CALL TO WORSHIP – Psalm 106:1-3
Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times! (ESV)
PRAYER OF ADORATION
Lord God, there is none like you in heaven above or earth beneath. You keep covenant with your …
EXHORTATION
If we ended our day by listing how we sinned, we’d find that most of our sins were sins against charity. We’ve sulked, snubbed, sneered, or stormed against someone else. And it wouldn’t take long before we found ourselves making the excuse that we sinned because we were suddenly provoked or caught off guard and in the moment we’d simply reacted. If we’d had time to collect ourselves, we’d have acted differently.
What we …
EXHORTATION
These weekly exhortations are intended to embolden and encourage you to resist sin. As it says in Hebrews 3: “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” We see that sin hardens us. It curves us in on ourselves and makes us cold and calloused to God and our neighbor. Conversely, exhortations soften us. They expose the …
For the last few weeks, I’ve tried to give practical instructions for seasons of busyness. What are the practical Christian disciplines that are easily forgotten when things get busy?
In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul says that love keeps no record of wrongs. This means that true love doesn’t calculate. It doesn’t keep ledgers of debts owed and dents paid.
With school in full swing, sports games scheduled, and your company making a big …
Each week we confess the faith together and we confess our sins to the Lord and ask his forgiveness. Each week we hear the Word of God preached and we regularly eat at the Lord’s Table. All of that is well and good because God commands us to do all these in our gathered worship.
But in any church which observes a Biblically rich liturgy, there’s a beguiling temptation to believe that having said the …
Our God and Father,
We gather this morning to bless your name and to tell of your greatness to all the earth. Father, we want every tribe, tongue, and nation to hear of your glory.
You are the God who knows all things. You see everything visible and invisible. You see our actions and hear every word we speak. But you also know all our thoughts and every motivation in our hearts.
The clouds in …
Whenever we feel that our deepest needs are not being met, we often act in ways that will ensure those needs will not be met. Whether it’s a husband who needs respect from his wife, a wife who needs love from her husband, or a child who needs the attention of their parent: whatever it is we need, when we set about trying to get it—if we are not submitting to Christ, we inevitably push …
Most books in this series of posts have been instructional in nature. Isaac Watts give helpful thoughts on delivering public prayers. Matthew Henry ties our prayers to the Bible. Below, I’ve listed a handful of books that simply record entire prayers. Some short, some long. Some plain, some elaborate. I find it helpful to regularly meander through these books so I can learn from those who have walked closely with Christ in their own prayer …
While Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer gives attention to the Biblical content of our prayers, Isaac Watt’s helpful book A Guide to Prayer offers ministers helpful insights into matters of expression, voice, gestures, and other practical matters of delivery. The book breaks down into 5 sections:
CALL TO WORSHIP – Revelation 4:8b, 11
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
PRAYER OF ADORATION
Glorious and Gracious Father,
We come to worship in your presence because you have commanded us to appear before you. …
