Church bulletin:
Our heavenly Father, thank you for 2022 – for Your continual provision and protection. We wanted for nothing. You ministered day by day, spiritually and physically. What was true of last year has been true throughout the years. Like the psalmist we can say “O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.” You were with us in the night seasons when weariness and discouragement intruded. You upheld us by the Word of Your power, You strengthened flagging arms, You renewed hearts and minds, You set our feet upon a rock. Such is the manifold greatness of Your blessings, we can neither number nor remember them all.
Almighty God, forgive us for dullness of heart. All too often we took for granted your love and grace. All too often we found delight in the things around us over You. Forgive us when in weakness we yielded to the flesh rather than to Your will. Forgive us for those times when we were judgmental, ill-disciplined, sensual, selfish, unrepentant. Thank you, O God, for the full and free forgiveness that is ours through Jesus Christ.
A new year is here, another year allotted to us from before the foundation of the world.
Lord, help us to treat every day as a gift and a means of grace. Our days are quickly passing and we want to use them well. Deliver us from distractions, contentions, delusions, worry, self-pity, fear, and idol making.
Lord, bless us with Your presence and enable us to rest in Christ. Our hearts so often wonder, please do not leave us to ourselves. Draw near in Your Word and in prayer and in song and in the fellowship of the saints.
Lord, cause us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. May the things of this world grow increasingly dim and the glory of Christ increasingly bright. Let it be our great desire to know Him and to be conformed to His image.
Lord, draw us daily into repentance. When we fall pick us up and point us to Your Son in His life, death, and resurrection; His continual and effective intercession at Your right hand for us. Restore us when we are broken.
Lord, grant to us a burden for the lost. How easily do we forget the plight of those living in darkness. Cause the light of the gospel to shine through us, give us a word to share, help us to be intercessors.
Lord, enlarge our hearts to serve. Just as Christ came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many, may we also walk in humility, compassion, generosity, and self-sacrifice.
Lord, enable us to be content and to find pleasure in the simple things of life – a drink, a meal, a friend, a book, a walk, a chat, a song. Help us to remember the richness we have in Christ and that all else is a bonus.
Lord, may we bring glory and honour to your name in 2023. AMEN