Hallowed be Thy Name

Oh, Yes. We will have church today.

I will reiterate our weather policy for those of you who may not know: If you feel your life or safety are in danger, don't come. But If God opens the way to you, come and worship. I will be there no matter what.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

He is to be feared above all gods.

All the gods of the nations are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Psalm 96:4-5

Eternal God,

You are exalted over all nations and your glory is above the heavens. No other god compares to you and no one can begin to speak of your Excellency. Your greatness extends from generation to generation and your majesty cannot be broken.This day we gather together to acknowledge you as our King. We lift our voices to praise our God who is enthroned on high.

We thank you that you have not remained at a distance. We praise you for stooping to inquire as to our well being and to bring us aid in times of need.You have raised us from the dust and you have lifted us our of our misery. You have given us joy and seated us with princes. We who were outcasts, you have made royalty. Truly you are most gracious, most kind, and most worthy of praise.

For this reason we seek your favor this morning. We ask that you would descend upon us again. Send forth your Spirit into this place and bring us into your holy presence. Let not one second of this time be wasted on frivolous thoughts or unnecessary worries. But let us be enraptured with our God this morning and may we dwell in the shelter of your wing.

Almighty God,

We know that you are a God who will not put up with men forever. You have suffered long with sinners. You have overlooked a multitude of sins. But we know that you will one day break forth into this world and bring justice to your land. For this reason we bow before you as unworthy servants. We know that we have done wrong and we have not ceased to profane your name. But we come to you, poor and wretched sinners that we are, and beg for your mercy.

Lord, you have given each one of us responsibilities. You have committed to our care many things: money, children, time, and talents. You have given us a hearty portion of good things in this life. But all these things we have squandered. We have not used them in a way that is pleasing to you. Nor have we exercised proper care in our various duties. The examples that we have been poor and our leadership has been full of defects. When we should have been as tender as a shepherd, we have been stern and cruel. When we should have been liberal and openhanded, we have been miserly and calloused.

But you haven not been this way with us. You have time and again been gentle, generous, and gracious. The loving-kindness that you have expressed towards us has only made our sins all the more obvious and all the more wicked.

So we come to you, wishing to confess and forsake these sins. We seek you for pardon and pray that you might not be angry with us. Instead of casting us out into the outer darkness, we pray that you might discipline us in love. We ask that you would isolate these sins and remove them, as well as the many others that do infect our souls. We pray that we might find in their place those graces and virtues that were found in our Dear Savior, Jesus Christ. May we be filled with his undying love and faithfulness.

For we ask this in his precious name. Amen.

Great and glorious Redeemer,

O how we have sinned against you. O how we have multiplied our transgressions again and again. We have heaped up our sins and have not ceased to offend you. So little have been our advancements and so many have been our backslidings.

Father, we prove day after day that we are born of our father Adam. The enticement of sin overcomes us and our hearts race after wicked things. So we bow before you to seek you again for your favor. Time after time we have set an ungodly example to those around us. Our words have led our children into sin and our actions have caused the ungodly to blaspheme. Instead of modeling righteousness and showing what is honorable, we have dishonored our God by our careless living.

Indeed we have taken your name in vain. But we look to you, that we might be rid of these sins and the others that plague our lives. We wish to gain victory over our sinful thoughts and gain a new inward zeal for what is good. So we plead with you today to look not upon us as our sins deserve. But let the blood of our dear Savior cover us. May our sins be thrown upon his cross, and may we live a new life by the power of your Spirit. Make us more watchful in life and continue to develop within us a zeal for what is most pleasing to you.

Almighty God,

You are the maker of heaven and earth. All things were created By you and by you we are sustained. This day we gather as your humble people to acknowledge our utter dependence upon you. You are from everlasting to everlasting and have no need of anything in any of your creation. But we are needy people. We are like babes who rely upon their mothers at every moment.

Since we know that we are but dust and shall one day come from the ground from which we were formed, we look to you with the eyes of faith. We wish this day to worship you and embrace again the everlasting life that you do give through your Son. May you be pleased to dwell with us and shine down upon us in this time. And may your grace be poured out from heaven to draw us further into obedience and faith.

A Prayer for Entering Morning Worship

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Just as you called the sun to rise today, you have called us out of our slumber. By your grace you caused us to arise with life and breath anew. Moreover you have awakened our souls that we might enjoy eternal life.

Now, having been brought into this assembly by your good hand, we look to our God—We look to the head and defender of his church, in order to offer you our praises and to set apart this day to the One who has created all things and redeemed us by his only Begotten Son.

