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

For the past number of weeks, Pastor Bret has been delivering messages having to do with the providence of God. In particular as it pertains to Joseph in the book of Genesis.

In some sense, every message we receive has to do with God's providence as it is written all over the pages of the scriptures and and is at work in our lives as well.

Don't you just love talking about and dwelling upon His providence in our lives? I know I do.

As Pastor Bret has said, Providence is God governing everything to His glory...bringing about His desired ends, which involves the working of His divine sovereignty giving Him the power and ability to do so.

There are acts of providence that we will never understand this side of eternity, but, I do think it would be helpful for all of us to keep a journal of God's providences working out in our lives, which then gives us the opportunity to periodically remember those things and give Him the glory for them.

I would like to read a passage of scripture to help center our minds on God's amazing providence in the lives of His people....  Ps. 105:1-21   

[Psa 105:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. 

2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders. 

3 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. 

4 Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. 

5 Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth, 

6 O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! 

7 He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. 

8 He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, 

9 [The] [covenant] which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. 

10 Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, 

11 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance," 

12 When they were only a few men in number, Very few, and strangers in it. 

13 And they wandered about from nation to nation, From [one] kingdom to another people. 

14 He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: 

15 "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm." 

16 And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. 

17 He sent a man before them, Joseph, [who] was sold as a slave. 

18 They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; 

19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. 

20 The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and set him free. 

21 He made him lord of his house And ruler over all his possessions, 

Pray with me please:

Lord, we give thanks to You for Your amazing works in our lives and the lives of all of your people.

Please remind us and help us to speak of Your wondrous acts that are for Your glory and our good.

Help us now to worship you and sing praises to You with sincere and glad hearts, because our confidence can be in You...You are worthy of our trust and devotion, and please help us also to seek Your face daily and remember Your providential works in our lives.

Please forgive us when we doubt Your lovingkindness and forget the fact that You superintend over every molecule in the universe and every aspect of our lives.

Thank You for the covenant you made to Abraham and Your promise of a Savior.  

We praise You for allowing us to see Your hand move in the pages of scripture to ultimately bring to us our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In Jesus' name...