Pray for Peace

Now, if you've been here for a while, you know that we've been doing this uh trek through the book of Matthew all year long, and we've broken it into a bunch of different series.

And the last few weeks we've been doing a series called Jesus Is.

We're about halfway through Matthew.

Had a whole message plan this morning, had you know visuals and some funny stories and all that all that normal stuff, but after what happened last night, just decided to table that for a week and to do something a little bit different today.

And so um we're all aware of what happened last night, correct?

Is there anyone who's like, I have no idea what you're talking about?

Oh, okay, someone raised their hand.

That's all right.

That means it may be good, you don't watch the news that much.

And so there was an assassination attempt on President Trump, uh, former President Trump, President, whatever you call him.

I don't know how to refer to Trump.

We all know Donald Trump, right?

Does anyone not know who Donald Trump is?

Let's raise our hands for that.

No?

All right, we're good.

There was an assassination attempt, and it came uh, man, just millimeters away from being successful.

I don't know where you were when it happened.

I was actually at lunch with uh, or dinner rather, with my family and some friends and was saw it happen, like live.

Uh crazy.

And you know, on one hand, we live in a fallen world.

People do crazy things all the time.

There's unfortunately shootings and murders on a daily basis, and we don't pause what we've got planned every single time something like that happens, but as I prayed about it last night, my mind was just flooded with a few questions.

Specifically about our nation and where we're at as a country, and what is the church's role in the times in which we live.

One of the questions that that hit me was, what if it had been successful?

What would our world look like this morning?

If that bullet had just been a few millimeters off, how much chaos would our nation be engulfed in right now?

I don't know the answer to that question.

I thought about all the friends I have that are on both sides of the political spectrum.

How many families are divided politically?

How strong those divisions have become in the last several years?

I thought about what if it had been the other candidate?

How would our nation react?

What would happen in the conversations that we have?

My mind was flooded with all kinds of things, but the main question that kept running through my mind was what would Jesus have to say to our nation in a time like this?

Because last night was a reminder of just how divided we are and just how much of a boiling point our nation has gotten to.

I mean, it's been 40-something years since there was a an assassination attempt, or at least one of that closeness, ever since Ronald Reagan in 1981.

There have been other attempts that didn't quite get as close, but it's been a long time since something like this has happened in our nation.

It's not unprecedented.

There have been many presidents who have been shot, candidates who have been shot and killed, but it's been a long time.

And I think all of us can recognize just how volatile things are in our country.

And Jesus does have something to say to us.

In fact, we see something in Luke chapter 19 very interesting.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, and he's coming from the Mount of Olives.

This is when Jesus is, we often call it the triumphal entry, when people are shouting Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, and he's only a few days away from the cross.

And the Mount of Olives is an interesting place.

If you look up pictures of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, you recognize that you can see the entirety of the city as you come down the same path.

You could walk that path today if you wanted to.

You can go to that place and you can go the same route that Jesus went into Jerusalem.

And the entire city is laid before you.

And it says in Luke chapter 19, verse 41, that as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep.

Luke 19:41

How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace.

But now it's too late.

Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.

Now the context here is important.

I'm not saying that Jesus is saying those exact same words to America.

But Jesus knew what was going to happen to Jerusalem.

He predicted it.

In the temple, he said that not one stone would be left on top of another.

That was shocking, that was blasphemous in the eyes of the religious leaders.

Jesus knew the collision course that his nation had embarked upon.

If you know anything about the political tension of Jesus' day, you know that it was every bit as volatile, if not more so, than our own.

Different political factions were extremely violent, extremely vitriolic in their language.

It was incredibly tribal.

Which side you were on, if you were a Pharisee, if you were a Sadducee, if you were a zealot.

Rome was occupying that area, and it was at such a boiling point that Rome had to appoint a direct ruler over that area.

Pontius Pilate was that person.

They couldn't even entrust the nation of Israel around the city of Jerusalem to be led by one of their own because things were at such a boiling point.

It was like constantly on the verge of exploding.

And just a few decades after Jesus was crucified, things came to a head.

And there was a war between Israel and Rome, specifically at Jerusalem, and the entire city was destroyed, over a million people were killed.

