We are spoiled worse than children. We complain. We are discontent. Nothing ever is good enough for us. We denigrate our heritage. As soon as we find something new, what was old becomes useless and full of disdain. For those who gave their lives for us, we would spit in their faces. For those who loved us, we do not love them back. We are mean. We are selfish. We are greedy, uncharitable, and think more of ourselves than we do others. Lord, we deserve death. We think we are God's gift to earth, but in reality, the world might be much better off if we had never been born. We deserve death. We deserve a Hell that is filled with everlasting torment. We think we are pretty, but we are ugly. We think we are important, but we are nothing. We think we are valuable, but we can be replaced.

Lord, hear our lips as we express our heartfelt sorrow. We repent and deplore ourselves. We stand condemned by our evil thoughts, our evil attitudes, and by our evil ways. Lord, as we see our sin, we die in a thousand ways.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Be compassionate, O most glorious God. Remind us that You are the Father of mercies. Remind us that you are the God of those who are poor in spirit. Remind us that you chose the poor of the world to be rich in faith. Lord, we are poor in many ways.

For the sake of the work of Christ, hear our plea today. We believe that He died for our sins and that He died for the mess we are and for the mess we have made out of our lives. He is our only hope. If we believe, we shall be forgiven. Hallelujah, we believe. We come this morning with confidence not in ourselves, but in the work of Jesus Christ and in the promises of God.

Our Father we pray for Thy Church. We are ashamed of the Church. It is divided into so many factions. Duty is no longer a virtue. Happiness has replaced sacrifice. Entertainment has replaced worship. Self-esteem has replaced self-abhorrence. Complacency has replaced struggle. Criticism has replaced building up one another. We come and go as good church people, but how many find themselves on their knees during the week weeping over their sin. How many extend a kind hand to the helpless. How many have a listening ear in order to share the struggles of others. How many bear one another's burdens.

Lord, as a nation, we have ignored your basic laws. The Bible says Thou shall not steal, yet our leaders take from the rich and give to the poor. Confiscation has replaced charity. The Bible says the borrower is slave to the lender. We are slaves. We are no longer free. We kill our own babies in the womb and ask our neighbors to pay for it. We dilute the wine and sell it at the same price. We change the value of money without guilt. We let ungodly trash come into our homes through the television and internet and call it adult material, when it is not fit for beasts and animals.

We think we shall escape judgment. The civil government has become our Savior. Who needs the Church anymore? Who needs the wisdom of old men anymore? Who needs doctrine anymore? Who needs the truth anymore? Who needs the legacy of our forefathers anymore? Lord, we do, but we don't know it. We are in a cesspool of sin, and yet we believe we are washing ourselves with perfume. There is a white elephant in the room, but no one sees it. The Emperor is without clothes, but we are blind. We see but we don't see. We hear, but we don't hear. We think we are smart, but we are stupid. We think we are in control, but underneath the thin veil there is chaos. We think we have evolved, but we have devolved. Because we have more toys, we think we are better than those who have gone before us, but we are cups full of pride and arrogance.