Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew at our churches and in Oklahoma, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! And we thank you for all your mighty works in the world, in our cities and communities, and at our churches. You created the world in the beginning, and you are over everything that happens in it, and so we look to You, O LORD. We praise you, O LORD for what you do, what you are doing, and what you will do here in our cities and communities and at our churches. May we never think so much of ourselves that we try to rise to your level. Protect us from the temptation of Satan, the temptation of Babel, the temptation to think we here at our churches are so great, but instead let us humbly rest in the fact that YOU are so great and loving and trustworthy and sovereign! May we at our churches and in our cities and communities this day see people hear the gospel and turn to Jesus in faith. On the day of Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago you brought thousands to yourself in the city that day. Would you work the same miracle here in our cities and communities through our churches and all the churches in our cities and communities today?
Lord, we thank you for the gifts you give your church for ministry, and we ask that you provide all those gifts to our churches so we may minister to our cities and communities well. We especially thank you for Doug and Casey and the elders and pastors and deacons of City Pres, and ask you to continue to use them to lead our churches forward in ministering to our cities and communities. Enable especially Doug and Casey today as they preach and lead, that our churches would hear that by the Spirit we also get the privilege of calling you not just our LORD, but our FATHER! Thank you, Father. Thank you, Abba! Holy Spirit, would you bear witness to our souls this Sunday (and every day) through the worship and through the Word that God is our Father, Jesus is our Savior, and you Holy Spirit live in us, so now we are in union with Christ! Jesus in us and us in Jesus, just as Jesus in his Father and the Father in Jesus. Wow, we’re not even totally sure what that means, but it’s amazing and we thank you we have this incredible truth to lean on and consider and enjoy! Thank you Jesus, that because of what you did on the cross for us, we are not orphans, but rather we have seen the Father, and he is OUR Father. Holy Spirit, continue to teach us here at our churches, bringing to our minds remembrance of what Jesus has taught, giving us peace, keeping our hearts from being troubled or afraid, as we prepare to go out to serve our cities and communities in your name this week.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works here in our cities and communities! We will sing to the LORD as long as we live; we will sing praise to our God while we have being. May our meditations here at our churches be pleasing to you, for we rejoice in the LORD. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!
Through Jesus Christ our Lord; according to whose most true promise, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven, lighting upon the disciples, to teach them and to lead them into all truth, giving them boldness and fervent zeal constantly to preach the Gospel to all nations; by which we have been brought out of darkness and error into the clear light and true knowledge of you, and of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
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