A reflection on Psalm 131: A Song of Ascents of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. As a "Psalm of ascents," this was likely a Psalm that was su...

Read during worship in the Lord's Day at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church 8/20/17 Based upon Galatians 5:16-25 with promise of forgiveness in Acts 10:43 Almighty God, heavenly Father, we come before you confessing that we have too often gratified the desires of our sinful nature and have not borne the fruit of your Spirit as we ought. We are deeply sorry and we humbly ...

Confession Based upon Isaiah 6:O Lord Most High, You are holy and we are unholy, utterly unworthy of coming into your presence. We have unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips; and apart from Christ, we are ruined. O Lord, send forth your great mercy once again: cleanse our lips and take our guilt away through the merits of your dear Son, whose death washes aw...

Based upon Psalm 2 Our Father in heaven, we confess that we have too often sided with the rulers of this world and stood as the kings of our own hearts against the cause of Christ in our lives. And yet we give thanks that You have installed Your Son, Jesus, as the head of the church and pray that He would subdue us more and more to his loving rule. Help us by your Holy Sp...

Confession based upon Philippians 2:1-13; Matt. 6:31-33 Heavenly Father, we confess that we have often acted out of selfish ambition in our lives. We have not considered others more significant than ourselves, but instead, we have sought to put our own desires and ambitions first. When given opportunities to look to the interests of others, we have asked "What's in it for...

Confession and Assurance based upon Philippians 3:7-11; 4:10-13, 19-20 Almighty God, we confess that we have often valued the things of this life more than the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Instead of suffering loss for His sake, we have pursued the things which we desire- even good things- at the cost of obedience and faithfulness to You. Instead of ...

This comes from The Banner of Truth Magazine- I don't recall which one. This is really good and maybe a copy should be kept in our Bibles.OUR POSTURE BEFORE THE WORD OF GODTom Lyon 1. IF I FIND SOMETHING WITH WHICH I CANNOT AGREE, I AM WRONG.'Subjection to God's will is not the destruction of man's voluntariness,but if it were, he would be obligated to come under it.For G...

Confession and Assurance based upon Romans 1 and 5: Our great and everlasting God, Whose eternal power and divine nature have been seen through the things You have made; we acknowledge that we are without excuse. For although we have known You, we have not honored You as God nor given You thanks as we should, but we have become futile in our thinking; and our senseless mi...

Confession of Faith from Lamentations 3:21-25 When affliction comes, what can we "call to mind and therefore have hope"? The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, t...

From Psalm 143 Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy!In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done;I ponder the work of your hands.I stretch out my hands to you;my soul thirsts for you like a parch...

Had you noticed that your Bible doesn't have a John 5:4 in it? Go ahead, look it up. There is verse 3 and then verse 5. What happened to verse 4? It is not included in most modern translations. Why is that? Is it a big coverup that has something to do with the DaVinci Code and we need Tom Hanks to come figure out what it is the church has been hiding all these years? No,...

After nearly two decades of overseeing the Lord's table, I came to embrace the belief that the best practice of the ordinance is by following what is called "closed communion." This is not to say that I am not able to practice communion with those who do not share my convictions. I am willing to submit to the authority of the elders who rule over their church and practice ...