And Jesus knew that's where things were headed.

And he weeps not for himself.

He's not weeping because he's thinking about what he's about to endure when he comes to the cross.

He's not crying for himself.

He's weeping for his people.

And he says, You have not understood the way to peace.

If only you had recognized who I am, Jesus says.

If you had recognized who I am and what I've come to do, and if you would have submitted to me and done things my way, this would be avoided.

Jesus taught that we're to love our enemies, we're to pray for our enemies, that we do insane things like turn the other cheek.

Jesus taught peace.

Not only did he teach peace, he modeled peace, unlike anyone that we've ever seen before.

In Matthew chapter 26, we see the story of Jesus being arrested.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

And it says in verse 50 that the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him, but one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest's slave, slashing off his ear.

Put away your sword, Jesus told him.

Those who use the sword will die by the sword.

Don't you realize that I could ask my father for thousands of angels to protect us and he would send them instantly?

And other gospels tell us that Jesus goes on to heal the ear of that man.

Which is interesting considering the last 24 hours to think about.

Jesus had a following that was willing to fight for him.

And he told them that's not our way.

That we're not a violent people.

He taught peace.

And he recognized that his world and his time needed peace desperately, desperately needed peace, but rejected it.

And the consequences were dire.

So last night, as I was just walking and praying, my mind was flooded with Jesus.

If you were coming into America right now, what would you say?

What would you ask us to do?

And Lord, is the church, is your people?

What are we supposed to do in times like these?

Our world needs Jesus.

Our culture desperately needs Jesus.

There is no political candidate who has the power to heal our nation.

There's not one.

I love politics.

Let me put this, I don't love politics.

I kind of hate politics.

How about I love hating politics?

I love listening to political podcasts.

I love getting riled up.

I like being in my car and nodding my head and thinking, yeah, yeah, I'm right.

And to be honest, I think I am.

But sometimes things get to a point where there is no movement of the earth, there's no political movement, there's no decision that a human being can make that can truly heal the brokenness.

Sometimes things don't need a slight adjustment.

Sometimes things need to be completely renewed in a way that only Jesus can do.

Our nation needs Jesus.

Our nation needs to come to Jesus.

Our nation needs to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Because when you sit at the feet of Jesus and He's your teacher, you don't ever experience what politics has become so good at, hardening the heart.

When I'm in my political mode, and I can be there a lot, ask my wife, my heart hardens.

Because I I do listen to someone who tells me that I'm right and the other side is wrong, and and I genuinely believe that most of the time.

But there's often this dynamic where my heart hardens, and that's the intent of what's being told to me, is to harden my heart and to solidify me against this side, and I end up allowing anger, bitterness, and maybe even hatred to grow within me.

And if you sit underneath the teachings of Jesus, that never happens.

If you sit at Jesus' feet and you listen to what he says, your heart never hardens.

None of Jesus' teachings were about getting everyone around him fired up against his enemies.

He had many.

That's what he says to Peter, his disciple, who slashes off the ear.

Don't you realize that if I wanted to, if I wanted to take power by force, I could.

But Jesus said, I have a different way.

We have a different way.

When you listen to Jesus, your heart softens.

And you don't become fixated on what everyone around you needs to change.

You become fixated on what within your own heart needs to change.

And so here we have a nation.

And undoubtedly last night many hearts were hardened.

On both sides of the aisle, so to speak.

And we need, as a nation, Jesus, to soften our hearts.

And as a church, as the church, we have to lead in that.

We have to pray.

We have to go to God.

We have to, like the prophets in the Old Testament, we have to ask God to move and to intervene on behalf of our nation.

Because, like I said, I don't know exactly what Jesus would say, but he saw his own nation on the precipice and his heart broke because he said they don't understand the way to peace.

Do we?

Do we as a nation understand the way to peace?

I don't know if we do.

But Jesus does.

And our prayer this morning is that God would heal and unify and redeem the brokenness in our country right now.

So here's what I'd like us to do.

I'd like us to pray together as a church.

Are you guys up for that?

Are we good for that?

Good.

And by the way, our high school students are with us this morning.

