We confess that apart from Jesus Christ there is no salvation for man. There is no other name under heaven whereby man must be saved. All other gods are false gods. All other religions, where Jesus is not recognized as the only mediator between God and man, are false religions. Lord, we need not name the false religions. You know them.

Lord, help us as we fight the battle for the crown rights of Jesus Christ. The Church has sold our Lord for a pottage of pluralism and pietism. We have been told by the world to consider Jesus as one god among many other equal gods. We have capitulated. We have been told by the world that Jesus is not relevant to civil government, to education, to debates on ethics. We have capitulated. We have been told by the world that matters of faith are to be kept private and we should have no voice in the public square. We have capitulated. Lord, forgive the Church for her sins. She is not persecuted because she has chosen not to challenge the world. We think we are like sweet incense, but truly we must stink like a dead carcass. We consider ourselves as the light of the world, but truly we must be darker than the darkest night when the moon does not shine.

Lord, help us as we fight the battles against sin. Some sins so easily beset us. The youth must flee youthful lusts. The aged must fight depression. The strong man must learn to humble himself. The woman of beauty must learn to cover herself with modesty. The lazy man must learn diligence from watching the ant. Those who complain must learn to be content in whatsoever circumstances they are. The poor man must not steal from the rich, and the rich man must not think that he can live without God. The debtor soon becomes a slave to the lender. False weights and a false balance is an abomination to the Lord. Our gold has become dim and our wine has been mixed with water. We call evil good and good evil. Lord, forgive us of all our sins.

Grant us the freedom and joy of knowing that through the red blood of Jesus Christ, we have been made as white as snow. Give us the grace to repent and turn from all of our sins, seeking to rest in the power and mercy of God.

Our Father, grant to each parent the wisdom of how to raise their children in the Lord. Give them the ability to be both firm and merciful. Firmness without mercy can be tyranny. Mercy without firmness can be hypocrisy. Love without boundaries can be indulgence. Boundaries without opportunity can be imprisonment. Protection without instilling strength can be imprisonment. Instilling strength without protection can be desertion. Lord, there are so many dangers that our children must face, and we as parents are so inadequate to prepare them. We fail them when we do not discipline them. We fail them when we do not allow them to grow up into maturity.

Lord, work in the hearts of our covenant children. Let them not linger long between two gods. May they early in life choose with hearty affirmation to publicly be a follower of Jesus Christ and to become communion members of His Church. Let not familiarity with the things of God become a stumbling block. Let not the privileges of their covenant status become treated as nothing worthy of value. May each of them soon learn that apart from God's grace, they would have no promises. They would be cut off from the family of God and without hope in this world.

Lord, grant Your blessings upon this Church. We are indeed part of the church catholic, part of the people of God that covers all the nations of the world. From every language and from every tongue, we have brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are one in Christ. Give us the opportunity to aid our brothers and sisters both here in this place and also in other nations.