Sunday, March 16, 2008

Gladness in Your Presence

Almighty God,

We enter your gates this morning with thanksgiving; we come into your courts with praise. For you are good and your steadfast love endures for ever. Your faithfulness persists to all generations.

You, O Lord, are God, you have made us. You tend to our needs as a shepherd tends to his sheep. You hear our cries. You wipe away our tears. You protect us from our enemies and fill us with goodness. You make us to dwell in board places. Therefore we come into your presence this morning with singing. In gladness we offer our service of worship to you.

And we ask O God that you would come down to us. May a pathway be opened into our hearts, and may your Spirit abide there forever. Even this day we pray that you would make us to ponder our ways. May we come to understand and the way that is blameless. We desire that our minds might be transformed and begin to align more fully with Christ our Lord.

Above all let us witness your majesty and be awed by your radiance. Give us a glimpse of your glory and let us leave this place changed by the experience of your divinity.

With Thee There is Forgiveness

Gracious and Compassionate God,

You know how we have struggled with our sins this week. We come here today having lost many battles. We struggled and we strained, but we have failed to be victorious over sin and temptation.

By your grace we have made some ground. As a baby makes headway in learning to crawl, so too we have come some distance. But you know how small our progress has been. The devil has attacked us again and again. Our flesh has burned with passion, and the world has lured us away from the way of righteousness.

This is why we come to you this morning. We know that you will complete the work of grace that you have begun in us. You do nothing halfway. We expect that on the day of Christ’s return we shall experience the fullness of our salvation. But until that time we need your forgiveness and grace to sustain us day by day.

And we have the confidence that there is forgiveness with you, even for the chief of sinners. You forgave the sin of Adam. You covered the sins of our forefathers: Abraham, Issac, Jacob and David. You did not turn your back on the Israelites when they sought after other gods. You forgave them when they cried out to you and you exalted yourself as the God of compassion.

So too we look to you for the same covenant faithfulness. Forgive us of our lawless deeds and let the blood of our dear Savior purge them away. We ask that your Spirit would burn away our transgressions and that new life and obedience would appear in their place. Give us courage to perform your will, give us power to stand up against the siege of Satan, and let our footsteps be lead far from the realm of evil. Protect us and save us by your righteous, omnipotent arm, for we are weak and pitiful creatures, prone to sin and lusting after evil.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Listen to Sermons

If you would like to listen to Pastor Timmons' sermons you can do so by clicking here. You will find a list of sermons to choose from. Let me know if you have problems, I would like to make sure it is fixed.