Untitled Sermon

These are the word that Jesus read from in Isaiah in Luke's gospel when he reveals that he is the Messiah early in his ministry.

61 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; 6 but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. 7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. 8 For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you that Christ fulfilled the Scriptures. Thank you for your faithfulness from the beginning of time. In our sin, we have rejected you over and over again and yet you remain. Thank you for Christ, through whom we are set free and made alive from the death of sin. Thank you for your good news, that Jesus proclaimed first and that we have the privilege and responsibility to share this good news with others. We pray for opportunities for this sharing, for gospel conversations. We pray for the conversion of sinners. For you to draw sinners to yourself.

We pray for our church, here at MCF. We pray that we have deep, and transparent relationships, that we grow together in grace. That we would expect to our conversations to be deep and theological we pray that we would often encourage each other with Scripture often. We pray that we grow in discipling relationships, in every way helping each other grow up to Christ who is our head. We pray that we might be so saturated in the gospel that we smell like it, that it just come out of us because we can't contain it. And that this would touch every area of our lives.

-Physical needs

-Specific individuals

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We pray for other gospel preaching churches in our area, for Emma church, for Shore church. We pray that you also use the other churches in our area to reach people for their good and your glory.

We pray for those in authority, in our town, in our state and in our country. That they might have wisdom to lead well, we pray that if they do not know salvation, that they might come to. That you might draw them to yourself. We pray for the leaders of other countries, that they might lead wisely and well. We pray for the end of abortion, we pray that marriages might be strengthened in you. We pray for the church across the world, that more and more people might come to salvation. We pray for missionaries laboring in the mission field and we pray for the church under persecution, that they might be faithful. We pray for our own faithfulness and we pray that we as a global church might be steadfast in the gospel. For your glory.

In Jesus's name we pray..

Amen.