Tag: Jesus Christ

Morning Prayer: Monday, 12 June – Acts 4:23-31 ~ give me boldness

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening Prayer

Gracious God, give me a humble, teachable, and obedient heart, that I may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

Reading: Acts 4:23-31 (NLT)

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.’

“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
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Prayer for Boldness:

“And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” – Acts 4:29-30

Merciful God: you have chosen me to be your child; you have adopted me into your family. Once I had no identity; now I am a child of God – “called out of darkness into his wonderful light” – that I may show your goodness to others.

Give me great boldness – that is gentle and kind, that flows from the heart of Jesus:
+ To tell others how I have personally experienced the love and saving power of Jesus Christ.
+ To candidly tell others how my sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross.
+ To clearly explain to others that Jesus died for the forgiveness of their sins as well, because he loves them.
+ To speak about what I have seen and heard with personal conviction; how Jesus Christ changed my life.

Holy God: stretch out your hand with healing power; fill me with great boldness in the Holy Spirit. And may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Soli Deo gloria!
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“Be Bold, Be Strong” – Maranatha! Promise Band


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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 62:8, 11-12 (NLT)

O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
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God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Trinity Sunday: 11 June – John 3:16-18 ~ Holy, Holy, Holy

Trinity Sunday

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity. Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Holy, Holy, Holy” – Audrey Assad


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Reading: John 3:16-18 (NLT)

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
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Trinity Sunday Intercessory Prayer:

On this Trinity Sunday we have come before you, Lord, to offer our praise and adoration:

  • You are God the creator, giving us richly all things to enjoy.
  • You are Christ the Savior of the world, made flesh to set us free.
  • You are the Spirit of truth and love, willing to dwell in us.

You are holy and blessed. One god, eternal Trinity, be near to us the people formed in your image, and close to the world your love brings to life.

+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for your church throughout the world, for those that are thriving and those which have lost a sense of direction. We give thanks for our church and its people, and gladly acknowledge all the gifts you have given us through its life:

  • We ask you to open wide our hearts that we may welcome the stranger and share our faith with others,
  • Open wide our minds that we may receive new truth and understand your will,
  • Open wide our doors, that as we have come into worship so we may go out with you to the service of the world,
  • Open wide our lives that through discipline and prayer we may experience your power in daily living.

Lord you have chosen men and women to serve you in the ministry of your church and given them a perfect example in the person of your son: pour your blessings on your servants today that by word and deed they may proclaim your saving love and so enable us all to grow in your image.

+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord of the universe we praise you for your creation, you have provided mankind with everything it needs for life and health. Grant that the resources of the earth may neither be hoarded by the selfish nor squandered by the foolish but that all may share your gifts.

  • We remember all who bear the responsibility of leadership, for heads of state, ambassadors and political advisers, we think today particularly of the leaders of the different factions in the United States; let your will for our world be accomplished through the decisions they make and give them a vision of peace and reconciliation for you, Lord, can find a way when men and women are lost.
  • Lord we pray for peace in the world, create in us a love for peace, not peace that is absent from struggle, nor peace that is blind to injustice but peace that makes whole what now is broken.
  • We remember those who struggle against injustice, for men and women who have to establish love’s supremacy in violent and oppressive societies, and for those whom war and famine have robbed of homes, families and friends, may they be filled with your strength and wisdom and grant that where the love of man has failed your divine compassion may heal.

+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We remember this morning those who are sick, sad or lonely and those who are brave and patient when things are going wrong.

  • We pray that they may be aware of your comforting presence and know that in your hands they are safe and loved.
  • We pray for all whose life is saddened by the death of a loved one, be with them in their loneliness and let them know that Jesus Christ is the light of the world a light which no darkness can quench.
  • We remember those who have died; you, Lord, turn our darkness into light; in your light shall we see light.

+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord we ask you to lead us into the coming week, Help us to believe that you are close by us, keep us from making mistakes and help us never to disappoint you. When we face hard decisions or difficult work, when we enjoy ourselves and have fun with others may we know that you share these times with us.

+ Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“This I Believe” (The Creed) – Hillsong Worship


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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 150 (NLT)

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

“Beware of False Prophets”

Al Gore’s Version of the Apocalypse Doesn’t Match the Bible

By John EllisJune 8, 2017

[Shutterstock]

Al Gore has a long, inglorious history of making absurd pronouncements about both himself and climate change. When not tied up with things like “inventing” the Internet, Gore is busy jet-setting around the world, stomping his sizeable carbon footprint anywhere that he can find a platform. Among other predictions that have failed to come true, Gore falsely claimed in 2006 that Mount Kilimanjaro would be snow-free by 2016 and that rising temperatures would create deadly heatwaves.

Mount Kilimanjaro still has snow, and the temperature rising to deadly levels, well, has yet to happen. Now, thanks to President Trump kicking the Paris climate accord to the curb, Al Gore is at it again with a new head of “green” steam.