High school students, sorry for interrupting what you guys normally do, but you guys are every bit as much a part of our church as anyone is, our students, and your powers are every bit as prayer as powerful.

Your prayers are every bit as powerful as any of ours.

And so I'm grateful to have you guys praying with us as well.

I've asked a few people to join me on stage.

And if I've asked you to, if you wouldn't mind just making your way up here, got an extra microphone for you guys, but we're going to pray together.

And I've asked these people to come up for a few different reasons.

Many of them are people that I uh have been part of our church for a long time, people I know and trust.

Um doesn't even go here, but I'll explain.

And uh and I've just asked them to each pray for a few minutes and bit by bit lead us in a prayer for our country.

I'm trusting the Holy Spirit to just lead us.

And what I'd like to ask all of us to do as a church today is to soften our hearts, let the Lord soften our hearts, and let his spirit lead us into a prayer that not only changes us, but can change the world around us.

And know that churches all across our nation are praying right now.

Because we're not a church, we're the church.

I've actually been talking to several pastors uh in the last few days, uh specifically since last night, about about the prayer that our nation needs.

And there's like a unity in recognizing that we need something to change.

And so, actually, uh, if you don't recognize this gentleman, his name's Craig, and Craig is the pastor of Dwelling Place Church here in Cherokee County, an awesome church.

Dwelling Place has actually been using our building uh for the last several months.

They meet here on Sunday afternoons while their new building is being built.

And so, uh Craig, thank you for being with us.

I asked Craig this morning if he would if he pray with us today because I think it's important that it's not just us, it's multiple churches.

Um I'm gonna begin, and let me go ahead and do this.

We're gonna start with you, Ben, and then we'll make our way down.

Um I'm gonna begin with a prayer of repentance.

And this is a personal prayer because I'm just gonna be the first to admit, I haven't been praying for our country.

And I should have been.

I haven't, I've I laughed a lot at some of the hilarious hijinks that our politics often provides us with.

I've had a lot of conversations with friends about how ridiculous this is and how silly that is, and can you believe this or can you believe that?

But I haven't gotten on my knees and prayed for our country.

And um I'm sure many of you have.

But maybe if you're like me, you realize I haven't.

At least not as much as I could.

And so I'd like to begin with that, and I'll pray for a few moments and then Ben, go ahead.

And so, Lord, we come to you right now as a church, and we are um, you know, Lord, we're we're an American church.

We love this country.

This country provides us with the freedom to worship you.

It's not something that everyone on this earth that follows you gets to do.

I'm grateful for this nation.

It's not perfect.

Its history is muddy and horrible in many different ways, but that's the same with every nation that's ever existed.

Lord, this is the nation that you've given us.

And we have a responsibility as citizens, not only of this country, but more importantly, citizens of your kingdom, to pray and to lift up our leaders and to lift up our government, even when it might be going in a direction that we despise.

We're not called to complain.

Lord, we're not called to judge.

We are called to have discernment, but we are certainly called to pray.

Lord, I'm convicted in my spirit because I can open up your word and I can I can see the leaders of your church in its early days lifting up the emperors of Rome in prayer.

And Father, I confess I have not prayed for our leaders.

And they need prayer.

So, Lord, we pray right now for our president.

We pray for Joe Biden.

We pray, Lord, that in the aftermath of what happened yesterday to a political rival, that you would give him grace.

Lord, that you would soften him and make him discerning, Lord, to the right words to be said, the right decisions to be made in the aftermath of this.

Lord, we pray for our senators and our congressmen and women.

Father, that this would be a wake-up call and that there would be a genuine attempt to unite our country and not further divide it.

We pray in your name, Lord, that what the enemy intends for evil, you can turn to good.

And we thank you, Father, that that bullet missed.

And Lord, we we pray for healing for the person that did lose their life.

Lord, we just pray that if this is a time where our enemy would seek to divide, would seek to create chaos, that you would bring order.

And so, Lord, forgive us for any lapses that we may have had in not lifting up our nation to you.

Forgive me personally.

And help us commit to doing more of this in the coming months, because this is such an important time.

Father, I agree.

