Dear Church Family,

Today I have a presbytery meeting, and though I no longer serve as the Stated Clerk, I do attend meetings. With the press of sermon preparation in a busy week, I pass on to you a prayer by Ed Stetzer, who directs the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. We can each echo these words of praise and petition to our Heavenly Father.

“Father, I pray for God’s people on this call, in this conversation, people who will watch later or who are watching and sharing right now. Father I pray that they would be bearers of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

“Father. We come before you today and we acknowledge your Holiness and goodness. We acknowledge that the thing we can do that is most important, more than anything else, is not to flip on the news and to see where the electoral counts are, not to see where the votes are coming in.

“Right now, the most important thing we can do is to say ‘Holy, Holy Holy.’

“All of you pray with me out loud, the three-part ‘Holy.’ Let’s say it out loud together.

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole Earth is full of your glory. In places where the vote has been counted-- full of your glory. In the places where votes have not been counted--full of your glory. In places where people are afraid—full of your glory. A place where people are excited--full of your glory.

“Lord, we know this truth literally shook the thresholds in Isaiah 6 and it shakes the thresholds of our world today…

“We pray for our nation. That you might forgive us when we haven’t valued the unborn. We pray as a nation that you would forgive us when we haven’t cared about racial injustice. We pray that you would forgive us for when we have celebrated the wrong and pushed aside the good.”

“Father, forgive us for relying on politics for what only Jesus can do.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin