Read: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Last Sunday, Pastor Jason Finley preached from Nehemiah 9-13, where we considered our need for continual reformation in Christ. This Sunday, Pastor Ken will preach from 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 on how God strengthens us to stand firm in Christ in a world of opposition. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let this prayer from The Valley of Visioninspire your own and lead you to further dependence upon the strength that God supplies in Christ by his Holy Spirit.

Heart Preparation

Father of Mercies,

Hear me for Jesus’ sake. I am sinful even in my closest walk with thee; it is of thy mercy I died not long ago; Thy grace has given me faith in the cross by which thou hast reconciled thyself to me and me to thee, drawing me by thy great love, reckoning me as innocent in Christ though guilty in myself.

Giver of all graces, I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me, for it is hard to practise what I believe. Strengthen me against temptations. My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin, a river of corruption since childhood days, flowing on in every pattern of behaviour;

Thou hast disarmed me of the means in which I trusted, and I have no strength but in thee. Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways, but without thy grace to sustain me I fall. Satan’s darts quickly inflame me, and the shield that should quench them easily drops from my hand:

Empower me against his wiles and assaults. Keep me sensible of my weakness, and of my dependence upon thy strength. Let every trial teach me more of thy peace, more of thy love.

The Holy Spirit is given to increase thy graces, and I cannot preserve or improve them unless he works continually in me. May he confirm my trust in thy promised help, and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee, for Jesus’ sake.

“Grace in Trials,” in The Valley of Vision, Ed. by Arthur Bennett

Song List for Sunday

1. “I Lift My Eyes,” by Crosspoint Music
2. “Hallelujah, What a Savior,” by Breakaway Ministries
3. “O Great God, by Sovereign Grace Music
4. “O Church of Christ, Invincible,” by Matt Boswell
5. “Even So Come,” by Chris Tomlin