As I was praying this morning, I was led to a prayer at the end of Romans, and Romans is so much about two different groups trying to get together and worship and have unity.

And it's a prayer Paul has.

I pray that God, this is Romans 15, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him.

And then, when you trust in him, you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So I want to frame this prayer with that prayer.

God, you are our source of hope.

There is no other source.

Our hope is not built on us making the right decisions, our hope is not built on our wisdom, our hope is not built on changing ourselves or changing other people.

Our hope is placed on you.

You are the only one that is faithful and responsible and true and worthy of worship and worthy of our respect in that way.

And it would be it would be hopeless to place our hope anywhere else.

We pray that you will fill us completely with joy and peace.

We don't want just a little bit.

We don't want to just be filled up just to feel a little bit better and to be a little encouraged so we can go back to being ourselves.

We want to be filled to a measure that we don't understand, that only you can understand how you can fill us with a joy.

And with a joy that doesn't match our circumstances, which a joy that doesn't meet an expectation that we have, but a joy that just comes from you.

And let that filling be complete.

And we ask to be filled completely with a peace that comes from you.

Not a partial peace, not a peace that just is a little bit better than what we had, but give us a standard that only comes from you.

Fill us completely with a peace that comes from you.

And the reason we have that filling is because we trust in you.

And when we trust in you, you've promised in that prayer that we will be filled with a confident hope.

So I pray you would give us hope.

Give our nation hope, give our families hope.

But give us a hope that is not just well-wishing, that just hopes things will sort of get a little bit better, but give us a hope that is absolutely confident.

We do not lack for leadership because you are on the throne.

You are God, and we trust you.

You have a plan, and you're coming soon.

And we have a firm confidence because of you, and we will be filled completely with that confident hope because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

So that's our prayer.

Give us your Holy Spirit.

We don't need just something, or we just don't need a certain thing to happen.

We need more of you, and so we ask for more of you this morning.

Father, as we come to you this morning, I'm just reminded of our brokenness, the brokenness of our nation, the brokenness that we saw, Lord, and the dividedness that we saw.

And Lord, when we see these things, we just bring them to you.

And so, Lord, we are bringing this before you.

And Lord, we are saying, come and be the first responder.

That's just what I keep hearing, Lord.

Be the first responder to this broken situation.

And Lord, we thank you that you are a God who is not afraid of things that are broken.

That you are a Lord and a Savior who runs like a first responder to brokenness.

That when you see hurt and when you see pain and when you see division, um, like Justin talked about this morning, you run to it.

Lord, when you saw Jerusalem, you went to it.

And when you see our brokenness and our pain, you come to us.

And so, Jesus, I'm asking that when you see our brokenness as a nation corporately, and when you see our brokenness as people, you come to us and minister to us, Lord.

And so, Lord, as people, we come to you and we bring our brokenness before you.

We know that things are not right, we know that there is division, we know that there is unrest.

We know that there are problems that we do not know how to fix.

And so we bring them before you, Lord, and we ask you, Savior, to run to us and to fix our brokenness.

And so, Jesus, we lay this all at your feet.

We ask you to solve these problems for us and first to solve them within our own hearts.

So, Lord, search our hearts, know us as people, know us and solve our brokenness.

See where there is pain, see where there is fear, Lord.

Anytime that we make decisions based out of fear, see those places, Lord, and solve them with your love.

Minister to us, be the first responder to our brokenness.

Minister to us in your love.

Show us how much you love us, how much you care for us, how you know us.

Speak to our hearts, Lord.

Show us that we are your children, that you care for us, that you comfort us, and that you shelter us.

Show us as a church, as your people, how much you love us, that you are with us, that you strengthen us, that you surround us, and that you are our fortress, so that as your children we can be a light to our nation.

And Lord, as a nation, comfort our brokenness.

Show us how to how to be the people that you've called us to be.

Be our shelter, be our fortress, and do it by your love, by your kindness.

Pour your peace and patience over us.

It is the only thing that can solve our brokenness.

And so we just pour out that brokenness in front of you.

We lay it at your feet, knowing that you are the first responder to this.

There is nothing that we can do, Lord.

There's nothing in our humanity that can solve it.

There's nothing in our flesh that can solve it.