You would think that after decades worth of silly and flat-out wrong declarations and predictions, Gore would’ve learned to be a little more circumspect. Instead, dusting off some old talking points, Al Gore is now trumpeting that our current weather is a harbinger the apocalypse from the Book of Revelation.

Now, two things before I say what I want to say. One, this is the Faith section of the website; I’m not going to be interacting with the back-and-forth over whether climate change is an actual thing or not, nor the debate about what’s causing climate change if climate change is indeed a thing. Two, eschatology (end times) is often a contentious topic among Christians. I’m not going to present an argument for an eschatological position.

What I am going to do is argue that Al Gore’s statements reveal an almost complete lack of knowledge of the basic eschatological position held to by the vast majority of professing Christians and taught by the Bible. That position is that Jesus Christ is going to return one day, and God will judge the wicked and reward the righteous on the final day. Furthermore, the apocalyptic visions found in the Book of Revelation are directly connected to God’s judgment of the wicked.

Whether or not a Christian believes that the catastrophes described in Revelation are future events or are past and continuing events, that Christian understands that the events are divinely initiated by a holy and just God who is putting an end to sin.

Sin, in case you were curious, is anything that violates God’s holy law. A short sampling of things that violate God’s holy law are rebelling against your parents, engaging in sexual activities that fall outside of God’s ordained parameters for sex, and, of course, gluttony. The bad news is that violating God’s law brings with it the curse of death and separation from God. The worse news is that all of us violate God’s law, probably on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Because of our sin, we are damned to an eternity in hell under God’s wrath.

But God is gracious, and not only did He provide a solution to the problem of our sin (repentance of sins and faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), He also waits. The final day has not yet arrived. Using wonderfully graphic imagery, the Book of Revelation is a visceral unveiling of that final day, God’s wrath, and the coming culmination of the salvation of God’s people.

The Book of Revelation is not a politically charged parable that can be co-opted in order to promote specific, modern-day ideologies. The floods, famines, and overall catastrophic destruction woven throughout the apocalyptic book reference God’s judgment on sin, including the sin promoted by leftist ideology (abortion, gay marriage, etc.). The plagues are evidence of God’s wrath. Al Gore’s comparison of God’s wrath to bad weather is quite the understatement.

The overall point of the Book of Revelation is that the wicked, those who refused to repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus, will be utterly undone, destroyed by a righteous, just God who cannot abide sin. The righteous, on the other hand, those who have humbled themselves before God, will be ushered into the full and final completion of their new life in Christ. Those who have repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus will spend all eternity in full fellowship with their Creator.

None of that has anything to do with climate change and/or the Paris agreement. Al Gore’s hijacking of God’s Holy Word is blasphemous. In fact, Revelation 22:18-19 has something to say about playing around with God’s Word:

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this Book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of the prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Morning Prayer: Saturday, 10 June – Acts 4:13-22 ~ can’t do anything else

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Opening Prayer

Guide us, O God, by your Word, and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace; through Christ our Lord.

Reading: Acts 4:13-22 (NLT)

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

“What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
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A Sunday Morning Prayer for Preachers:

O Word of Grace and Challenge, I pray for each one who preaches this coming Sunday:

+ For the preacher who gets up full of inspiration and energy, give him grace and humility.

+ For the one who enters the pulpit with pain in body and spirit that must be overcome, give him healing and courage.

+ For the preacher who faces the challenge of a congregation that is splintered and fractious, give him peace from his own anxiety and from theirs.

+ For the preacher whose faithful presence is still met with mistrust and judgement, give him trust and confidence in Your power in him.

+ For the preacher to a community that is devastated by trauma–flood, tornado, government closure, violence – give him hope and give him strength.

+ For the preacher who longs to cast a vision of justice and mercy for the city, the nation, the world, give him imagination and passion.

+ For the preacher whose own well of Spirit is dry and dusty, give him life giving streams of love and energy.

+ For the one who is weary of well doing, give him fresh grace and bread for this day.

+ For those who long to preach, but have no place to do so formally, may they find that along with St. Francis that there are many ways to preach, even without words.

+ And for all hearers of the Word this coming Sunday, provide them with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to receive good news, hidden things that they have not known.

By your Spirit, I commend these all to you, Amen.
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“”Salvation Has Been Brought Down”” – Praise And Harmony


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Concluding Prayer – 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 (NLT)

Preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! …I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Two U.S. Senators Apply an Anti-Christian Religious Test for Government Officials – reblog

Peanut Gallery:

“There is no other name, but the name of Jesus, by which we can be saved! There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” – Acts of the Apostles 4:12 NLT

The Story: In a confirmation hearing of an executive branch nominee, two U.S. senators imply that those who believe Jesus is the only way to salvation are “Islamophobic” and not fit for public office.

Why It Matters: Within the span of six minutes, two U.S. Senators—Sanders and Van Hollen—shamed the people of Vermont, Maryland, and the rest of the United States by establishing a new religious test for government officials.

[Read more…]