Schedule Welcoming Hymn David Short: Talk to God First (Colossians 4.2-6) Gospel Proclamation: Prayers for Evangelism Prayers for St. John’s Ministries Closing Hymn
2. Praise him for his grace and favour to our fathers in distress; praise him, still the same for ever, slow to chide and swift to bless; Praise him! Praise him! (x4) glorious in his faithfulness.
4. Frail as summer’s flower we flourish; blows the wind and it is gone; but, while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on: Praise him! Praise him! (x4) praise the high eternal one.
3. Father-like he tends and spares us; well our feeble frame he knows; in his hands he gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes: Praise him! Praise him! (x4) widely as his mercy flows.
5. Angels, help us to adore him, ye behold him face to face; sun and moon bow down before him: dwellers all in time and space, Praise him! Praise him! (x4) praise with us the God of grace.
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David Short: Talk to God First (Colossians 4:2-6) ²Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. ³At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – ⁴that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. ⁵Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of your time. ⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
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Gospel Proclamation: Prayers for Evangelism PRAYERS OF THANKS
• Thank you, Jesus, that you yearn to meet the lost in this city, and that you have sent your Spirit to empower your Church for the proclamation of your Good News.
• Thank you, God, for the introduction to Christianity group that’s running during Women @10 and the women who are hearing your gospel for the first time.
PRAYERS OF PETITION
• Prayers for friends, family, co-workers, neighbours to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
• That we would have the compassion of Christ and that praying for the unchurched would become a priority for us.
• That our missional engagement with our neighbors, friends and co-workers will have the compassion of our Lord.
• That we would be articulate, yet compassionate in our efforts to share our faith.
• That the Lord of the harvest would send our labourers into his harvest.
• Jesus, we believe that you look on the City of Vancouver with compassion. We pray for revival in our city and that we will see thousands come to you.
• That Jesus would become our greatest treasure in this world and that enthusiasm for him would overflow into evangelism.
• That God would bless our evangelistic efforts in 2019 and we would know his wisdom in our planning.
COLLECTS FROM THE PRAYERBOOK ALMIGHTY God, who by your Son Jesus Christ commanded the Apostles that they should go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature: Grant to us whom you have called into your Church, a ready will to obey thy Word; and fill us with a hearty desire to make your way known upon earth, your saving health among all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 3
or BLESSED Saviour, who looked with compassion upon the multitudes: Raise up, we ask you, faithful people to seek and find your sheep dispersed and lost, that they may be saved for ever; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. or ALMIGHTY Saviour, who, being exalted by the right hand of God, did receive gifts for men: Send down the grace of your Holy Spirit upon your people, and grant that they may give cheerfully of their substance for the evangelizing of the world. Bless all those who are banded together for the spread of the Gospel; make them faithful and true witnesses in proclaiming your glorious name; and prosper the work of their hands upon them, that the light of your truth may shine into the darkest corners of the earth. Hear us, O merciful Saviour, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Prayers for St. John’s Ministries PRAYERS OF THANKS
• Thanks for the youth leaders at St. John’s.
• Thanks for the many new leaders who have signed up to help teach Sunday school this year.
• Thank you for the great number of people attending Little Years (grandparents, moms, nannies, and their children).
• Thanks that there were no injuries from the cyclone that hit the Helping Point facilities in India.
• Thanks for the flourishing partnership that the Tuesday Men have with Lighthouse Ministries through Paul Ratsoy.
• Thanks for Learner’s Exchange and the growth of Christ in those who are attending. Pray for the many who listen to the talks online outside St. John’s and that this ministry will strengthen their faith in Jesus.
• Thanks for the two new catechists Janet Greenman and Ada Baylis who are being trained. 4
PRAYERS OF PETITION
• For the Newcomers Course beginning on January 27.
• For the families attending Little Years that they will come to know that they are deeply loved by God.
• For excitement and refreshment for our Sunday school teachers and children as they begin to study the life of Jesus together.
• For youth leaders and youth to grow together in their small groups and in their following Jesus.
• For Ekklesians who are graduating, pray that they would make wise decisions about what to do post-grad. That they would trust God and not be anxious.
• Pray for the Satar family from Afghanistan with their two young children, who St. John’s is sponsoring, that God will care for and lead them in their upcoming move from India to Vancouver.
• That in gathering on Sunday the Holy Spirit would kindle within us a deeper desire to be sent out into the harvest.
• That our community groups would continue to grow in their love of the Lord, and in His love for the lost.
• That God would both strengthen and raise up leaders for our community groups.
• That our discipleship would continue to transform our hearts and equip us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus in our respective spheres of influence.
• Pray that God would continue to ground our interns in the Gospel by the power of the Spirit, that knowing the love and grace of God personally, they would bear such fruit in their teaching, preaching, and all the other ministries they are a part of.
• Pray that God would continue to move our congregation to be generous and use their resources to support the work of the Gospel.
• Pray that the God would bless the bequest St. John’s received and that it would be used to further God’s purposes. 5
COLLECTS FROM THE PRAYERBOOK MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all who know thee not
as thou art revealed in the Gospel of thy Son. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy fold, that they may be made one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. or O GOD, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. or BLESSED Saviour, who didst hang upon the cross stretching out thy loving arms: Grant that all mankind may look unto thee and be saved; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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2. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God! and every offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. (refrain) 3. Great things he has taught us, great things he has done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; but purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see. (refrain)