A pastoral prayer delivered on August 18, 2024, at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, California.
Our gracious God and Father in heaven, we thank you for sending your Son to us. We thank you for showing us who you are in Jesus: a God of stunning glory and grace. Thank you for setting your love on us. Thank you for rescuing us from the darkness of sin. Thank you for leading us into your light and life.
Father, have mercy on us. We’ve sinned against you in more ways than we can express. We’ve sinned with our thoughts and our words; with our minds and our bodies; in big ways and in small compromises. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Our sins are great. But your mercy in Jesus Christ is greater. Forgive us for his name’s sake.
God our Redeemer, you’ve put Grace Bible Church here in Escondido. You’ve called us to bear witness to the gospel of your Son, with both our words and our deeds. Shape us more and more into a community of praise. Capture our hearts and minds with the wonder of your grace. Let us experience true freedom and true dignity as we bow before you in reverence and awe and in wonder, love, and praise.
Father, make us to be a community of truth. A community built on the true story of Jesus Christ. A community that indwells the gospel story. A community united by the truth of the gospel. A community transformed by the truth of the gospel.
Lord, cause us to be a community that exists for the sake of others. In a world of greed and self-absorption, help us to follow our self-giving Savior. Help us to live for more than ourselves and our tribe. May the riches of grace you’ve lavished on us make us generous. May the love and concern you’ve shown us move us toward our neighbors.
And Lord, mold us into a community of hope. A community marked by unwavering hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A community sustained and upheld by the hope the gospel gives: the hope of a world made new, a world set right, a world in which injustice and sin and death are distant memories, a world pulsing with light and life and glory and grace, forever and ever.
Renew that hope today. Rekindle it, O Lord. Fan it into a brightly burning flame. We long for the day when all things are made new. Until then, Father, banish our fears. Make us bold to praise you and to do your will. And strengthen us to wait for the consummation of your kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryan Wentzel