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

As we go to the Lord in prayer this morning, let’s bow our heads in a moment of reflection as we prepare corporately to confess our sins to Him.

Lord, as we gather before you today, we give thanks that when we cried out to you, you inclined your ear to us and heard our cry for salvation. You drew us up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set our feet upon a rock, making our steps secure. You put a new song in our mouths, that we may praise you. Your word tells us that the man who makes the Lord his trust is blessed, The man who does not turn to the proud, and to those who go astray after a lie! How grateful we are that you have not restrained your mercy from us; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve us! Yet, in spite of that, as the psalmist says, evils have encompassed us beyond number. (Based on Psalm 40)

Our own iniquities have overtaken us, So much so that we often are blind to them-we are often quick to point out the speck in our brother’s eye without seeing the log that is lodged in our own; we often fail to recognize the sin that is at work in our hearts As our Lord reminds us there is nothing outside a person that can by going into him defile him-but rather it’s the things that come out of us that defile us. Out of our hearts come evil thoughts-immorality, coveting, deceit, envy, slander, pride and all manner of foolishness.

There is not a day that goes by that we do not sin against you and against each other-in thought, word, and deed. But when we confess our sins, as we do today, you are pleased to deliver us, to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hear our cry of confession today, Lord.

May your word and your spirit make us quick to recognize our sinful thoughts before we are tempted to act on them-grant us repentance and give us your desire to pursue holiness, this day and every day-we pray in Christ’s name-Amen