Welcome to all of you tonight as we gather together to offer praise and prayer and worship to our God. Please stand for our call to prayer. Our God says, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. This is the confidence we have in approaching God. That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of Him. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace, mercy, and peace be yours in abundance from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And we are here tonight, beloved, to spend a good portion of time in prayer. Before we do so, I'd like to draw your attention to James 5, verse 16b, the last phrase of verse 16 in a particular way, and just reading verses 13 through 18 to get a bit of the context as we meditate for a few moments on these words. James 5, beginning our reading of verse 13, through 18. Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops. Oh, beloved, here we are gathered again tonight for what we call our annual day of prayer. And in some ways, for myself, an annual day of prayer has always seemed a little bit strange. Not because I'm not used to it. I can't remember not attending one my whole life long. And not that it's a bad thing at all. But I have wondered many times, why do we only do this one time in the year? What good is that? Yet in truth, it is good and profitable. It is good and profitable to come together as this one particular night is set aside for prayer that represents the lives of prayer every day for believers, And it's to represent the life of prayer every Lord's Day for the congregation of God's people. And it is good and profitable to be reminded in a particular way of our dependence on our sovereign God and of the glory and the importance of this privilege that we call prayer. And as well, it is good and profitable to be reminded, as this text teaches us, of effective prayer. You see, God does not simply command us to pray because He can. Because He is authoritative and we must do what He says. And of course, that's true. But you see, God uses prayer and He has a purpose for the prayers of His people. Again, this text or this phrase in this verse says, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Now, that particular phrase has intrigued me personally for quite some time ever since I read it as part of my grandfather's testimony. A written testimony that I found in which he expressed gratitude for those who prayed for him in the midst of a difficult time in his life. In which he expressed gratitude for those who prayed for his salvation. And indeed, that is the context here, isn't it? praying on behalf of others, praying for each other. That is the context. Yet now we also need to understand that there are different interpretations of the Greek here, different translations. Our NIV simply says the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. The English Standard Version, the ESV, says the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And then the New King James, which follows the authorized version from years ago, which my grandfather followed, says, The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And I trust you begin to see already that the question here has to do with the word that is translated in the NIV as effective, from which we also get our words energy or work. So it refers to either one of two things. Either it refers to the praying itself, the character of that praying, that it is effective or that it is working prayer, or it is referring to the result of prayer, that that result is powerful and effective. Now, among biblical scholars, there is still no agreement. I take the side of those who say that it refers to the praying itself, the character of that prayer. From the example of Elijah, which James gives us when he says that Elijah prayed earnestly. He prayed earnestly. Literally, it says, in his praying, he prayed. And that means, I believe, that he did not just say the words. But his heart was in it. His was energetic prayer. It was working prayer. He was engaged in prayer. We'll talk more about that in just a moment. But either way, I believe that James is teaching us about effective prayer, that first of all, it belongs to all believers. And secondly, that it is empowered by the one believed in. First of all, it belongs to all believers. He says, the prayer of a righteous man. Now, right from the beginning, we can see very simply that it does not belong to unbelievers. God does not hear the ungodly. Access to God is open only to those who have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, to those who are believers only. But now James also is not talking about a certain category of believers. For example, he is not saying that the prayer of a special chosen few, for example, those who have the special ability to pray. Those who are able to say all the right words. Those who sound so godly in their prayers. Because we all know of those, and even many among us, whose prayers are so wonderful. That even as we hear them pray, we are in their presence. We are mesmerized sometimes by their golden tongue in prayer, as it were. That's not what James is talking about. And neither is James talking about saints. Not in the sense that we think of saints as being all believers, but in the sense that many flippantly use the word saint to mean those who seem to have their Christian life and their Christian walk with the Lord in such good order. Those who seem to be a little more faithful than many others. James is not talking about a particular category of believer, but he simply says the prayer of the righteous. And he's talking about any and every righteous person, even one who stutters. Even one who uses faulty grammar. Even one who at times doesn't know what to say. You see, the righteous here simply means those who are right with God. Those who are justified in God's sight by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. He's talking about those whom God has adopted as his very own children for the sake of Jesus Christ. And therefore, when James says the prayer of the righteous man, he is talking about any and every true Christian, whether young or old, whether mature in the faith or whether brand new in the faith. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord in faith. And this is what James says here about their prayer. He gives us the example of Elijah again. Now, Elijah to us is a great man. When we think of the stories in the Old Testament of Elijah, we cannot help but to think of the fact that he was a great man. But James says he was a man like us. And I believe what he is talking about there in the context of prayer is that he was simply a believer. Yet what he says about Elijah is that he prayed earnestly. He really prayed. He worked in prayer. He prayed energetically. He poured His heart and His soul and His mind into prayer. He put it into prayer. He was engaged in prayer. And His prayers were effective, not because of Him and all these things we just said about Him, but His prayers were effective because in the second place, they were empowered by the one believed in. And very simply, that's God. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our God alone who empowers prayer. It is Him alone who enables believers to effectively pray. To offer true and pleasing prayer because by the grace of God, they offer prayer by faith. By faith, understanding who God is. Understanding that He is the Creator of the universe and all things therein. That He is the God of providence and the One who governs all that He has made. that He is our Father through Jesus Christ. And therefore, He is the one to whom we owe our very being. Understanding that He is the only one who hears and answers and who is able to hear and answer prayer. Understanding that He is the one whose will, whose plan is perfect. He is the one who enables believers to effectively pray by faith, understanding who God is, but also delighting in God's will. And that God's will alone be done. And God's people then will ask in that way, only according to God's will. The righteous will not ask God to go against His nature. They will not ask Him to go against His will. They will not pray in a way that is opposite of the way that our Lord taught us. But they will pray for God's glory and honor. They will pray that God will bring many to see the truth of Him and believe in Him, even if it would be through difficult and troubling circumstances. Yes, God's people will even pray that God's will be done if it takes troubling and difficult circumstances to accomplish that will. Elijah prayed, first of all, that the rain stop. He enables his people to effectively pray, understanding who he is, Delighting in God's will, but also recognizing past answers. See, God's people, by faith, they see by faith God's answers to prayer in the past. And those answers give assurance that He will be faithful to answer all the faithful prayers of the righteous. And again, we can look to Elijah as our example. Elijah prayed for rain with assurance because of God's answered prayers in the past to stop the rain to begin with. And as well to send the fire of heaven to lick up that saturated altar on Mount Carmel. He knew what God's will would be and he had the assurance that God would answer prayer. But not only is it God who enables believers to effectively pray. But it is he then who makes prayer effective. You see, beloved, the believer's prayers are often the means that God chooses to use to fulfill his plan, to carry out his plan, whether it be for healing or comfort or peace or to put a roadblock before the work of Satan or for God's kingdom to come. The prayers of God's people are often the means that He chooses to use to carry out His plan. But of course, it doesn't mean that He always answers us the way we want. He doesn't always answer us according to our desires. But even His negative answer, even when He says no, He uses that effectively and powerfully to draw us closer to Himself, to strengthen our faith, and to recognize that His will, that His way is perfect along the way, and that it is perfect in the end. And ultimately, beloved, He makes the prayers of the righteous powerful and effective in blessing our true fellowship with Him. Now, people of God, prayer may seem mysterious to us in many ways. This precious gift that has been given to us by God, by which we communicate with Him, by which He allows us to come into His very presence, It may seem mysterious to us wondering, how does it really work? What place does it really have? But in many ways, those things are not to be our concern. Because as I heard recently, when we truly understand who God is, when we truly understand His magnificence, His majesty, His power, His mercy, His grace, That He is our Savior through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we truly understand that about Him, and when we truly understand that we come into, He brings us into His very presence in prayer. Think about that. We are brought into His throne room in heaven in prayer. When we truly understand who He is and where He ushers us, then the problem won't be praying. Our problem will not be finding the time to pray. It will not be finding the desire to pray. It will not be finding the words to pray. That won't be our problem. But