For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement. - Psalm 51:3-4  

Father, forgive me for my sins.  Today and everyday, let the words of the Psalmist be a reminder to me that it is against You, You only, that I have sinned.  As I consider the sins that I struggle with, it seems to me that they are all rooted in my lack of faith in the reality of Your Gospel.  How quick I am to lean on my own understanding, and my own abilities, and my own strength, when all of these have let me down time and time again.  But You have never let me down, and You have never forsaken me.  How slow I am to confess my sins, despite Your gracious promises, that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Father forgive me for my half-hearted trust in You.  Against You, You only, have I sinned.  Forgive me for all the times I have put more hope in my bank account that in the eternal riches that You have offered to me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned.  Forgive me for all the times I have been angry or impatient with my children, when You have been infinitely patient with me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned.  Forgive me for all the times I have puffed myself up before my brothers and sisters, and my church, knowing full well that You are a God who looks with favor upon the humble and contrite in spirit.  Against You, You only, have I sinned.

Father, it is my prayer that Redeemer would be a place where we as blood-bought sinners can come as we are, confessing our sins to one another, and to You.  Lord, I know that the more we trust in the redemption bought by Your Son Jesus Christ, the more we will not hide our sins, but will be a church of confession, and repentance, and humility, and forgiveness, leaning upon Your great promise, that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.

Amen.

Please be in prayer for the following:

1. Pray that if it is God’s will that we should purchase the building we currently are meeting in that we would see the $50,000 raised to start the purchase process.
2. Pray that we would see God call out 6 people to be sent with our Boston team, and 6 people to be sent with another team to an unreached people group.
3. Pray for the families at Redeemer that are in the process of adopting children, that they would be loved, supported, encouraged and cared for throughout this journey.
4. Pray for revival to break forth in Bellingham, and beyond, all for the glory of God.
5. Pray that we would become a praying church.

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!  Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!  Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgements he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! - 1 Chronicles 16:8-13

Father, I have so much for which to be thankful to You.  I have more to be thankful for than I have words to speak.  Our church has so much for which we are thankful to You.  You have been so gracious to us.  When we stop to ponder the wondrous works that You have done, we are overwhelmed with Your kindness, and Your generosity towards us.  That kindness and that generosity which culminated on a cross over 2000 years ago, when You did not withhold Your Son, Jesus Christ, but gave Him up for us, that we may today be called Your “chosen ones!”.  That kindness and generosity that even today is at work, as we see Your gospel being proclaimed not just from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, but each and everyday by men and women who make up this church, who proclaim Your gospel in their homes, at their jobs, and all over the streets of Bellingham and beyond.  That kindness and that generosity that even today is transforming vessels of wrath into vessels of mercy.  That kindness and that generosity that has called us into adoption as Your sons and daughters.

Gracious Father, let us never cease to celebrate Your deeds among the peoples.  As we see people saved, let us celebrate, and drop to our knees and give thanks to You, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.  Let us never stop saying thank You.  Let those words be the first words to come out of my mouth as I rise in the morning, and my last words as I lay my head down to sleep at night.  Thank You, thank You, thank You.

Amen

These monthly blog posts were inspired by a daily prayer post that is written by Scotty Smith on the Gospel Coalition website at: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/.  I have found them to be an excellent daily reminder for me of the gift that time in prayer is for us, and I encourage you all to read these each and everyday.

I would also like to post some prayer requests for Redeemer Church, as we see God moving greatly in so many ways, and as we celebrate all the evidences of grace.  Please be in prayer for the following:

1. Our facility - we need prayer for wisdom, discernment, and unity as a church in making the decision whether or not to purchase the building we are meeting in.  If we decide to purchase it, we will need to raise around $50,000 for upfront costs.
2. Church planting team members - we are wanting to see at least 6 people for the Boston team and 6 more for an unreached people group to commit to between 1-2 years to planting the Gospel in these locations.
3. More conversion, more baptisms, more church planters raised up, and more multiplication of gospel communities.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. Ps. 63:1-5

God, as I read these words, I am brought low.  I am humbled beneath your power and your glory.  I, like the psalmist, have looked upon you in the sanctuary, and truly there is nothing more beautiful, more captivating, and more awe-inspiring, than a vision of who You are.

God, I have been thinking a lot recently about Your steadfast love, and it astounds me.  I am astounded at the depth of Your love, a love so deep and so wide, that my puny feeble mind can only see a fraction of it.  I am astounded that You would love me with a steadfast love, when my love for You has been anything but steadfast.  I am astounded that YOU, the creator of the universe, would even consider loving ME!  I am astounded that even when my heart is far from You, and I fail You, and I disobey You, You still love me.  There is absolutely nothing more astonishing to me than this.  And then I remember how that love was made manifest ... by the death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:8).  God, today, I thank you with all my heart, for Your steadfast love.

