Our Father, we know who we are. Even though we were created in Your image, Adam fell in the Garden. He sinned. He became a man given to sin. Lord, so are we. We know that we can be both beautiful and ugly. We can love and we can hate. We can praise and we can curse. We can give and we can steal. We can forgive and we can hold a grudge. We are schizophrenic. We are duplicitous. We are Jekyll and Hide. Sin makes us that way. We confess it. We know who we are.

Lord, we also know that we are in Adam under the judgment of God. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap. There is quip pro quo in this world. There is tit for tat. There is the reality of what goes around comes around. Our choices bring with them consequences. We make bad choices sometimes. We hurt the people we love. We can leave a trail of tears and blood behind us as we hurry along in this world. We are often on emotional roller coasters. We can be high with joy one day and in the depths of despair the next day. Lord, we are a sick people. There is something wrong with us. We confess it. We know who we are.

Lord, we know that if there is any hope for us, then there must be intervention from above. We can extricate ourselves from many a problem, but eventually there will be problems we cannot handle with our mere wills and wisdom. Lord, it is not that we need to climb up into heaven. We would never make it. We are not strong enough. We don't even know where heaven is. We need You to come down from Heaven. We need you to descend. We can't climb Jacob's ladder. You must come down to us on earth on Jacob's ladder. Lord, we know who we are.

Lord, we believe and confess this day that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and that He did descend down from heaven. He came to earth in the form of a baby born to a woman, yet He remained the God Most High. He came to deliver us from ourselves. He came to die for our sins. He came to renew within us a right spirit in us. He came to give life to the dead. He came to heal the wounded and to bind up the broken hearted. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Lord, without Him, we would have no hope, neither in this world nor in the world to come. We need a Savior. We know who we are and we confess it here this morning.

Lord, it is good for us to confess who we are. It is good for us to confess that we are unprofitable servants. It is good to confess that we have failed to keep Thy Law. We have transgressed Thy commandments without end or ceasing. We have offended Thee. We are poor sinners, conceived and born in iniquity, incapable of any good, and are worthy of Thy righteous judgment.

Yea, Lord, it is good for us to repent. It is good for us to confess that You are a God full of compassion and forgiveness. You search for people like us. You have found them here today in this Church.

We confess that Jesus blood was red and flowing, but it washes us as white as snow. We are full of darkness, but He is full of light. Make us O Lord, worthy servants. Give us a work to do. Help us to find the needy and have mercy upon them as You had mercy upon us. As we do all things in Your Name, give to Your people the rewards of Your smile. May Your servants know that they are building up for themselves a treasure in Heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt. Lord, we know from where we came. We know our condition. We know the remedy for our condition. We also know where we are going. We know what we should be doing this very day.

Lord, thank You for such knowledge. Most men strive all their lives seeking meaning and fulfillment in this life. We have found it. We are of all people the most blessed.