“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, or be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”
I recite it every day when
I get in the car to leave the house. I’ll admit I’m usually thinking of me and
sometimes my family when I recite the prayer, but that’s going to change. I
want it to be a prayer I recite for us… PCC. After all, it is written in the
first person plural… it’s not “me”, it’s “we”. The prayer fits well what I
think we want to be together & what we want to ask God to do for us, in us,
& through us. Let’s break it down into the parts.
“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father…”
We’re all created in the
image of God, & through Christ we all call on the Almighty as “Everlasting
Father”. That, of course, makes us brothers and sisters, family.
“…you have brought us in safety to this new day…”
When all is well with us,
we know who to thank. When one brother or sister rejoices in some unexpected
blessing or some long anticipated blessing, we all rejoice. We are a people
filled with gratitude for our God. We come every Sunday to praise him and give
thanks to the Lord together.
“Preserve us by your mighty power that we may not fall
into sin, or be overcome by adversity…”
Together we face two
adversaries in this life. The first is sin. We gather to confess our sin and
receive forgiveness. We also respond to the gospel by turning away from sin to
walk together righteously before God. We share a desire NOT to sin anymore.
We’re not obsessed with the sins of non-believers. Rather, we are committed to
walking faithfully before God ourselves… together.
The other adversary is
adversity. The world is destined to be renewed. All wrongs will be made right.
Every tear dried, & death will be no more. But not yet. Till Christ returns
we endure adversity of all kinds. The prayer is not some fantasy that we’d
never experience any trouble or hardship or suffering of any kind, but that we
will not be overcome by adversity. So we stand together and share in one
another’s sufferings and adversity, praying for those in chemo and rehab and
looking for a job and trying to keep their family together. By the almighty
power of God we will not be overcome! Faith, hope, and love will endure forever
in us.
“…and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of
your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”
We’re doing more here than
merely surviving, trying to avoid sin & enduring adversity. We have a
God-given, God-ordained mission. We are sent to…· Proclaim the Gospel
· Produce disciples
· Praise God together
So we pray for God’s
direction in fulfilling his purpose in us and through us.
That’s what we’re about
here at Pflugerville Community Church. We share a communal faith that fills us
with gratitude, and ministers to one another as we face temptation, seek
forgiveness, endure adversity, & do the work of God’s mission… proclaiming
Christ, producing disciples, and praising God together.