We acknowledge you as our King and know that it is in your hand to do make great and to bring low. By your Spirit hearts are hardened or broken. And we ask that this time of worship would be showered with your mercies. May your word this day not fall on dull ears, but we pray that the door of our hearts would be opened wide that we might receive it like the good soil receives the seed. May our minds be sharp and our souls be like traps so that no good thing may escape us.

Above all may we enjoy you today. May we remember again our God who has forgiven our sins, secured for us an eternal inheritance, and made us to reign with him in this world.

Today's Invocation

Almighty God,

We come before you this morning because you are the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. You are the only wise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one who lives and reigns. We acknowledge that you are unlike any other, for you are infinite in being and perfection. And you have all life, glory and goodness in and of yourself. For this reason we assemble here today. We desire renew our vows to you and set you apart as Lord in our hearts.

As we call upon your name, we ask that you would condescend to us. Would that you would come down from your lofty dwelling place above and fill this place with your Spirit. May we enjoy sweet communion with you and worship you this day and this hour. We pray that you might be pleased to lift our heads and anoint our hearts with your redeeming love and cause us to pay homage to our Jehovah God.

Confession of Sin

Almighty God,

As we approach you this morning we come to you as we are, with all of our sins.

We do not hide the fact that we have transgressed and offended your infinite holiness. Indeed we admit that we have been weak to battle temptation and slow to fulfill our duty before you. We have not paid honor to your name, nor taken it upon ourselves with sober recognition. We acknowledge the raging of our hearts and how we lust and yearn for ignoble things.

To our harm we pant after what is evil and we indulge in what can only be called folly. Each of us has strayed, and each of us has strayed in our own way. But we acknowledge also that we have sins that are common to us all. Moreover we have sinned corporately. Each of us has contributed to the wrath that is justly due to our house, community, and church.

But we pray that you might not look upon us in your displeasure. We cry out to you and we run to the cross of our dear Savior Jesus Christ. And on Calvary’s hilltop we cry out for mercy, begging that our sins not be held against us. Forgive us our many debts and turn our hearts toward you again. Let these misdeeds and our many others that we have committed time after time be crucified with Christ and put to death once and for all. Cause righteousness to come to life and let what is in accord with justice be fulfilled among us.

For this we ask in Jesus strong Name. Amen

The Failure of Foresight

Our Father in Heaven,

In calling us to be Christians you called us to be light in the midst of darkness, and blessings in the midst of misery. But we have not lived up to this calling, nor adequately sought to fulfill it.

That is why we bow before you this morning, because we need to be forgiven for our lack of forethought. We are people who most frequently live by our whims and passions, and we fail to consider the future and how we might do good.

In this regard, our greatest offense has been against you. You have never ceased to think about us, and it is to our shame that we have not ceased for even a moment to devise ways to please you. We have not honored you because we have not properly prepared our hearts for worship or calculated when we could set aside time for special prayer, personal devotions, and much needed adoration and thanksgiving.

But we have sinned not only against heaven, but against our peers here on earth. Instead of carefully studying how we might be of benefit to our neighbors, we have been much consumed with ourselves and our own gain.

We beg you for pardon because the plans we have made have only revolved around our own desires and personal satisfaction. We have forgotten your past acts of love and have not remembered your great acts of redemption. You moved mightily in order to deliver us in our times of need. But you deeds have been like mighty storms of rain: they came with much power and made us stand in awe, but with their passing they were quickly forgotten. Indeed they were eclipsed by unrelenting selfishness and lust.

Forgive us, Lord, for failing to have a preemptive love. And give us hearts that truly esteem you. Turn us to yourself, and let our soul’s be fixed upon you. May all of our intentions and longings be focused upon the one who has loved us and given his life for us.

For this we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

A Prayer of Confession for the Fourth of July

Almighty and Compassionate God,

As we come before you this morning we give you praise for the freedoms that we as a nation enjoy. You have granted us life and liberty. Because of your loving-kindness we have the freedom to own property and pursue our personal welfare.

You have been gracious to us, for we know that we deserve not one good thing. We know that if you dealt with us as our sins deserve all these things would be stripped from us and we should be cast immediately into hell.

But we thank you for looking upon us so kindly. And we thank you for causing our forefathers to implement laws that were in accord with true justice and wisdom. We give you praise that our nation was founded on the principles of truth and the freedom that is found in your Law.

And this morning we look to you for your continued mercy and grace. For we know that we as a nation have not lived in accord with Christ. Like the Israelites long ago who strayed from the faith. We too have become a nation that does what is right in our own eyes.

Your patience has been great, but we know that you will only suffer so long with sinners. So we plead with you again to have mercy upon us. We ask that you would restore our fortunes. Give us a fresh outpouring of your Spirit. Like days of old where revival and renewal graced our lands, let us be drawn back to our God. Let us not glory in wickedness or lewdness, but let us glory in Christ. Let us not set ourselves up as lords, but may we as a united people acknowledge the Triune God alone as the Supreme Head and King of our state.

