Deus Misereatur

The 24 th of August is the Feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the lesser known and lesser mentioned Apostles of Christ. But the 23 rd /24 th of August is the infamous day of the St. Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre, in which the French royal hierarchy (predominately Roman Catholic), after giving the French Huguenots (Protestants) a promise of safety, mercilessly slaughtered them in Paris on this day in 1572. You can read a mild and truncated version at the History dot Com site . Over 440 years have passed since this incident. Hopefully the centuries have brought some breathing space, and will allow us to think more clearly about the events of the day. This barbaric incident was brutal, ruthless and severe, and was brought about by those who claimed to be Christians on other Christians. It was likely more motivated by political insecurities and fears, than simply cut-and-dried theological ones. Nevertheless, it should be cautionary for us on many different levels. There are serious dan...

Since our Senior Pastor was out on vacation, I preached both services, officiated at communion Sunday morning, and led the pastoral prayer for both services. Below are both of the prayers. They're a little different due to when they come into the service. Feel free to use them as you see fit. I hope these are beneficial to you: Sunday Morning Pastoral Prayer (after the Lord's Supper): Lord God, for your loving kindness toward us, your merciful care poured out on us, your lifting our hearts from the depths of dark gloom and desperateness, we give you our warmest thanks and most delighted praise! Merciful God, you resist the proud but give grace to the humble: help us to trust you utterly, to rest our hope and confidence in you, and to serve you with pure hearts. Keep us from becoming thin and shallow, from praiseless praises, prayerless prayers, and faithless faithfulnesses; cause us to always be thirsty for you, the fountain of living waters; to yearn for you, to become t...