Only you can do it.

So, Lord, be that first responder that runs to broken situations, that hears the cries, that hears the shouts, that hears the danger and runs to our brokenness, Lord.

So we just lay it all at your feet, knowing that your love, your peace, your patience, your goodness, your kindness, your joy, that is what will solve it.

So we bring it all before you and say that as people and individuals, we will bring our brokenness, knowing that that will bring a corporate solution, Lord, as we individually lay our brokenness before you.

So Lord, we just do that right now, each individually coming before you, laying our hearts in surrender before you, knowing that you are the first responder to our brokenness, and we praise you for being the Savior and Redeemer who redeems our brokenness.

Thank you, Lord.

Where else should we go, Lord?

Only you have the words of life.

When this nation was first founded, they landed on Plymouth Rock, and they chose God.

We're the only nation that's chosen God.

God chose Israel, but we chose God.

We're in covenant with God as a nation.

We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

God is a covenant-keeping God.

He's not a man that he could lie.

He's in covenant with this nation, and he loves us.

He's also called the redeemer.

God, you redeem what we can't redeem, Lord God.

You're the peacemaker.

You make peace.

You make peace in the midst of a storm.

You calm the sea and you say, peace be still in the name of Jesus.

We need you now to calm the storm like never before.

You're a covenant God.

You'll never leave us, you'll never forsake us, Lord.

We step into that covenant that brings life, that brings life, that restores beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

We thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in us and through this nation.

We thank you, O peacekeeper.

We thank you, O Redeemer.

Come.

I know my Redeemer lives.

He's in us, he's working through us.

Thank you, Lord, that you bind us together in your love.

As a nation, you bind us together in your love.

We declare that there will be victory in this nation because you are in control.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, you're my refuge, you're my fortress, you're my God in whom I trust.

We trust in you.

Some trust in men, some trust in chariots, the word says, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

We trust in you to redeem us, to restore us to the vision that you had when you came into covenant with us, Lord God.

We call for the church to rise up, rise up, O men of God.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.

So we put on the armor of God that we might be able to withstand in the evil day.

And having done all, we will stand in the name of Jesus.

This nation, we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

And we thank you, Lord God, that you are faithful to redeem as a covenant, God, in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.

Amen.

Father, first I want to pray for the church, Lord, that you would just grace us to stand up and be what you have ordained us to be to this country, Father.

Help us to be intense, help us to be fervent in our zeal to minister the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ to other people, Father.

Help us to not conform to this world.

But Lord, help us to just stand out like a sore thumb.

Help us, Lord, to be that city, that shining city on the hill, Father.

Just that beacon of light in this world of darkness, Father.

Help us, Father, to be bold in speaking your word.

Give us boldness, Father, to speak your word.

And we just thank you as we do for confirming it with power, Lord.

Father, I do lift up the leaders of our nation.

And Father, we pray, don't only give them the wisdom to make good decisions on our behalf, give them the desire, Father.

Father, we just pray those people who are in power for self-centered interests, we just pray that you remove them from office, Father.

And we just pray that you put people in power, Lord, that genuinely want to do good for our country, that are in it to serve our country, to serve our people, Father.

Godly men, godly women who will seek you to make wise decisions for our country and the direction.

Father, thank you for protecting these elections coming up.

That they just be fair, Lord, that they're not being, you just protect us from interference, from other nefarious entities, Lord.

And Father, we pray for the divine protection.

Just like I really believe you you protected Donald Trump yesterday, Lord.

I really do.

I just pray that you continue to protect all of our leaders, Father, from harm.

Guard them, Lord.

And we just declare Jesus Christ Lord over this country.

And thank you, Father, in Jesus' name.

Yeah, but you know, Paul told Timothy, 1 Timothy 2, I urge you with plea, petition, request.

He said, I want you to pray for all people, especially kings and those in authority, that we might live peaceable lives.

He said, This is what pleases God, our Savior.

If people are saying, what pleases God, what America needs to see is the church unite together in prayer and repentance.

Violent rhetoric is inseparable from violent action.

You can't keep violent rhetoric up year after year and people not take violent action.

So may we as the church unite.