Father, as I go through this day, and I am distracted by the cares and the busyness of this world, I ask that You would give me a thirst for You.  I ask that You would give me a hunger for Your presence.  I ask that you would remind me of Your presence, and that You would bring to my mind, a vision of who You are.  I long for this thirst that the psalmist speaks of.  I want to be so parched, that I will do ANYTHING to be near You, and to drink from the living water that flows from Your Son Jesus.  I want to feast upon You.  Let not a day go by when I do not remember Your steadfast love, and praise You in response to this love, with joyful lips.

Amen.

The bible is filled with descriptions of the attributes of God.  Last month I discussed the importance of using our prayer time to adore Him.  One way to do this is to pray through a list of the attributes of God, both the incommunicable attributes (those which God alone possesses), and the communicable attributes (those which God shares with us).  Although you can likely find slightly different lists in different theology textbooks, we at Redeemer often refer to the list in Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem.  I hope you will print this list out, have it next to your bible, and pray through some or all of these attributes of God, each and every day as you adore Him, who alone is perfect in all His ways (Matthew 5:48).

Incommunicable attributes

1. Independence - Acts 17:24-25
2. Unchangeableness - Psalm 102:25-27
3. Eternity - Psalm 90:2
4. Omnipresence - Jeremiah 23:23-24
5. Unity - Deuteronomy 6:4

Communicable attributes

Attributes describing God’s being

1. Spirituality - John 4:2
2.  Invisibility - John 1:18

Mental attributes

       1. Knowledge (Omniscience) - Job 37:16

2.  Wisdom - Job 12:13

3. Truthfulness (and Faithfulness) - John 17:3

Moral attributes

1. Love - 1 John 4:8
2. Mercy, Grace, Patience - Exodus 34:6
3. Holiness - Psalm 99:9
4. Peace (or order) - 1 Corinthians 14:33
5. Righteousness/Justice - Deuteronomy 32:4
6. Jealousy - Exodus 20:5
7. Wrath - Romans 1:18

Attributes of purpose

1. Will - Ephesians 1:11
2. Freedom - Psalm 115:3
3. Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty) - Luke 1:37

Summary attributes

1. Perfection - Matthew 5:48
2. Blessedness - 1 Timothy 6:15
3. Beauty - Psalm 27:4

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” -Isaiah 55:10-11  

God gave me a very special gift last year.  It came in the mail in late summer.  It was a small booklet, maybe 40 pages long.  It was a booklet that would change the lives of 400,000 people forever.  And I could not read a single word of it.

At the end of 2010, my wife Stephanie was praying, and asking God in what particular ways He wanted us to follow Him in the coming year.  She heard from Him, and believed that He was encouraging her (and I) to give away a greater percentage of our income that we normally do.  She did not share with me what God had told her, but instead asked me to spend some time in prayer over this as well.  God told me the exact same percentage.  When I told Steph what I believed God was calling us to for 2011, her eyes filled with tears of joy.

As part of our giving, and as we prayed about how to steward this money well, I felt called to start investing in bible translation work.  I have always had a great interest in language, and since becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, that interest was transformed into a desire to see God’s word translated for those who do not have it.  I had heard of Wycliffe and the Seed company, and after time on the internet, as well as time in prayer, Stephanie and I decided to begin monthly financial and prayer support for a bible translation project in Mozambique for a people group of 400,000 who had never experienced God’s word in their own tongue.

Through the Seed company, we would get quarterly updates on how our project was doing.  But then, one day in late summer, a package came in the mail.  It was sent to us from the Seed company, and it was the first ever translation of the Gospel of Mark for this particular people group in Mozambique.  It is impossible for me to convey to you the inexpressible joy that opening this package filled me with.  Everyday for weeks afterward, the first thing that I would think about every morning, was this huge population of people, who would now get to read God’s word in their own language.  It was one of the greatest encouragements to my faith I have ever received.

There is a massive need for missionaries to GO to the ends of the earth and share the gospel with people who have never heard It before.  Clearly Jesus has called all of us, as His disciples to now “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).  We believe that many at Redeemer are called to GO, and indeed we have people within our church family, who are preparing even now to GO, to some very far off and very dangerous places, because their hearts are breaking for those who have never heard the Gospel.

Not all of us are called to go to foreign lands, but we can all be a part of the work that these international missionaries are doing by sending them, by praying fervently for them, by encouraging them, and by supporting them financially in this work.  This work comes at a great cost, and without the support of the church body, this work will not get done.  Some of us are called to fulfill the great commission by quitting our jobs, boarding an airplane, and living among a people group in a distant land.  And the rest of us are called to fulfill the great commission by sending them with our time, our prayers and our money.

