Good morning, Church! Let us quiet our hearts and go to the Lord in prayer:
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know that.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
O Good and Gracious God,
we love You.
Yes, Lord, we love You,
for Your love is so pure, so divine.
Your love transforms our souls and minds.
Your love has the power to bring new hope
in to our lives.
Your Scripture encourages us, molds us, and teaches us,
and Your most significant instructions center on the gifts of love.
As You have loved us so deeply,
so must we also love one another.
This is a privilege, to love and to love well.
As we seek to obey this great commandment,
we call upon You to lavish Your love and healing
onto members of our faith family,
John Liles and Ernie Dunham, who continue their journeys of healing.
We mercifully seek Your Presence to remain with
Paul Cooke and Suzanne Pace,
as they continue their recoveries at home.
We mourn with Don Olson, as he grieves the loss of his brother, Stewart Terry,
and with John Mark Wilcox in the death of his brother, Paul Wilcox.
And, Lord, we celebrate the creation and birth of Jackson Troy Alexander Hitt.
We pray for rest-filled nights for Troy’s parents, Cody & Cara Hitt,
and we gleefully rejoice with Troy’s grandparents, Paul & Mary Koerner.
O Lord, continue to teach us
how to love one another,
and care for one another,
as we walk through painful seasons
and joy-filled milestones together.
To all those who are hurting,
to all those who are away from their families,
may Your love and our love be a balm for their souls.
O, Lord, as we prepare our hearts and ears
to hear today’s message from You through Dr. Bell,
we are reminded our hope and our victory is in YOU.
Through the wisdom and knowledge that comes from You,
we know that we shall be truly free.
Freedom is not the right to do what we want,
but the ability to do what we ought. ·
Without Christ, we are slaves to sin,
unable to do what is right.
Jesus has liberated us to walk in right relationship with You, O God,
and to be the kind of people You created us to be.
And so we call upon You, O Mighty One, to:
bring life where there is death,
bring hope where there is fear,
bring freedom where there is bondage,
bring the sweet aroma of life
where there is the stench of death.
Loving God, re-form and re-shape us
in all the places in our lives that are not conformed
to Your purposes and intentions.
Guide us in the way that leads to life.
And remind us of who we are because of Jesus.
May we fight the lies and wanderings surrounding our hearts,
and rely solely on Your strength.
Break us from the chains of fear that hold us hostage.
As we dwell in Your Word,
as we make a home in Your Scriptures,
as we learn from You and grow in grace,
may our hearts come to know Your truth,
and may that truth set us free from the bondage of sin –
a freedom that only comes as we continuously and enduringly abide in You.
We pray this is the name of Jesus,
the ultimate bondage breaker,
who taught us to pray as one by saying these words...
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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