Online Church Resources

Welcome

Prayer

In our passage today, we’ll see the power of Jesus to save and create, direct and sustain.  In light of this please use the following suggestions to guide your time of prayer:

• Pray for your friends and family to come to know the love of Jesus.  Pray particularly for those who you doubt will ever come to faith.  Ask God to open their hearts to hear the gospel.  Ask God to change their circumstances so that they become able and eager to hear the gospel.
• Pray for the unity of our church.  Pray that we will be a people who love one another despite all of our diversity.  Pray that we will be eager to get to know people who are different from us but have Christ in common.  Pray for the unity of other local churches in our area.
• Praise God for his sovereignty.  Pray that we would trust God as he ordains and directs the events and moments of our lives.  Pray that God would direct us towards opportunities for fruitful gospel ministry.  
• Pray that God will sustain us as we seek to serve Him faithfully.  Pray that we would embrace and expect suffering for the sake of Jesus.  Pray for Christians who are persecuted around the world; pray that they would trust in God and remain faithful to Him.  Pray that our faithful suffering might be a powerful witness to a watching world.

Sermon

Bible Reading: Acts 16:6-40

Suggested Songs

Welcome

Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, 

We come before you today with nothing to offer but our praise of you and confession of our dependence on you.

You are the God who in love chose us before the foundation of the world to be your people.  You are holy and righteous and good.  You have no need of us and yet you chose and continue to choose to set your love upon us.

Father, please forgive for all the ways in which we build a sense of identity apart from you and apart from who we are in Christ.  Please forgive us for thinking that we can find a greater sense of self in our achievements, relationships or even in sin.

Thank you for the grace that you have lavished upon us.  Thank you for your love for us, for adopting us into your family.  Thank you for giving your Son Jesus who paid for our sin in full.  Thank you for giving us your Spirit to indwell us and empower us.

Lord, we pray that you would give us the strength to comprehend the height, length, breadth and depth of your love for us in Jesus. 

Father, we continue to pray for our world.  We thank you that the cases of COVID-19 are in decline in Australia.  We continue to pray that you would give our leaders wisdom to navigate the challenges of this situation.  We pray for the nations around the world where the situation is far more difficult.  Please, Lord, have mercy on those suffering the most.

We pray that those around us will reflect on the fleeting nature of life and the uncertainty of the things we are prone to trust in.  We thank you that this season has been in many ways a severe mercy, where the idols of our culture have proved to be weak and powerless.  Lord, please cause many in our city to seek you because in you there is life and hope.  Give us a heart for those who don’t know you and give us boldness and wisdom to speak words of life and hope.

Lord, we pray for one another.  We pray that we would be a people who encourage one another to continue to follow and trust in Jesus.  Help us to spur one another on to love and good deeds.  Help us to talk openly and honestly about how we’re going in our walk with you.  Help conversations about faith to become increasingly normal in our relationships.

We thank you for the opportunity to gather today.  Please speak to us by your word.  Please encourage us and challenge.  Please grow us more and more into the likeness of Christ.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus.

Amen

Sermon

Bible Reading (included): Ephesians 1:1-14

Suggested Songs

Welcome

Prayer

Today we begin a short series on Christian identity.  In your groups, ask someone to read through Ephesians 1:1-14.  In light of this passage, spend time praising and thanking God for who He is, how He has saved us and who we are in Christ.  Spend some time confessing the ways in which we build our identity on other things.  Pray for our friends, family and community to come to know the grace that God has lavished upon us.

Sermon

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11 – 6:2

Suggested Songs