Remember the Lord's Death, til He come

Father in Heaven, consider us poor sinners gathered in Your presence in Jesus’s name. In His name we gather and in His name we stand before You. We know that You are pleased with Your Son and the work that He accomplished on our behalf. We thank You that You look at us clothed in Christ and You are pleased with us. Father, we thank You that You have cleansed us from sin through the shed blood of Christ. Glory to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of Thanks

Our Father, we give You praise and thanks, for we know that You are great and that You are above all gods. Whatever You please, You do, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. You cause the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth and make lightning for the rain. You bring forth the wind from Your storehouses. You defend us from our enemies and You bless us according to Your gracious will. We thank You and offer ourselves to You. Use us to Your glory, we pray. Amen.

Confession

Our Father, the rulers of our land and many who profess the name of Christ call evil good and good evil. Forgive us, Lord. Grant us repentance so that You will heal our land, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Praise

Our Father in Heaven, we praise and magnify Your holy name. We love You because You first loved us, revealing Your love in this, that while we were yet sinners, You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die for us. This cost of our salvation is immeasurable. It is a debt that we could not pay and cannot repay. Our only response to You is heartfelt gratitude in Your good gift to us, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Glorious Reconciliation

Sin is an ugly problem. It creates problems with God and problems with our brothers and sisters. It causes us to be fearful in the presence of a Holy God. It causes us to shrink away from Him and make excuses for our sins.

          Sin causes strife with our brothers. Envy lurks at every opportunity. Covetousness seeps into our souls. We want what others have. We demand fairness based upon our own standard. We get offended and we blame others for our problems.

          But God grants us grace in Jesus. He forgives our sins against Him and invites us to sup with Him at a banquet fit for kings and princes.

          He grants us grace to forgive others so we can sit with them in sweet fellowship around a bountiful table set with sumptuous fair.

          We are no longer at odds with God. We are no longer at odds with our brothers. God has granted us glorious reconciliation where peace reigns at His Table. We partake with deep gratitude.

Mounds of Grace

We’ve all blown it. Some of us have blown it really big. We know that we are all sinners but some of our sins seem too big to be covered up, even by the blood of Jesus. But the clear teaching of Scripture is that no matter how big your mound of sin, the mound of grace to cover it up, clean it up and dispose of it, is even bigger. Where sin is bountiful, grace is much more bountiful. That’s just how God is.

         One of the things we do every week is kneel before the Lord to confess our sins. Kneeling is purposeful. It is a position of humility before the Lord. Afterwards, we stand up, like we are right now. That is also purposeful. We stand because our sins our forgiven. We stand in the presence of the Lord without the stain of sins, the stain that causes guilt and shame. The Scriptures describe this as coming boldly into the presence of the Lord.

         This is not arrogance or pride. We know who we are. It is merely faith. It is taking Jesus at His Word. If He said that our sins are forgiven by His free grace, then they are forgiven. Believe Him. Stand up inside as well as outside and come boldly into the presence of the Lord!