Untitled Sermon (3)

9  For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

Jesus was zealous for the house of God. He was there, he was passionate about the worship of God and removing any obstacles in the way of this good and right worship. What things are in the way of true worship of God here, or in our hearts. We must remember that we worship in all we do. So far this morning we have worshiped together in song, we have worshiped in confessing our sin before God, we have worshiped in giving, we have worshiped in prayer and are about to worship in prayer again together, and soon we will worship in hearing the Word of God proclaimed in the sermon. Let us all be here, fully, actively worshiping God our Father together as a church.

-That we would see relationships in the local church as part of what it means to be a Christian

-That we would understand the need for transparent relationships

-That we would expect conversations to be often deep and theological

Heavenly Father,

We come together each Lord's day to remember what you have done in the sending of your Son, and what Jesus did on the cross and in his resurrection. We come here to worship you, with thankful hearts. We may be here with heavy, tired, broken hearts, but we rest in you, knowing that you will sustain us. And even if you don't in the ways we think you should, we trust in you still.

We pray that we might be zealous for you. That zeal for you and your church will burn within us. That we might understand that as your church, each of us must be invested in each other. There is room for all, but no room for anyone to sit by passively. As parts of your body, as members of this local church, we pray that we might by transparent in relationships, that we disciple each other as we follow you. We pray that we might have deep relationships and that those relationships might go beyond talking about sports and weather and we speak to each other of the big things of you. That we might remind each other of the gospel often and draw each other to a deeper understanding of you.

We pray for the requests brought before you and us this morning that we might all join in praying for the concerns of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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We pray for those in authority. For those in congress, for the president, and in the judiciary. Those who have influence in the decisions made for the country. We pray that they might have wisdom to lead well. We pray for our own leaders here at MCF, for wisdom, for loving, sacrificial leadership that glorifies you.

We pray for other gospel preaching churches in our area, today specifically, for Church of God, and Church of Christ in LaGrange. We pray that they might be faithful to your gospel and that you also use the other churches in our area to reach people for their good and your glory.

We pray that those who are single would know that they are not lacking in worth to you or to us. We pray that they might find their worth in you, understanding they are not, less than, in your kingdom.

We pray for missionaries in the mission field, for fruitfulness in their work. We pray for the salvation of sinners, and for the strengthening of the saints.

We pray for faithfulness. For us, and for the church across the world. We pray that Christ would come quickly, and they we would remain steadfast in the faith, and in your work until he does. For your glory.

We love you.

In Jesus's name we pray..

Amen.