How can we as a divided church reach a divided world?

We can't.

We must unite.

So I'm going to pray.

Would you pray with me?

Father, right now in the mighty name of Jesus, I thank you, Lord, for your great love for us, your children.

We as your church, Lord, have another commitment to peace.

Lord, we as your people, we understand that human kingdoms rise and fall, but the kingdom of heaven is alone eternal.

Lord, we are called to be unique persons of peace in this hour.

Jesus, you said, peace I give to you.

I leave with you.

My peace I give to you.

I do not give as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and be not afraid.

God, I pray for us as the Church of Jesus Christ, Lord, that we we have our language seasoned with peace in this hour, that we wouldn't be like those of the world that echo chamber more violent rhetoric, and that we harden our hearts as Pastor Justin shared today.

God, but you would tenderize our hearts.

Lord, we pray for a renewed focus on the kingdom of heaven.

Lord, I know that we as your children, our citizenship is in heaven, which means our partisan commitments, whether Democrat or Republican or Libertarian, God, it always takes a backseat to our identification as followers of Jesus.

And Lord, we just again just ask that you would uh just bring about a peace, a comfort today, God.

Lord, that you would not just only comfort the family of this victim yesterday, but others that were in critical condition, and even this Thomas Crooks, Lord, his family learning of what their 20-year-old son had done.

God, we just pray, God, for your great peace and great comfort.

Lord, as your church, let's pray right now, church, just for a recommitment to the gospel.

Lord, your gospel alone is our hope in life and the next.

Lord, no policy, no politician is going to satisfy our eternal needs.

But Lord, in you and you alone is our salvation.

And so, God, we just pray that you would again pour out your spirit in our hearts.

You've shed abroad love in our hearts.

Lord, you alone have defeated death.

Lord, we know throughout history there's been political violence, God.

There's emperors that have been assassinated, political parties come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, but for 2,000 years, Lord, you alone have allowed your church to advance.

And you said, in these days, God, your church would advance.

God, your word said, you are building your church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

So, God, may we be salt and light in America in this time, God.

You've pre-appointed the boundaries of our dwellings and the times in which we live.

That you said men might grow for you, though you're not far, for it's in you we live and have our being.

And so, God, we, your church, let judgment begin in the house of God.

Lord, let us begin with repentance and prayer and unity.

And we pray the healing bomb of Gilead, God, protection over our candidates, Lord, for the R and C convention this week and future conventions, God, for increased security, God.

We just ask, Lord, that you would send a hedge of protection, God, and that, Lord, we as your church could share the glorious gospel, Lord, words of hope, words that heal, not words that divide.

And Lord, we pray this in the strong name, Jesus Christ.

I'll be using as a template for our prayers Psalm 34, written about a thousand years before Jesus, and certainly I prayer that Jesus Himself would have prayed.

Father, we come before you and acknowledge that we live in a world of violence, of fear, of hunger and rebellion.

And we acknowledge that we we need to pray more for Haiti and for the Ukraine and Russia, for Israel, your people, and Gaza, for Nigeria and Kenya and India.

A list goes on and on, Lord, but we come before you today for our own nation.

But we take the lead as David led us.

That we will praise the Lord at all times.

We will constantly speak your praises.

We will boast only in the Lord.

Let all who are helpless take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness.

Let us exalt his name together.

Lord, we do acknowledge that you are holy, holy, holy.

That your throne is established in righteousness and truth, in faithfulness and love.

We acknowledge, Lord Jesus, that you are the only way to peace and hope and new life, the only way to healing, forgiveness, and grace.

So, Lord, we pray to you, and we know that you answer us, and you free us from all our fears.

All of us who look to you for help will be radiant with joy.

No shadow of shame will darken our faces.

In our desperation, we pray, and the Lord listens, He saves us from all our troubles.

For the angel of the Lord is a guard, he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

So, Lord, we do put our trust in you.

We seek to fear you above all, for that is the place of wisdom.

We are not afraid of the circumstances of our lives.

For indeed the world has always been broken, hurting, and violent.

But we know you redeem far more than we could ask or imagine.

And so we look to you, Lord, that we might taste and see that the Lord is good.

