"Give Thanks to the LORD" - 2 August 2020



“Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:4-6). We have sung your praises, declared your great deeds, and banqueted on your beneficence. Now we give you thanks for your great favor poured out on us: for food, friends, family, health, homes, hope, vocations, verdure, and vitality. We acknowledge that it is you who upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:14-16).

Supreme Sovereign who sits enthroned over all, we call upon you to move the nations of the world in such ways that peace may prevail, war be averted, the Gospel go unhindered, and the Church thrive unmolested. Further, we ask for you to preserve our own land. May those who govern be guided by godly wisdom for the good of all – free born, foreign born and unborn. And for all peoples we pray for a robust, rapid, and resilient remedy to this pandemic.

O Lord, who executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry; who sets the prisoners free and opens the eyes of the blind; who lifts up those who are bowed down and loves the righteous; who watches over the sojourners and upholds the widow and the fatherless, and brings the way of the wicked to ruin (Psalm 146:7-9): we pray to you for the poor, sick, hungry, elderly, disabled, jobless, depressed, hurting and broken (…). May your grace be for them a fountain of hope and relief.

O God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4), we pray for those who have yet to receive Christ into their lives, as well as those who have strayed away, and those who are troubled in their faith (…).Bring them to respond to your grace with faith, hope and love.

Our Father in heaven, look upon your family throughout the world, including Cathedral de Adoracion, Christ Covenant Fellowship, Christ Gospel Church and Christian Life Fellowship. Let your continual pity and compassion cleanse and defend your Church; and because she cannot continue in safety nor success without your aid, please preserve, prosper and preside over her evermore by your help and goodness.

O God, most holy, wise and powerful Preserver and Governor of all your creatures and all of our actions: Keep us this day and this week in health of body and soundness of mind, in purity of heart and cheerfulness of spirit, in contentment with our lot and charity with our neighbor; and further all of our lawful undertakings with your blessing. In our labor strengthen us; in our pleasure purify us; in our difficulties direct us; in our perils defend us; in our troubles comfort us; and supply all our needs, according to the riches of your grace in Christ Jesus.  Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more