Downloadable outline here – Biblically dealing with Bigotryoutline

Being Up for the New Year romans 13-11-14outline

Heavenly Father, as we begin a New Year we just want to start by praising You for who You are and all that You have done.  LORD, there is so much that is beyond our understanding. You are in so many ways indescribable. Thank You for Your revelation of Yourself in Creation, in history and in the Holy Scriptures. God Your are All-Mighty, nothing is impossible for You, You are All-Seeing, nothing and no one escapes Your sight, and You are All-Present, there is no place that You are not. We worship You in these first few days of the New Year for Your Greatness. LORD, You are also holy and we worship You in the beauty of Your holiness. Thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning, Your grace that is sufficient and Your love that knows no end. We exalt You this day because there is none like You.

As we face this New Year we are keenly aware of our shortcomings. We aren’t what we should be. We aren’t often times who we represent ourselves to be. We sin; we fall short of our own expectations, but more importantly, of Your standards. We transgress, we step outside of the parameters You have set for us for our own good. We do so out of rebellion, we don’t want You to rule over us. LORD, we are a people filled with iniquity, we are broken, we are bent, and we are twisted on the inside. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked.  Thank You that there is forgiveness from You. Thank You that though we have earned through our sin both separation now and forever from You, You in Your Infinite Wisdom and because of Your Matchless Love have rescued us. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to make atonement for our sins; to be the propitiation, the only offering that is satisfactory for our sins, to redeem us, to buy us out from the enslavement of our sins through His death, and to reconcile us to You and to justify, make us right in Your sight, through His resurrection.

Thank You for drawing us into a life changing relationship with Yourself.  Thank you for seeking us out and bringing us to the point where we committed our hearts to You. We have been so imperfect in keeping our commitment to You. Thank You that when we haven’t stayed as close as we should to You, You have brought us back, Thank You that when we have strayed as Your children You have chastened us that we might be partakers of Your holiness. Thank You that when we’ve let go of You that You have always held on to us. Thank You that we are always in Your Grip. We don’t know the blessedness of being sinless people but we do know the blessedness of being forgiven people and we can’t help but say hallelujah to You our  Great God.

We pray for our nation today. We pray for our President. We pray that You will keep he and his family safe. We pray that he and our other leaders will seek You for their guidance and direction. We pray that You will provide for them a Daniel, one who will whisper into their ears Your wisdom, Your precepts. We pray for our city today. We seek its peace, its shalom, its well- being. We pray for its political leaders.  We pray for our Mayor. We pray for Your protection of he and his family. We pray that he, the Police Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner and so many others, will be given wisdom by You, because they seek it, the wisdom they need to keep this city safe.  LORD please watch over our first responders. Keep our cops safe, keep harm from coming to them and help them to carry out their very difficult task in a way that pleases You. Please watch over our firefighters. Please keep them safe as they put themselves in harm’s way. LORD please minister to the cops and firefighters families in these most difficult of times.

We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Thank You for the unconditional covenant You made with Abraham and that in Him all the nations of the earth have been blessed though the Messiah, Christ our Lord. As the apple of Your eye, please keep Israel safe.  May Israel’s leaders seek to please You. Please intervene as well for the Palestinian people. We know their plight is before Your eyes as well. Only You have the solution for them. Please bring peace to the Middle East.

We pray right now for the churches in this city. We pray for our church. Help us to be the body of Christ we are intended to be. Help us to follow the orders of our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. May He always have Pre-eminence in our midst.  May we be the hands and feet of Jesus demonstrating the heart of our Lord everywhere we possibly can in this city. May we feed the hungry, clothe the naked,  house the homeless, adopt the orphan, mentor the fatherless, nurture the motherless, rescue the  addict, counsel the wayward, warn the rebellious, encourage the fainthearted and  hold on to the morally weak, all in Jesus’ name. May we also be the mouth of our Lord. May we prophetically call the city to repentance and may we pastorally call the city to find rest in You. May we proclaim the Gospel of God’s salvation faithfully from our pulpits and from our homes and work places across the neighborhoods of our city. May we as Your Church do our part to heal the “racial divide” in our city. Let us insist that there be justice for all men and women because all are made in the image of God. Let us also demonstrate what it means for people of all ethnic backgrounds to get along. Let us proclaim by words and deeds that there is not a black church, not a white church, not a brown church and not a yellow church but only His Church.

We pray for ourselves in the coming year. Help us to abound in love yet more and more. Help us to approve and seek not just the good but the things that are excellent, the things that are the best. Help us to be authentic and blameless until the return of our Lord. Help us bear fruit, much fruit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; against such there is no law. May we seek to walk in Your perfect will in the coming year. May we surrender our will to yours and may we be sensitive to the Holy Spirit that You gave us. May we ask everyday “What would You have me to do”. May we be controlled by Him and not our flesh each and every day.  May we be burdened for our friends, relatives, acquaintances and neighbors to come to know You.  Please convict us to pray for them and bring them to our mind constantly.

LORD, help Calvary Chapel to be all that You would have us to be. Please help Your ministry through us to reach people and advance Your kingdom.  Please help each ministry to excel. Help each leader of each  ministry to grow. Help the projects we have set out to do to be accomplished. Help the radio broadcast, God in Our City, to reach many.  Help the Bible Institute, The New York Institute for Biblical Studies, to equip many. Help the DIVAS and CHAMPIONS to make a difference in young people’s lives. Help our Christian Education Program to develop kids with character. Help our Worship Team to continue to please You. Use our Men of Impact and Women of Influence ministries like we have never seen before. Help our outreaches to bring people into Your kingdom. May the preaching and teaching from the pulpit be anointed with Your favor. Enable our new ministries to Seasoned Seniors, Overwhelmed Single Moms, Artistic Young Adults and the Latino Community to thrive. Help us to begin a food pantry.  Enable work on the house to be completed. Please use our missionaries both here and abroad.

Above and beyond everything else, enable us to bring honor and glory both now and forever to You —  the One who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. In Jesus name we pray this prayer, Amen.  

the_heart_of_Christmas_pt_5outline