Please find below the notes from the Elder's Prayer this past Sunday
Lord, as we examine our hearts, we see that we are full of sin. Pride, lust, greed, hatred, envy, bitterness, anger, complaining, always restless, infrequently content with what you have given us, always wanting more.
We think highly of ourselves. We think that we’re special, unique, just as good if not better than the rest. Tempted to exalt ourselves in the eyes of others, thinking that we deserve the praise that should come to us. And thinking that you are not bothered by it.
Your word shows us, though, that we are all sinners, all of us seeking our own way, not yours, all seeking our own gain and not the benefit of others. Our hearts are, by nature, wicked above all else and cannot be trusted. There is nothing inherently good in us or about us, yet we continually act as if there was.
But you are a patient God, a forgiving God, a long-suffering God who loves us and offers forgiveness for our sins.
So when we turn from our sin and seek your forgiveness, you forgive us. When we put our trust in the blood of Christ to cover our sins, you apply his blood to our sins fully. And after you have saved us, and we continue in sin, continue to struggle with our sins, and we ask forgiveness, you forgive them all.
Your forgiveness is complete. Your grace abundant. Your love is greater than we can fully understand.
Because you provide forgiveness for us through Christ, we can have assurance that our forgiveness is complete. Because you set the terms of our forgiveness, we know that our forgiveness is sufficient.
For those you love, for those you forgive, there is now peace and freedom. For those you love, there is confidence in the day of judgement. For those you love, there is no longer any fear of your punishment. For those you love, there is joy even in this life, joy even in our struggles with sin, because we know you and the sufficiency of your forgiveness.
You are truly and fully the Lord of life and the Lord of heaven and the Lord of all.
Amen.