Of the joys of those who take refuge in him.

Fear the Lord, you, his godly people.

For those who fear him will have all they need.

Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry.

But those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

So, Lord, we trust in you.

We know that you will redeem the mess that is this world and this nation.

And we thank you that you daily give us a chance to come home to you.

Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord.

Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?

Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.

Turn away from evil and do good.

Search for peace and work to maintain it.

Father, we do pray, as we've already prayed, we'll continue to pray, forgive us, Lord.

Let not our hearts grow hard, let them be soft before you.

That you would fill us with the love, joy, forgiveness, and grace that is ours in Jesus.

Indeed, the eyes of the Lord watch over all who do right.

His ears are open to their cries for help.

But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil, he will erase their memory from the earth.

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.

He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

The righteous person faces many troubles.

But the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

The Lord protects the bones of the righteous, not one of them is broken.

Calamity will surely overtake the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

But the Lord will redeem those who serve him.

No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Lord Jesus, we look to you.

You are our hope.

We look not to the circumstances of our lives, or as we've already prayed, not to the answers of any human leader.

We look to you.

Redeem, bless, make all things new for your glory, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I want to encourage us to keep that up.

You know, again, on one hand, some of us may maybe came today and it was like, oh, that was a crazy thing.

Is this worth an entire church service?

Yeah, I know.

I was a rhetoric.

Yeah.

Obviously, I decided, yes.

No, I agree.

I thank you for the affirmation of that.

But we should always be grateful for a reminder of who we're meant to be as the church.

And uh Craig, Pastor Craig, prayed the healing balm of Gilead.

Okay, if you're like, what is that?

Craig, we would have find you a dollar for saying that.

I'm just choosing, we don't do that.

Just true.

I had a joke the other day about finding a dollar for churchy words.

But that's actually an incredible line from Scripture that God has He's a healer.

That Gilead was known for this balm that people would would import and it would it would provide healing.

And in the ancient world, medicine was hard to come by.

You know, it's just not like the world we live in.

You didn't go to a doctor or get a prescription.

And so when the Lord had provided some resource that could heal, it was miraculous.

The Lord heals.

And he doesn't just heal physical ailments, the Lord heals hearts, the Lord heals minds, and the Lord heals nations.

We see that happen.

Look at the story of Jonah and Nineveh.

Look at the times that whole nations turn to the Lord and how quickly things can change.

We have to remember that.

We need the Lord to heal us.

And that begins with his church.

We have to have love.

In fact, I'm going to finish with something that Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24.

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

He said, At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.

Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

There is nothing that our enemy would love more than to see our love grow cold.

That to see the church become just as bitter and as angry and as hardened as the rest of the world.

We cannot be like that.

In times like this, we lead with love.

We let the Spirit soften our hearts.

And it's not just about what happens here, it's about all those conversations we're going to be in at work tomorrow with family members and all the all the things we're going to hear said and all the craziness that's going on around us, that we're called to be people who bring unity and peace and love and hope into every situation.

So I'm going to ask that this whole week, further than just this week, but especially in the immediate aftermath, that you wake up every morning and pray.

That perhaps the Lord is going to send you to wherever you might go, school, work, home, some phone call, whatever it might be, that you remember that when that temptation comes to get sucked into the chaos and the craziness and all the anger and angst and whatever, that you are the church.

And that you bring love and stability and peace and hope into every conversation.

There is nothing that God can't heal.

Let's pray one more time.

Father, we thank you for this day.

We thank you, Lord Jesus, that we can come to you, that when we look at a world that is so broken and lost, you are the answer.

You are what we need.

And Lord, I'm so grateful for what everyone on this stage prayed, every single person.

Thank you, Lord, for speaking through them, for giving them a unique word and focus for us to pray through.

Lord, I thank you for what Betty prayed and the reminder that even though we've often failed to live up to it, this nation was founded in your name.

Lord, you are a covenant-keeping God.

So heal us, help us, and draw us to you, Jesus, because you're the only one who can unite us.

You said, Lord, that a house divided cannot stand.

Our house is divided right now.

Bring us together.

And let that happen first within your church and then throughout our entire nation.

We pray this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.