our problem, when we understand these things, will be keeping from prayer. Because we won't want to leave. We won't want to leave His glorious presence. It is His majesty and His glory, beloved, but that causes us to take great care in prayer. So that we do not pray flippantly, simply saying words, going through the motions, but so that God's people pray humbly. So that we pray humbly by faith as those who are saved by Jesus Christ. Praying humbly because of His promises to us in Jesus Christ alone. And even when we do not pray in a way that is pleasing to God, having the confidence that even that sin is forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, true prayer is not a vain exercise, nor is it simply a good idea just in case it might help. But prayer has been given to the righteous by God. It is blessed by God. It is heard by God. It is answered by God. And it is He who makes the prayer of a righteous man powerful and effective. It is His Holy Spirit who helps us to offer effective and fervent prayer. And, beloved, He uses the true and faithful prayers of His people to accomplish His will. And therefore, tonight, with humble confidence, as His people who are righteous in His sight for Jesus' sake, Let's prepare to enter into His very presence in prayer. By our common faith, we are joined together as one. That is our status, that is our bearing before our God. Let us join our minds together with the words of those who pray tonight, that we would together lift our desires before the Lord, our Maker, and let us pray. Our Father who art in heaven, may your name be exalted, even as you are exalted in your being. You alone, O Lord, are eternal from everlasting to everlasting. You are God. You alone are the Holy One, exalted above all that you've made. You alone, O God, are changeless, the same yesterday, today, and forever. You alone are King of kings and Lord of lords, sovereign over all things. You know all things and are all wise. Therefore your thoughts are not as our thoughts, neither are your ways our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are your ways higher than our ways, and your thoughts than our thoughts. Your goodness is boundless and you cause the sun to rise and the rain to fall and the righteous and the wicked alike as you wait for and you work for the fullness of your people to be brought in. You alone are righteous, right in all your ways and free from all evil. Your justice is sure and perfect as you proved in the judgment against sin at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the righteous. Therefore, we praise you and thank you that you have chosen to reveal yourself in these ways and countless others to your people. Not only by what you have made and sustained and governed by the word of your power, but more importantly, in the incarnation of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, of whom the prophets spoke and the apostles testify. Lord, we praise you for the law that you have revealed in your word. By which you reveal your holiness, even as you set before us the standard by which you measure your image bearers. Its perfection reveals our flaws. Its holiness reveals our sinfulness. And we thank you, Heavenly Father, that by your Holy Spirit you have opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear your law. so that we might rightly know our sin and our misery and the gospel of Jesus Christ that we might cast ourselves upon him and be saved. We thank you, Father, for the redemption that is ours through faith in Christ, redemption accomplished through his perfect obedience to the law, even unto death on the cross where he became sin for us, So that through faith in him we might become the righteousness of God. That we might be in righteousness before you this evening. We thank you for the certain promise that through faith in him there is now no condemnation for all who believe. And Lord we are so grateful for the deep rooted assurance that you create in us by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. By which we can be certain that our sins are forever forgiven. And that we already enjoy eternal life and right standing with you in Christ. And yet, Lord, our consciences still accuse us. For there remains in us the weakness of our flesh. Sin still clings to us so that we are easily entangled and tripped up. Holy in Christ, we struggle each day to put on the holiness to which we have been called. We thank you for not leaving us alone to ourselves and for pouring out upon the church of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, who even now works within us to more and more want to and be able to do that which is pleasing to you. In his power, we are motivated and enabled to put off our old man that is so comfortable with sin and to put on the new man who is being conformed to the image of Christ. We ask you, therefore, O Lord, to continually shine the light of your holiness in our hearts to expose the thoughts, desires, and attitudes that displease you. Forgive our self-serving and self-worshipping ways. Forgive our lack of love, our lack of mercy, our preoccupation with pleasure and worldly gain, and our lack of reverence for you and respect for our neighbors who all bear your image. forgive us for our quickness to set fire with our tongues to provoke enmity and to destroy relationships forgive us for not speaking so as to show your love and your truth to others for tearing down rather than building up create in us clean hearts oh God renew a right spirit within us day by day by your spirit make us mindful of how we speak and act in this world not only toward brothers and sisters in Christ but also toward those who remain your enemies. Enliven us, Lord, to work out from our salvation with fear and trembling to live such godly lives among unbelievers in this world that they would see Christ in us and come to praise your name on the day you visit us. Enable us, Lord, even now and daily to confess our sins before your throne. Keep us from temptation, and by your grace deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Now will you please join with me in prayer for our families, for our church, and for our schools. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, on this special prayer day, we come to you with our petitions for our families, our church, and school. We thank you for our families and pray that you will provide for them both spiritually and materially. Encourage the fathers to provide good leadership for the family, to establish an effective daily routine of family worship by reading scripture and prayer. Bless our fathers and mothers as they work to meet the needs of the family, of the needs of school and church. Bless the mothers in their homes as they tell their little children about Jesus and teach them simple songs that they remember for the rest of their lives. Give our mothers patience as they care for little children 24 hours a day. Grant that their children may learn from their parents and grandparents that you, our God, comes first, so that when our children start their own families, they in turn may pass the love of God on to the next generations. Prepare our children in home and Christian schools for a life of service to you. Many young people have the opportunity to go to Christian colleges. Others must join the workforce right out of high school, and we pray that they may receive the strength to cope with the special challenges they have. We also pray for those of us who are single or have lost their spouse. Help them to maintain a good spiritual routine and enable them to provide for their daily needs. Lord, be a constant companion to those who are lonely and help us all to remember the widows and fatherless. We thank you for our local church, for our pastors, elders, and deacons, teachers, and many others who work hard at the many activities of our congregation. We pray that you will enable and sustain each one of them. Grant that our pastors may proclaim your word without hesitation and that they may be the first beneficiary of the study of your word. Enable our elders to oversee and support our pastors and to teach and visit the members of the congregation. To rule the church as humble servants with love and patience. Help the deacons, Lord, to be good stewards of the gifts of God's people. To be generous to those who are in need and to visit widows and fatherless. Bless our teachers as they instruct our youth in catechism and Sunday school. We pray for the other organizations such as Cadets, Calvinettes, Coffee Break, Project Phillip, and others. Grant that each one of them may add to the life of the church and be a blessing in the community. Thank you, Lord, for the people serving on a dozen committees. Give them the strength and wisdom to advance the cause of your kingdom by caring for the church facilities and programs. We thank you for our URC federation and pray that we as a church may have a positive influence in that federation. Dear Lord, many of our children have the privilege of attending Christian school, and we thank you for that. You have provided godly teachers, and we pray that they will teach our children and grandchildren that Christ rules every area of our lives and that we belong to him. Grant our teachers the gift to show our children that you are the creator and sustainer of all things, that you have put all things in order and have given us the ability to discover your marvelous creation. As our teachers prepare their lessons, give them the strength to present their lessons to the students so that your name may be honored at all times. As our children graduate from high school and strike out on their own, grant that they may remember what they have been taught at home, in church, in school. As some pursuing a trade, help them to be a Christian carpenter, or a farmer, or a machinist, or a truck driver, or whatever that trade or profession might be. Will you bless them in that endeavor? Currently, O Lord, our school goes through a difficult financial time. We pray that sufficient resources may become available to sustain our Christian education. Bless our school board, we pray, as they search for solutions. Remember our institutions of higher education, the Christian colleges, and our seminaries. We thank you for young men that are preparing for the ministry and ask that you will bless them in the study. Help us all, Lord, to use our minds, young and old, to study your word and live for you. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we come to you this evening and we pray for comfort and healing in times of distress and sickness. O Lord, you hold us in your loving hands. Father, you know our circumstances, you know we are flesh, you know when we are in pain, when we tremble. Lord, your ways are much wiser than our thoughts. Your ways are sometimes hidden to us. Lord, our minds are small. Help us to trust in your holy character and not in our limited sight. All wisdom is found in you. Lord, our understanding is lacking. We cannot trust our judgment. But Lord, we know your ways are holy, good, and faithful. You are from everlasting. Lord, send your spirit into our lives that we may slow down and think about your great love that you show to us, your children. Help us not to panic, but to wait with an expectant attitude for your faithfulness and blessing. Father, you know the future. We know you have set limits on our trials. Lord, humble us. Break our wills that we may submit to your will. As the rain softens the soil, make your spirit soften our hearts. In this world, there is nothing we need but you. Have mercy on us. Teach us to place no confidence in men's wisdom or medicine, only in your abiding love. We see your great love when you sent Jesus Christ, your perfect son, into the world to die on the cross. His resurrection, ascension into heaven, and that He is now preparing a place for us. We thank You for Your grace to us that we can have faith in Jesus Christ who has saved us from all our sins. We praise Your name. Father, Your ways have been established in the past, recorded in Your holy word. We see your plans in history. God, we know you will never change. We know that your plans will lead to the salvation of your people. Lord, teach us that our peace and joy do not depend on our circumstances. Our peace and joy are found only in you. Strengthen our spiritual muscles in our trials. Lord, make us more and more convinced that we are not our own, but belong body and soul and life and death to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Because we belong to him, Jesus makes us willing and ready to serve him, even in trials and sickness. In Jesus' name we pray this. Amen. Please join me as we pray for our nation. Our Heavenly Father, Lord God, we praise you for your sovereign control over all the nations of this world. And we thank you for the many blessings you have bestowed on our nation. We confess that we Americans often get filled with pride and take for granted the work of your hands on behalf of this country where we are so privileged to live. You have given us leaders, and we pray for those leaders, those who have placed an authority over us and serve at your pleasure. Give our president, President Bush, wisdom, courage, and strength of faith to carry out his duties. Be with other officials, too, at the national, state, and local levels. Give them honesty and a willingness to serve, whether they acknowledge you or not, so that our freedoms may be preserved and that we can live securely. Grant especially that we may continue to have the freedom to worship and to spread the gospel freely and without persecution. Father, we pray for those who protect us daily, those who work in law enforcement and firefighters and others that take care of us. Keep them safe, we pray. And we also uphold in prayer all who serve our country and the military, those who protect our freedom and defend our nation. Keep them safe and protected wherever in this world they may be. We thank you, Lord, too, for the abundance with which you have blessed us in America. We are grateful for the rain, for the sunshine, and for all that you do that causes our fields and our farms to be productive. If it be your will, give us plentiful harvest again this year, as well as much and varied industry. And so in that way, you can meet our needs both as individuals and as a nation. We marvel at the many different means you use to provide for your people. May we never fail to acknowledge and to thank you for your wonderful provision. Finally, Father, we ask that you would turn the hearts of the people of this nation, of America, That we would, as a nation, humble ourselves, pray, and seek your face. So that as a nation, we would hear the cries of the unborn and put an end to the horror of abortion. So that as a nation, we would turn from the immorality and idolatry that threatens our culture. And once again, as a nation, as Americans, call on your name. We pray these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. Join me as we now pray for Christian ministry and mission. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, as we have confessed and prayed to you, we are a suffering people and we have many sins and many trials. And Father, sometimes we wonder why you do not just return now and why you do not come back and take us to be with you when you judge the living and the dead. But Father, we know that the reason You have not come back, the reason You call us to wait a little longer is because of Your patience. And as Peter tells us, because You do not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and life. And Father, we praise You that You are a merciful and loving God who holds back Your judgment so that more and more people might be saved and know You. And Father, we long to see people saved. We long to see family members and friends and neighbors saved. We long to see them turn and worship You and look to Your Son for salvation. So Father, we pray. We pray for our church that You would make it a place where the gospel goes forward. We pray for our pastors, Pastor Voss and Pastor Donovan. Would they continue as they have been to be faithful, preaching the gospel week after week. And would we encourage them in this? Father, we confess that often we are a burden rather than a blessing, but we pray that you'd encourage them and strengthen them and bless their preaching so that people would be saved through them. Father, to the same end, we pray again for our seminaries, and we pray for those studying there and for those training there. We think of Westminster Seminary and Mid-America Seminary. We think of those from our congregation who are helping to teach, Dr. Godfrey, Dr. Vinny. And we think of those from the congregation who are in training and those who maybe in the future will. Give them all strength, Lord, and give them a heart that above all things, above all things, looks