Lord, not unto us give glory, but unto Yourself. For what good is there in man that he can praise himself? What have we done that would find favor in Your sight? Lord, we were dead in sin. We were dead in self-absorption. We lived for ourselves. We believed that truth was something we had in ourselves. We were full of ourselves. We considered God as impotent and man as the ultimate source of his own fate. We were taught that we were captain of our own ship, and pilot of our own plane. We were taught that we could pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, but Lord, we were helpless. We were dead men in the grave. Only the power of God could rescue us.

Oh Lord, forgive us for denigrating Your power and your position as the living and true God. Forgive us when we did not fall on our knees, blinded in the face of Your glory. Forgive us when we believe that religion is simply a choice that wise men make. Forgive us when we think that somehow the wicked is in charge of his own destiny. Lord, even the wicked shall bring praise to Thy marvelous Name. Even the rejection of You by men will be used according to Your own decrees for the praise of Your marvelous justice. Let not men think that they control their own destiny and that they, in the power of their wills, can stay the plan of God. Whether they reject Thee or receive Thee, they do so according to Thy mysterious decrees. The trapper shall be caught in His own trap.

Lord, those called by Your grace and elected from the foundation of the world love the Lord Jesus Christ. They are melted in their hearts as they hear of the birth of Christ, Of HIs kindness and gentleness toward the poor and suffering, of His agony in the garden, of His suffering on the cross, of His resurrection from the grave, and of His ascension into Heaven. Lord, how Your elect see Christ as the atonement for sin, the Mediator before God the Father, and the hope for all the nations.

Lord, how Your elect find in Christ the wisdom of all the ages, the reason for living, and the support in all their troubles. There is none other like unto Christ. So is the shout of Your people. So is the evidence of the working of Your Spirit. So is the heart of the people of God.

Our Father, we confess that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Him will live even if He dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.

Lord, in the world we have tribulation, but in You we have peace because You have overcome the world. You pity us as a Father pities his children. You discipline us as a Father disciplines His children. You protect us as a Father protects His children. You are our Father. You will always be our Father. No one can take that away from us. The Devil can take away our health. Death can take away our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters. The State can take away our freedom. Our own sin and weakness can take away our dignity. Disease can take away our minds. But one thing no one can take from us, is the fact that You are our Father, and that Your promises are ever sure.

Lord, we have spent ourselves building our house upon a rock. We have not built upon the sand. The storms are brewing. The winds are blowing. The rain is pouring down and the rivers are swelling. The foundations of man's hopes are being eaten away. The world is changing and the virtues for which our fathers died are being ignored by the leaders of our day. But Lord, our faith will see us through. For those who have built their house on the sand, great will be their fall. For those who built their house on the rock, it will stand. Lord Jesus, You are that rock.