| Monday, July 5th 2010
“Praying for the Church”
Printable Version
Call to Worship: Hebrews 4:14-16
Open with Prayer
Opening Hymn: “Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace” Words - D. Herbert, printed in the Gadsby Hymnal, 1838.
Music - Clint Wells and Brian T. Murphy, 2004
Philippians
1:3-11 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every
prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your
partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure
of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to
completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel
this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all
partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense
and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn
for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer
that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all
discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be
pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise
of God.
In many ways being a Christian is very tough. Our
Lord warned us that it would be. If we are not being persecuted by the
unbelieving world we are being tormented by temptations to sin. The war
between the flesh and the Spirit is an exhausting one and sometimes it
proves to be too much for us to handle. It is only by the strength of
the Lord that we persevere. Knowing this, it should become a bit
clearer why the Apostle Paul was yearning for the believers at Philippi
with the affection of Christ Jesus. Paul knew how hard it was to
continue in the faith especially in this particular time and place in
history. Paul’s heart bled for these believers because he understood
first hand the types of pains and agonies that were attached to the
Christian’s life. But Paul also equally understood the immeasurable
glories attached to the Christian life as well. Paul knew the
sufferings but also knew the blessings. He knew the blessings of being
in Christ far outweighed the struggles and so he devoted himself to
praying for his fellow Christians. His devotion was serious as he
remembered them always in every prayer. He continuously gave thanks for
them and he prayed for their love to abound more and more, with
knowledge and all discernment, so that they may approve what is
excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the
glory and praise of God. He longed for their maturity in the faith
because he knew how the Christian growth process worked. He knew that
with growth in love, knowledge and discernment came the purity and
glory of God in their lives.
We too must continue to pray
for our fellow believers in Christ. We need to take a lesson from Paul
on how to pray and what to pray for. We should pray for an increase of
their love for the Lord and one another. We should pray for their
growth and maturity in the faith. We must pray for their purity for it
honors our Savior. We must devote ourselves to these prayers and do
them with joy trusting that He who began a good work in them will bring
it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ!
Closing Hymn: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (8) Martin Luther
Lead a Closing Prayer
Come Boldly To The Throne Of Grace
Taken from the Gadsby Hymnal # 675
Words - D. Herbert, printed in the Gadsby Hymnal, 1838.
Music - Clint Wells and Brian T. Murphy, 2004
Come boldly to a throne of grace,
Ye wretched sinners come;
And lay your load at Jesus' feet,
And plead what he has done.
"How can I come?" Some soul may say,
"I'm lame and cannot walk;
My guilt and sin have stopped my mouth;
I sigh, but dare not talk."
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
Though lost, and blind, and lame;
Jehovah is the sinner's Friend,
And ever was the same.
He makes the dead to hear his voice;
He makes the blind to see;
The sinner lost he came to save,
And set the prisoner free.
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
For Jesus fills the throne;
And those he kills he makes alive;
He hears the sigh or groan.
Poor bankrupt souls, who feel and know
The hell of sin within,
Come boldly to the throne of grace;
The Lord will take you in.
© 2005 Red Mountain Music
www.redmountainmusic.com | | Tuesday, July 6th 2010
“Praying For Our City”
Printable Version
Call to Worship: Acts 1:8
Open with Prayer
Opening Hymn: “How Great Thou Art” (10) Stuart K. Hine
Acts
18:9-10 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be
afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you,
and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city
who are my people.”
We acknowledge the need for our witness
in our families and at our jobs and we sometimes over emphasize the
need for foreign missions all the while often overlooking the need of
the gospel in our own cities. There are people dying all around us and
we do business with them on a daily basis and sometimes their need for
the gospel never crosses our minds. The Apostle Paul was a human being
just like us and God knew he was susceptible to making this same type
of mistake. So God spoke to him in a vision concerning the city of
Corinth. God told him not to be afraid to go on preaching the gospel
because God had people there who were of the elect. This must have
given Paul great confidence to continue to preach to everyone knowing
that some would be saved. While we do not have direct confirmation that
there are people in our cities that are of the elect we can safely
infer it from our command to be Christ’s witnesses in our cities
(Jerusalem), other regions (Judea and Samaria), and our nations (to the
ends of the earth). Having this command and confidence to take the
gospel to our cities we must never forget that prayer should always
precede the preaching of the gospel. It is the Spirit of God that
performs the work of applying salvation to the elect and it is only
granted to sinners by the Father. Therefore we must plead with the
Father to save souls within our own cities. It is not selfish to desire
a revival of religion and morals in our cities. We must desire it for
it brings glory to the Father when the gospel, the good news of
salvation in Jesus, transforms an entire city one soul at a time.
Closing Hymn: “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (15) Robert Robinson
Lead a Closing Prayer | | Thursday, July 8th 2010
“Praying For Our Nation”
Printable Version
Call to Worship: Psalm 72:1-11
Open with Prayer
Opening Hymn: “All Creatures of Our God and King” (27) Francis of Assisi
1
Timothy 2:1-6 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings
and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and
quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is
pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one
God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony
given at the proper time.
There is a major distrust and
disdain for the governing authorities of our day and in some cases
rightfully so. It seems like every time we turn on the television we
hear of another politician caught in a sex scandal or embezzlement
scheme. We see them playing the religion card while running for their
offices but compromise God’s truth so quickly when they actually serve
in their duties. It is no wonder that it is hard for us to pray for
them but regardless of how distrusting and aggravated we may be with
them God has commanded us through His Word to make supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for them. We are to be doing
this for all people even the leaders of our nation. Paul said in Romans
13:1-2 to, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have
been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities
resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur
judgment.” We are responsible to pray for them and submit ourselves to
them as long as they do not command us to willfully sin against our
God. We are not responsible for how they conduct themselves and fulfill
their duties.
Let us pray for our nation’s leaders in accordance with the remainder of Romans 13:3-7. Let us pray that our leaders:
- Will only be a terror to the evildoers
- Be God’s servants for our good
- Be God’s servants to carry out the wrath of God on the wrongdoers
- Will be ministers of God with the nations finances
- Will be people worthy of honor and respect
Closing Hymn: “O Worship the King” (16) Robert Grant
Lead a Closing Prayer | |