People: Oh God, whose name is great in all the earth, You have been good and gracious to give us Your name and for making Yourself known through your titles, qualities, regulations, word, and works. Y...
1 John 3:18, Mark 10:43-45, Colossians 3:12-14, 1 Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13
One of the most powerful expressions of humble, servant-like caring for others is found in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce , in the character of Sarah Smith of Golders Green. Her quiet life of love tra...
Great and loving God, we know that one day all peoples will worship you on your mountain. We struggle to live into that reality. We turn inward, thinking mostly of ourselves rather than giving you glo...
2 Samuel 12:13-14 , Isaiah 1:18 , 1 John 1:8-9, Luke 18:9-14, Acts 2:38, Psalm 96:1
Pastor: Church, we are Easter people living in resurrection victory. Along with the Psalmist, we worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. We declare His glory in the midst of His people. We p...
Questions on the Road When we encounter today’s text, Jesus and the disciples continue to make their way from Capernaum to Jerusalem. According to Google Maps (the most trusted first century map appl...
Lord, we confess that we are tempted to be relevant, to be popular, and to be powerful. In our pride, we seek to be recognized as great. Humble us and remind us that we are your beloved children, who ...
Leader: How good it is to sing praises to our God! People: Great are You, Lord and mighty in power. You understand everything about each one of us. You heal the brokenhearted and bind up our wounds....
Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in h...
Prayer of Adoration Great God our Father: You are good and You are strong. You are faithful and true, and You won’t tempt or lie to us. In a world that appeals to our sinful cravings and dominated b...
The apostle Paul said, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on thin...
Introduction Only John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus washed his disciple’s feet during his last meal with them. The other texts for this day remember the Passover and the context it sets for Jesus’s w...
Pastor: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Pastor: Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; People: his greatness no one c...
Great and gracious God, we have run after things and others instead of coming home to You. We have lived as though we were the centers of our universe. We have avoided the harder issues in life so o...
Genesis 18:1-33, Psalm 70:1, 4, Hebrews 4:16, John 15:13
Leader: Hasten, O God, to save me; People: come quickly, Lord, to help me. Psalm 70:1 Leader: may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; People: may those who long...
All: Oh Lord, my Light, my Life, my Joy, my Peace—with you I find refuge from danger, shelter from the storms in my life. You are good and you do good. You are the Strength of my life, and I look to y...
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Fo...
Pastor: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another. People: Gracious God, have mercy on us. In Your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things done and...
Thus the incomparable George Herbert writes of our glorification in his poem “The Star”: Bright spark, shot from a brighter place, Where beams surround my Saviour’s face, Canst thou be any where ...
Leader: Come, let us enter into God's presence. People: Lord, I am here, waiting. Let me hear Your voice; for I am poor, and needy in spirit. Be gracious to me, gladden the soul of Your servant,...
Leader: Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works...
Luke 6:36, Ephesians 4:32, Matthew 18:23-35, Micah 7:18-19, Psalm 51:1-2, Titus 3:4-5, Zechariah 7:9
Gracious God, you have given us great mercy through Jesus, yet we have withheld mercy from others. Our hearts have been hardened by the world and our sin. Would you soften our hearts? And give us a de...
1 John 4:7-8, Exodus 34:6-7, Deuteronomy 7:9, Ruth 1:16-17 , John 4:7-8, 19, John 13:34-35 , Psalm 89:1-2
Pastor: I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; People: I will make His faithfulness known through all generations. Pastor: Dear friends, we should love each other, People...
Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord our God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; We will sing to the Lord, all our lives, W...
Lord, You are a great and holy God, and you have asked us to pursue you as the object of our worship and devotion. But Lord, we have fallen short of what you ask of us, we are a sinful people. We have...
Pastor: Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! All: For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. Pastor: Sing praises to God, sing pra...
Psalm 70:4, which is a prayer for deliverance, says this: “May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May those who love your salvation say evermore, 'God is great!'” Sisters and brother...
To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.
Let us pray to God the Father, God the Son, And to God the Holy Spirit, Whose infinite greatness Enfolds the whole world, In Persons three and one, In essence simple and triune, Suspending the earth a...
Context If you're jumping into Luke partway through the story, it helps to do one of those "Previously On..." clips you see at the beginning of an episode in a TV series. The most impo...