We will be posting on the City periodic letters from members of Redeemer who have been involved in short term or long term international missions work, or who are preparing to GO.  If you are interested in learning more about how you can support international missions, please contact one of the elders or deacons of Redeemer.  If you are interested in supporting the Seed company, you can learn more at: www.theseedcompany.org/

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. - Psalm 29:1-2

O God, You are holy, and You are glorious, and You are strong.  You are a mighty God, and You are mighty to save.  Forgive me Father for how much time I have spent petitioning You in prayer, and how little time I have spent simply adoring You for who You are.  I could spend eternity praising You, and it would not be enough time.  I could spend eternity, pondering the depth of Your holiness, and it would not be enough.  You alone are worthy to be worshipped and praised and glorified.

Father, I thank you for the gift of scripture, not just because of how much it reveals about You, but because of how much it reveals how we are to approach You, and how we are to pray.  Teach me Lord, how to pray through scripture.  Teach me how to worship You through scripture.  Teach me how to ascribe to You the glory due Your name.  Please create in me a pure heart, a heart that has You at it's center, and a heart that has You as it's focus.

Father, teach me what it means to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever, and to gaze upon Your beauty" (Psalm 27:4)).  Teach us, as a church what it means to adore You in prayer.

Amen.

As we continue to learn what it means to be a praying church, we want to give you some tools to aid you in this, as well as to offer suggestions of specific things you can be praying for.  Many of us (including myself) spend far too much time "asking" God for things, and far too little time praising Him in prayer.  There is nothing wrong with petitioning God, and clearly Jesus Himself, taught us to ask God for "anything" (John 15:7).  However, to be rightly oriented to God, we would be well served by spending significant amounts of our prayer time simply adoring Him.  One pneumonic that may be helpful to you is A.C.T.S.

Adoration - spending time praising and worshipping Him for who He is and what He has accomplished on the cross, praying through His attributes, praying through Psalms of adoration such as Psalm 29.

Confession - confessing our sins to God and repenting before His throne of grace.

Thanksgiving - thanking God for His daily provision and for His immeasurable grace, as evidenced by the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.

Supplication - asking God ..... for anything, as you strive to abide in Him, living in light of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus.

I hope you will spend time this week using ACTS to guide your prayers.  And I hope this week your prayer time is richly blessed by Him.

In the upcoming weeks, the elders of Redeemer would ask that you be in prayer specifically for Good Friday and Easter, that many people who need to hear the Gospel would be invited to Redeemer, and that we would get to witness many salvations and baptisms, as those who hear the Gospel accept it and are saved by Him.

My prayer life is anemic.  This may surprise you.  As an elder of the church, many might assume that my prayer life is robust.  It is not.  It is a land filled with distractions, sinfulness and apathy.  In other words, I suck at prayer.  I am guessing that your prayer life could use some work too.  But God has recently been stirring something in me.  He has reminded me of the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ.  He has reminded me that when Jesus Christ stretched out His arms, and died upon that cross, He not only took upon Himself all of my sin, but He also imparted to me all of His righteousness!  We call this the “double imputation”.  And He has reminded me that this imputing of His righteousness does not only include how I act, or how much (or little) I read my bible, but it extends to my prayer life too!  My standing before God does not rest on the “success” of my prayer life.  It rests only on Christ’s righteousness gifted to me.  And so I am free to come and talk to my Father as I am, broken, weak, sinful .... and forgiven.  And I am free from feeling guilty about my past performance, and my future failures.  And you are free too.  

Jesus taught us much about how to pray, and He never tells us to learn how to pray, and then start praying.  Instead He tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28).  That is ME!  I am weary and tired and distracted and heavy laden, and Jesus invites me to come to Him anyway!  He invites me to come to Him with my distractions, with my apathy, and HE will give me rest.  Jesus instructs us to come to Him as children.  “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16).  Those of you who are blessed to get to spend time with children know how they come to you.  They come messy.  They are often selfish, and distracted.  And they are honest .... brutally honest.  This is how we are invited to start praying!

God has been doing a work in me, and has been stirring in me, through the work of His Holy Spirit, an increasing desire to pray and to grow in prayerfulness.  And as I grow in prayer, I also desire to see our church grow in prayer.  When I look at Redeemer, I see a church filled with men and women who love to read their bibles, and are strong in theology, and I praise God for that.  It seems to me that now we are entering a season when God is calling us to immerse ourselves in prayer.  We need to again be reminded of the incredible privilege it is to communicate with and listen to and speak with our heavenly Father, and we need to be reminded of the incredible power that prayer wields.  We need to remember that entire revivals through which hundreds of thousands of people have been saved, were started by a handful of people, on their knees, crying out for God to save.

We will be posting periodic prayer requests, as well as resources for you to grow in your prayer life.  This week, I am asking all of you who are reading this, to please pray that we would become a praying church.

Father, we love and adore you.  You are entirely worthy of unceasing prayer and worship.  I repent today, that I have spent far too little time pursuing You in prayer, when You spent the life of Your son, pursuing me.  I ask you now, today, Father to send Your Holy Spirit, to fill the saints of Redeemer, to give them hearts and minds that long to speak to you, to listen to you, and to worship you, in the splendor of Your Holiness.  And I ask you today, to make us a praying church.  Amen.