Please find below the notes from the Elder's Prayer this past Sunday.

You are the God over all. You hold the oceans in your hand, you number the sand and the stars, you know when a bird falls, you know our every thought and deed.

There is no one who can counsel you, no one can question your words or your deeds, no one can teach you anything, no one who can understand the things that you have kept hidden from us.

In your wisdom, you sent Christ to earth, to live a sinless life, to die on the cross, and to raise again to life on the third day. It was Christ who lived the righteous life that we cannot live, Christ who died for our sin, and Christ who bore the guilt that we deserve.

Because of what you did through Christ, and because of your great love for us, we know that when we ask, you will forgive.

Forgive us when we sin – those times when we think that we can do enough good works to make up for our sin. Forgive us when we think that we achieve some measure of righteousness through our own deeds – what we eat or don’t eat, what we drink or don’t drink, what days we observe or don’t observe – any time when we think that we are keeping ourselves saved apart from the work of Christ.

Forgive us when we judge others for what they do or don’t do, using our own actions as the standard for measuring them. Or holding them to a different standard than we hold ourselves.

Forgive us when we divide the body of Christ over temporary or secondary things. When we divide over the things of this life only or when we argue and separate over issues where your word does not speak to fully.

Remind us that we have been crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us – Jesus who loved us and gave himself up for us.

Remind us that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, we who are your children baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ. Remind us that any righteousness we have is not ours but is Christ’s alone.

Remind us that Christ has set us free – free from being slaves to sin, free from thinking that we must achieve our own righteousness, that we must earn your favor. Remind us that you granted us freedom out of your own mercy and grace by giving us Jesus.

Remind us that we are now alive in the spirit and no longer in the flesh. Our lives should now be marked by love for each other, joy, unity in the body, patience with each other, and a faithfulness to you and your word that endures all circumstances.

There is nothing in us that caused you to save us – no good works, no good intentions. We are wholly and solely dependent – for salvation, for righteousness, for endurance - upon your mercy extended to us through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.