Saturday, July 29, 2023
Opening Prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Confession of Sin & Prayer for Grace
Lord Jesus, if I say I have no sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me; so I humbly confess my sins today. The idols of my heart are many. I have bowed down to false gods, and looked to them to provide what only you can provide. Forgive me. Free me. Deepen my sorrow for the wrong I have done and the good I have left undone. My comfort is found in knowing that you are full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in grace. I trust boldly in Christ my redeemer. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Amos 7:7-15
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
New Testament Reading: Colossians 3:1-17
Prayer of Adoration:
O God: I adore you for the beauty of holiness. Thank you that you do not leave your people as they are, but you radically transform them, filling them with moral beauty as they participate in the very life of Christ. Thank you that in Jesus, I truly have a new self.
Psalm Reading: Psalm 119:25-48
Prayer of Consecration
God: with the Psalmist, I cling to your Word. I want to keep your law continually and observe it with my whole heart. And yet I know that I fail to do so. So thank you for my Savior, who fully kept your law and obeyed all your commandments. Through him, this Psalm becomes not a mirror to reveal my faults, but a lamp to guide my feet on the path of obedience. Deepen and strengthen my love for your word, O Lord. Let me cling to your testimonies and run in the way of your commandments. Let me never set your gospel and your law against one another, as though they are opposites. Rather, let me embrace your law in all its fullness, seeing how it drives me to Christ for salvation AND how it guides me in a life of obedience through your Spirit. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; so put false ways far from me, and lead me in the path of your commandments.
BENEDICTION
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and always, until the day of Christ's return.