to Christ and longs to proclaim Christ to needy sinners. And Father, we pray that you would raise more people up to preach your gospel both here, at home, and abroad. And Father, we pray that as individuals and families and as a church, we would have the great desire to speak the truth of Jesus Christ. That we would not be apathetic. That we would not just not care about those around us who are heading for your judgment. But Father, that we would humble ourselves and get rid of our pride and speak to them about your gospel. And Father, we confess that we are weak in this. And often all we see is our weakness and we think that we can't speak. But we know that Your power is made perfect in weakness. And we pray that You would help us to see that. And help us to see that it is Your Spirit that works through us. And help Him to make us strong, Father. That we would have wisdom in the words to say. And that we would be faithful witnesses for You. Always ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. We pray specifically for the missions and ministries that we as a church support. We think of Reverend Bill Green in Costa Rica. Father, we pray for him and for all those working with him in the work of church planting, in the work of the Christian school there. Father, do not let them be lonely. Do not let them think that they are alone in that foreign place, but help them to see that you work through them and give them success. And would many believe the gospel through them. We pray for the work of Miami International Seminary, and we think especially of Reverend Neil Hageman, Reverend Eric Pennings, and Reverend Alan Vanderpoel. And Father, the work they are doing is so important to train preachers to go back to their countries and preach the gospel in foreign lands. And Father, we pray again that You would help them to raise up pastors that want to preach Christ and Him crucified, and that You would use them, and that You would draw many, many people to Yourself through their efforts we pray for all the various mission works going on in tijuana and we think especially of our own young people's work there in the homes for mexico project and when they go there father we pray that they would not just do material things for the people but that they would be a testimony to you and to your grace and that there too churches would be founded of people who worship you we pray for the reformed church in nigeria father we thank you that you've sent someone from there Matthew Changi to be a testimony to us of your grace there and we pray that you would bless his education here and bring him back there and bless the church there father and in a place where there is much conflict and there are many people who serve other gods we pray that you would draw them to to yourself we pray for Dr. Elaine Tan and the work that she has done through the Rafiki Foundation and father while she is back here in America we pray that you would continue to prosper the work that she's already done and be with the poor there in Africa father we know that you care for the poor and you care for the brokenhearted and you care for the fatherless and so we pray that not only would you supply the needs there of those people for whom she has worked but we pray that you would show them the gospel of Jesus Christ father we also pray for the local missions we support we think of the mission Vida Nueva and the work of Reverend Juan Arjona here in Escondido father there are so many people in this city that we have trouble for various cultural reasons to reach out to but we pray that you would bless his work and that you would use our gifts toward him to even cause revival among the Spanish-speaking peoples here in escondido and would you grow his church and prosper it we pray for the christ you are seeing santee father we thank you for your grace to that church over the past few years and we pray that you would encourage the pastor there reverend brown and help that church to continue growing and continue reaching out to those who have not heard of your grace in christ we pray for the high desert you are seeing apple valley that's been planted father we pray there too that you would work through the pastor that you would work through the preaching and that you would draw people to yourself father there are so many that we could pray for so many people working and so many christians testifying to you and it can be so overwhelming when we see the forces arrayed against us and yet it is not we who work but it is you who works through us and you have said i will build my church and the very gates of hell will not prevail against it so father we pray that we would have confidence in your promise we pray for strength for courage for the words to speak and father we do pray that more and more people in this world more than ever before would turn from their sinful ways would believe the gospel and as a result would abound in thanksgiving and more and more thanksgiving all to your glory for you are the king and you are the savior and you deserve all praise and adoration and father we pray this not because our world deserves any of it but because we know that you love the world so much that you sent your son that whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life and it is in his name and in all that he's earned for us in salvation that we pray. Amen. Beloved, please stand to receive the parting blessing of our God and immediately following the benediction, we will sing the third stanza of number 311. The third stanza of number 311 as our parting song. The people of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all. Amen.