

The Pastor -|—

Open Letter to the Doyle Rices of the World

/ The Pastor

[From a story posted on Kare11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; written by Doyle Rice from USA Today. This is in reference to the winter solstice (first day of winter).]

And why is the Earth tilted? It’s probably the result of collisions with various proto-planets and other massive objects during the formation of the solar system billions of years ago, according to NASA. Just a bit unsettling to realize that the reason the Earth has the perfect temperature for life to form is a few random collisions with other space rocks a few eons ago.

Oh Doyle Rice, if only you knew that the reason the earth is perfectly tilted isn’t due to “random” collisions. If only you knew that this perfect planet was created and put into perfect motion by God Almighty, our Creator. If only you knew that the only “unsettling” part of all of this is that your very life (and ours) are in the hands of an Almighty God.

But…

The Good News is that your very life (and ours) are in the hands of a loving, Almighty God who came to us on Christmas Day in Jesus Christ. And through faith in Jesus Christ, redeemed a lost and sinful people.

Therefore, when you look at creation, it should send you to your knees in humble worship of an awesome and powerful and loving God. There is NOTHING random about God. Creation is NOT a fluke. Life DIDN’T just happen. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of details about our universe, galaxy and planet that have to be perfect in order for life to exist. That is NOT random. That was NOT an accident. Collisions DIDN’T just happen and bump things into perfect place. Nature doesn’t work that way. If any collision is responsible for the earth being tilted PERFECTLY then God’s mighty hand guided that collision to make sure it was perfect; as God guided and formed all of creation.

One CAN NOT just pass off life as a cosmic accident.

And so to all the Doyle Rices in the world, I appeal to you to meditate on creation and consider the perfectness of all those thousands of factors and then look to God Almighty and worship HIM through Jesus Christ; for you are not random but rather wonderfully created.

So don’t be “unsettled” over randomness and accidents and chance, but rather worship and praise this awesome God of ours as we live in this perfect masterpiece called creation.

All praise and glory and honor and worship be to God, always and forever.

The Pastor -|—

 

Getting Closer ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

God of hope.
God of Joy.
God of glory.

As Advent winds down
we continue to wait with anxious anticipation
as we long for the coming of our
Lord Jesus.
We look forward to worshiping this week;
giving You thanks and praise
for the Christmas gift to beat all Christmas gifts,

but more importantly,

we long for the second coming of Jesus.

May we not look past the manger
and miss the joyful Good News contained within.
May we not see only a cute little baby
born to humble parents in humble circumstances.
May we not only enjoy the pageantry of the season
but may we also see our salvation story
being played out before our longing eyes.

May we see our hope.
May we know true joy.

So we humbly ask that You may send your Holy Spirit
to fill our hearts with the hope of the resurrection
through faith in Jesus.
May we know and live the true meaning of the season.
Jesus Christ,
our victorious Lord and Savior.
And may the joy on our face and in our voices
show people that we indeed mean business.

Amen.

God bless you, this 4th Sunday of Advent, as we speed ever closer to the manger. May your Christmas preparations draw you closer and closer to Jesus.

The Pastor -|—

Holy Trust ~ A Morning Prayer

/ The Pastor

Good morning all. I was out of town last week but I am now back; preparing to lead worship and preach God’s holy Word. May God be praised as we worship. Let’s pray…

Holy God,
You make the impossible possible.
You forgive sins.
You raise the dead.
You defeat Satan and death.
You give eternal life.

But yet,
when presented with this news,
too often we follow after Zechariah more than we do Mary.
Too often we want proof rather than to worship.
We want sensory satisfaction rather than rely on holy trust.

We see the impossible and blow it off.

But as Your children;
as Your servants,
may Your Word be to us as You have decreed.
May we not doubt but rather receive this life-changing Word.
May Jesus be our proof and life.

Send now You Holy Spirit,
oh God,
that this word here spoken may build and lift us up onto Your glory.
May we not seek to see with our eyes.
May we not seek to hear with our ears.
May we seek to believe in our hearts.
May we seek You.

All praise and worship be unto You,
oh God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Bursting Forth ~ A Morning Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy Father, awesome God,

Your Word is life.
Your Word is our hope.
Your Word is our very breath.
You created with a word.
The serpent deceived with a false word.
Adam and Eve were expelled with a word of curse, warning and finally hope.
You created a people and nation with a word of promise.
You gave new life with a Word
and that Word is embodied in our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.

And so we come to this Advent season with anxious anticipation of this Word. May we not doubt.
May we not impose self-inflicted mutism when is comes to the Gospel,
but rather,
may we burst forth in praise
with what the birth of Jesus means for a dark and lost world.
May we sing the glories of your name
to a wearied people.
May we announce hope
to a hopeless word.

Send now Your Spirit, oh God,
that we may hear this Word
and be filled with awe,
so much so,
that we can’t wait to burst through these doors
and fill this world with the hope of the resurrection.
It’s through Jesus Christ our Lord, I pray,

Amen.

God bless you as you begin this Advent season. May the light of Christ shine brightly in and through your life to the glory of God.

The Pastor -|—

Devoted ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Holy God,
as we gather, this morning, to worship You,
I feel that we are still coming up short.
Nothing that we do or offer seems sufficient
given Your holiness and amazing love.
Nothing seems enough
given Your grace and faithfulness.
We may have the intention to show You great devotion
but way too often You get our leftovers.
Way too often we examine our needs now
so we may determine what we can afford to give You later.

Oh God, holy Father,

may our devotion be wholly on You;
giving You the first fruits of all we have,
because really,
those first fruits came from You.

May our sacrifices be worthy of You.
May our devotion be wholly true.

All praise, worship, honor
and devotion
be given to You,
awesome God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

God bless you as you praise and worship our awesome God!

The Pastor  -|—

Lifeline

/ The Pastor

The ocean is wide and vast.
The ocean is deep and dangerous.
It is a scary place of desolation and death.

And there are people in the ocean

People are struggling to stay afloat.
People are gasping for breath.
People fighting for life.

Slowly drowning

And if you have a lifeline why not throw it?
Why not shout, “Here it is”?
Why not jump in and help people to the boat?

Why not?

Remember that you were once lost.
Remember that you were once drowning.
Remember that you were once dying.

But…

Jesus became your lifeline.
So I ask again,
if you have a lifeline why not throw it?
Why not shout, “Here it is”?
Why not jump in and help people to the boat?

People are drowning.
People are lost.

Toss the lifeline.

The Pastor -|—

Gathering Around Your Word ~ An Opening Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Holy God,
mighty and merciful;

send Your Holy Spirit as we gather around Your most holy Word.

May You drive away all that clings to our hearts;
weighing it down.
May You direct our eyes to the cross;
wherein the King of glory died for us.
May we gaze into the empty tomb to see our Savior gone;
risen to New Life for us.

And as we have our attention redirected from the sinful ways of the world,
fill our hearts with Your peace
that we may grow closer to You and
fall into Your loving arms;
not the arms of this decaying world.
May Your word penetrate the hardest of hearts and
draw Your children back to You.

All praise and glory be unto You,
Holy Father,
through Christ Jesus our Lord

Amen.

The Pastor -|—