Since we have sought our independence from you, we know that we deserve to live eternally without you. We know that we deserve to have the freedoms we enjoy be used against us for our downfall. But we beseech you this morning for your favor. Do not give us justice, but make us a people who love justice. Do not take away our lives, but make us a people who treasure life. Grant us liberty, but bind our hearts to you. For this we ask in Jesus Name. Amen.

Squandered Blessings

Almighty Father,

As we come before you this morning we recognize that we are sinners. And we know that we deserve to be stripped of all that we have and thrown into hell. Yet you have seen fit to give us life and breath. Moreover you have lavished upon us good things.

And we confess that we have mishandled these things and corrupted ourselves. We have loved the blessing and not the Blesser. We have coveted earthly goods and sought to attain them through wicked means. We have lusted and lied, cheated stolen. Neither have we looked out for the good of our neighbor. Instead we have wronged them and hurt them as we have grasped after temporal things.

You would be perfectly just if you would cut us off from the face of the earth and condemn us for all eternity. And this is why we seek you out. We come to you knowing that nothing we would offer you would satisfy you. Indeed we come naked and barren, putting our hope in nothing but the righteousness of your Son. We humbly ask that you would forgive us for our sins.

And we beseech you to cleanse us from our idolatrous heart. Lord, we ask that you would purge from us those unrighteous lusts & cravings. Give us a spirit of moderation and a heart that does not lurch after goods. Indeed we pray that we would be people who acknowledge the source of our life and diligently adhere to the righteous means of receiving our sustenance. We ask that you would temper our desires so that we might be content with what you give us, liberal in our giving, and hospitable towards others.

For this we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Directions to Worship

CRF will temporarily be meeting in the basement of Armstrong Accounting, which is located at 1236 Claremont Ave and is beside the National City Bank. (Click here for a map and driving directions.)

Parking is provided behind the building and you may enter through the basement door located to the left of the main double doors. Please note that there is no access through the main double doors. Also be aware that the basement entrance is somewhat hidden. A quick glance might overlook it.

Where Thou Goest, I will Go

Due to unforeseen and sudden circumstances CRF is looking for a new meeting place. Please email CRF or call (419-289-2552) to find the arrangements for this week.

Evening Prayer

O merciful God, light eternal shining in the darkness, Thou dispellest the night of our sins and the blindness of our hearts. Since Thou didst ordain that man should rest in the night and labor during the day, we pray Thee that our bodies may rest in peace and quiet, in order that they may be enabled to sustain the labors to which we shall again be called. Control our sleep and rule our hearts while we slumber in order that we may not be defiled in either body or soul but may glorify Thee even in our nightly rest.

Enlighten once more, we beseech Thee, the eyes of our mind, lest we enter upon the sleep of death. Grant that we may ever cherish the expectation of our redemption from the misery of the life that now is. Defend us against all assaults of the devil and take us in Thy holy protection.

We confess that we have not spent this day without grievously sinning against Thee. We pray Thee to cover our sins in Thy mercy, even as Thou dost shroud all the things of earth in the darkness of the night, lest we be cast away from Thy face.

Be pleased to bestow comfort and rest upon all that are sick, bowed down with grief, or afflicted with distress of soul, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

--taken from the Psalter Hymnal, CRC

Easter Hope

Gracious and Redeeming God,

We who are poor sinners, come to you this morning with thankful hearts. Because of Christ’s victory over sin and death we are drawn into your presence. We acknowledge that there is no hope for us in this world save Christ. All is lost without him.

For this reason we wish you lay our souls at your feet. We ask that the conquest of his cross would be ours. We desire that his empty tomb would be our life.

We know that we have erred and greatly sinned against you. We have lived in accordance with our father Adam, and we have betrayed you like Eve, our mother. Despite our better judgment, we have run off into sin. Indeed our sin is so frequent that our consciences often fail to feel the sting of sin’s guilt.

But yet in our hearts we hear our condemnation. And we bow before our judge to ask for mercy and pardon. We know that those who come to you will by no means be cast out. So we come to you with full assurance of your pardoning grace.

Moreover we are so bold to ask that you might cleanse us from sin. Just as Christ left his grave clothes in the tomb, we pray that we would leave our lives of sin. We pray that you would put to death the misdeeds of the body and create within us new obedience and new life.

Let us not glory in that which is wretched, but let us cling to what is good and pure. Give us hearts to seek your will and the zeal to perform it.

In all things we pray that the world might know that we serve a living Savior and a glorified king. We ask that your work might be accomplished in us for the glory of your name.

For it is in the name of the resurrected Christ that we do pray. Amen.