"I Am the LORD" - 30 January 2022

 


As you declared through Isaiah, so we affirm: You are the LORD, and there is no other, besides you there is no God; you equip people, even those who do not know you, so that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides you; you are the LORD, and there is no other. You form light and create darkness; you make well-being and create calamity; you are the LORD, who does all these things (Isaiah 45.5-7). And so, to you do we pray:

Just as you did for us back when we were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures (Titus 3:3), so now through your Son Jesus Christ, save those who trust in their own strength, those who walk in darkness, those who are hostile and alienated from others and from you (…).

As you have been our healer and helper in days past, please restore and raise up those dealing with – and maybe not be dealing very well with – depression, dementia, disease, debilitation, and distress (…). In the same way that you have taken care of our needs and provided for us over the years, in ordinary and surprising ways, please sustain and support those who have no idea how they’ll make it through today, or to the end of the month, or through next month (…).

When just beginning as a nation, you stepped in repeatedly with your providential care; brought success where there should have only been failure, victory in place of defeat, and good to flourish instead of evil. Therefore, be with our nation now, all of our citizens, leaders, judges, legislators, and executors. In the words of the old patriotic song we pray: America! America! God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shinning sea. America! America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law.

Throughout world history you have governed and directed all the nations of the earth; given aid and brought rain on the good and the evil; directed migrations and margins, feasts and famines, scarcity and surplus; therefore, watch over and wield the nations and national leaders. Make peace and civility to prevail between countries and between fellow citizens. And may all work for the betterment of their people. Those countries with mushrooming refugee camps, we pray for clean drinking water, sanitary conditions, food, health care, moral and communal stability, and a safe solution.

 Through persecution, plague, prosperity, and privilege over the centuries, you have exhibited your special providence for your church; please continue to be with her in all places, in North America, Oklahoma, this congregation, along with these churches in the OKC area; Central Baptist, Chinese Baptist, Choctaw Road Baptist, and Christian Faith Missionary Baptist Church. In the words of Paul, may we put away falsehood and speak the truth with each other, for we are members one of another. When angry may we not sin, so that we may not give opportunity to the devil. May there be no corrupting talk coming out of our mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. May we put away all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander, along with all malice. May we be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave us. May we be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 4:25-5:2).

All of these requests we have mentioned, and those that have remained silently on our hearts, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saving Lord.  And we pray as we have been taught, saying, Our Father…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" (Rev. Ed.) by John Fea. A Review

Image
  John Fea is a professor of history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. A university founded in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. He originally published "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction" in 2011, and it was revised in 2016. This 328-page paperback is packed full with Colonial and American history, drawing from original sources to answer that question. It is a book written "for the historically minded and thoughtful reader who is looking for help in sorting" out this question, avoiding polemics (xix). Since we live in a sound-bite culture, Fea recognizes that it is difficult to have a sustained dialogue on this topic, but he makes a valiant effort toward having that sustained dialogue. The book reads fairly straightforward, and doesn't seem to get bogged down in the contentious mudpuddles or bogs. In the end, Fea seems to get his point across. To answer the reigning question if America was founded as a Christian...
Read more

Union with Christ - An Application

Image
  (This was my weekly letter to my congregation on Wednesday, 21 February 2024) This morning in my devotional reading, I was working through 1 Corinthians 8. Though I’ve read these words a huge number of times over the years, today one verse caused me to stop and take stock.  Paul wrote, “ Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). What struck me is a couple of things. First, in God’s saving work, we are – by grace alone – united (hitched, bonded, ingrafted) to Christ so much so, that what happens to us happens to him, and what is his becomes ours (think of Galatians 2:20, for example). As Sinclair Ferguson put it, “through union with Christ all that is his by incarnation becomes ours through faith” (“The Christian Life,” 110). Let that percolate in your heart for a while. Your fear, anxiety, tears, and so forth, he feels. And his “ Peace, be still ” is yours. Second, the way we treat one an...
Read more

"Ah, Lord! We are Animated by Anger and Anxiety, Fear and Fury..."

Image
I hesitate to put this out there because of the combative environment we are in at present. But I think some souls will take courage from this, and some will also join with me as we get to the end of this little composition. I am struck by the words of God in Zechariah 8. As he rehearses the waywardness and faithlessness of his people in the past, he clearly declares that he " set every man against his neighbor " (8:10). That got me thinking long ago. I started putting the pieces together and realized that one of God's acts of judgment is division, setting a man against his neighbor. That's what happened when he divided his people into the northern tribes and southern tribes (see 1 Kings 11:26-40). Because of Solomon's turning aside, allowing his wives to turn his heart away from the God of his father, David, the Lord brings about a rift in God's people. And this pattern of divisive judgment runs throughout Scripture. On the other hand, truthful unity is the g...
Read more