Lord, it comforts us to know that all things work together for good for those who love Thee and who have been called according to Your purpose. Even in sickness, in rejection, in disappointment, in frustration, in defeat, and in failure there is a purpose. Maybe our struggles in life are more important than our successes. Maybe our poverty in life is more important than our riches. Maybe our sorrow in life is more important than our joys. Lord, we know that our end in life is more important than life itself. May we die in faith as we live in faith. May the second death not harm us. May we realize that life on this earth is very short compared to all eternity in the presence of God. What is a short-term loss compared with the crown of life that is everlasting. What is sorrow for the night when joy comes in the morning.

Lord, we read the Scriptures, but sometimes they are not a part of us. Sometimes, we live as if we have no faith. Sometimes, we live as if there is no God. Sometimes, we live as if this world is all there is. Lord, forgive us for we must realize that we are vessels of blessings being prepared for heaven itself. We can be poor and be rich. We can fail and yet succeed. We can fall into sin and yet be forgiven. We can stumble and yet not be broken. We can suffer for a little while knowing that there is a place reserved for us where there will be no more sorrow and no more pain. There is no crying in heaven. There is no sadness in heaven. Lord draw our eyes away from what we see to the God who we cannot see. For faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.

Our Father, help us to see Christ and be satisfied. Help us to know Him and the joy of His love. Help us to find our hope in Him and our comfort in His promises. May Christ have preeminence in all things. He is more important than anything we have on earth. Lord, give us such love of Christ.

Our Father, we pray for This Church. We pray that Jesus has nothing against us. We pray that we have been faithful in learning the truth and in defending the truth. Truth can be so evasive. Truth can be so mixed with error that it ceases to be the truth. Truth is hated by the world. Lord, every generation must fight against the enemies of truth. The truth is not just something written on paper. It is the way we live. It is the way we think. It is who we are. As a man thinks, so he will be in life. Lord, help us to think rightly according to the truth that we might be living sacrifices to Thee in how we live.

Lord, bless the small children of our Church. May they never know the day that they did not know the Lord Jesus Christ. As we teach them the word of God, as we teach them the doctrines of our holy religion, as we seek to live before them lives that reflect the person of Christ, Lord, use these things to work faith in them. Like Timothy, may they someday speak of the Holy Scriptures that which they have know from childhood and that able to give them the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Bless those have grown into young adults. Provide husbands and wives for those we have trained in the covenant. May our daughters find men who can lead them, and may our sons find wives who will follow them. Give us covenant families. Give us grandchildren and great grandchildren. May the covenant blessings spread to a thousand generations.

Bless our worship here this morning. This is the Lord’s Day that was created for us. We were not created for it. Today, let every man rest from the routine and physical labor of the week. May each one set their worries aside for this one day. Today, let us worship the Lord God who made us and who has a greater Sabbath Day awaiting us when we shall rest from the curse of sin for all eternity