“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”
Our Holy Father and our God, You have called us into Your holy presence, and we have come. Week by week You call us to leave behind the world, with its enticements and its troubles, and instead to Mount Zion, to join with Christ’s church of all ages and nations. We join in their unending hymn, Holy! Holy! Holy! are You, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory! Hosanna in the highest!
Thank You, Father, for the great goodness that is ours each day in Christ Jesus. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love You and are the called according to Your purpose. Temporal goods and temporal evils…work together for our good. Sickness and health, the blessings of home and hearth and political persecutions…work together for our good. We pray that You would instill in each of our hearts that faith which is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen, that we might believe and obtain a good testimony. Give us hope as an anchor of our souls, sure and steadfast, set for us within Your heavenly Holy of holies. By Your Spirit move in our hearts that we might rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
Father, we come to You as children, knowing that our strength and capabilities are severely limited, and that You are all-powerful, and can accomplish all Your holy will.
Please give physical healing to those among us and those close to us. We make supplication for A and B, that their pain would be mitigated. We know that You are powerful to do that, and we call on You for their relief. We make supplication for Z, that his healing might proceed unabated, and that he would be restored to health. We make supplication for E, that his liver would function properly, and that he would live a long and fruitful life. We make supplication for H, that his fine motor skills would be improved that his tongue would be loosed and he be able to function in the world around him.
We make supplication for those we love. For those who have never called on the name of Christ and for those who have wandered from Him, we ask that they would be blessed with repentance and forgiveness. It lies within your sovereign power to change their hearts more easily than we turn a water faucet on and off. Turn them from their evil pathways, O God, and set them on Christ’s pathways.
We make supplication for those who govern in country, state, county and municipality, whether elected, appointed or employed. May they act as Your ministers to praise the good and punish evil. Where they themselves are evil, we pray that they might be given regenerate hearts and govern in accordance with Your law. Give us faith immovable and hope steadfast that we would know with certainty that these evil times work together for our good and Your glory.
We make supplication for the ministries we support. May each of them find favor in the eyes of local churches and government, may their pathways be made smooth and straight, may they be a blessing in the Valley and in Moscow.
We make supplication for Christ’s church here on Earth. May she be found faithful, and where she is not, may she be blessed with holy discipline to bring her to faithfulness. May the CREC, her presbyteries and churches be a light in darkness, acting continually to proclaim the Name of Christ, crucified, dead, buried and risen, Judge and only Hope of all the world. May Covenant Presbyterian Church in Cochrane be blest with faithfulness and fruitfulness. And may this church be found faithful and made full of faith and joy.
We pray, O God, be faithful to bring to completion the good work You have begun in us in the day of Jesus Christ. May we bear the family likeness of the family of God.
Now may our worship be superintended by Holy Spirit, that it would be pleasing in Your sight, a pleasing aroma to Your nostrils. May Your word be faithfully preached, and Christ’s sacrament be faithfully administered, to the honor and glory of the Name of the Triune God.
All this in Christ’s holy name we pray. Amen
Livin' in the foothills 