Matthew 16
Pastor Lawrence

Prayer of Thanksgiving: Lord, we are truly blessed to understand and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to us, but only our Father who is in heaven. And we give you thanks that Christ suffered, was killed by the elders and chief priests, and was raised again on the third day for our justification that we might walk in newness of life.

Prayer of Confession: Since Christ, our Passover Lamb has been crucified for us, we have been called to cleanse out the old leaven that we might be a new lump (1 Cor 5.7), and we have been warned by Christ to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees particularly. So, Father, we confess our worldly ways and our secular mindset, setting our minds on the things of man rather than on the things of God, seeking to rebuke the ways of Christ rather than listening to Christ’s rebukes, and hindering the work of Christ rather than working under Christ’s command. Sadly, we are so good at interpreting worldly things but so slow in understanding the things of God. Our faith is so small. We still worry about our daily provisions rather than asking you to give us our daily bread. We still worry about our future rather than entrusting ourselves to the God who created us and all things. For these matters and for many more we loathe ourselves and beg your forgiveness.

Prayer of Sanctification: May we hear afresh your call this morning to come and follow Christ. O Holy Spirit, move within our hearts to receive the Word of God, to deny ourselves, to deny our pride, our way, and our will, in order to take up the cross of Christ and to die to this world, and to lose our lives for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. Lord, on this day may we not seek the meager profits of this passing world but the outstanding riches of the kingdom of heaven, fully believing that on the final day we will be rewarded according to what we have done for Christ’s kingdom.
Prayers for the Church: Lord, this evil and adulterous generation is continually looking for signs of God’s presence on earth. May the Body of Christ today show forth the reality of the living Christ here on earth. May you bless your Church with grace and power that the gates of hell might not prevail against her. Oh, Lord, bless the worship, the government and discipline of your holy church this day that what she binds on earth might be bound in heaven and what she looses on earth might be loosed in heaven. May your church be strengthened with peace and purity maintaining its confession in Jesus Christ and may she now go out into all the world telling everyone that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God our Father.