St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“...the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved’.” (Romans 10 v 12, 13)

Lord, let us trustingly acknowledge our sins before You, relying upon Your mercy as found in the perfect life and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus.

May we feel forgiven and move forwards because “ ‘The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, and believe in the gospel’.” (Mark 1 v 15)

Lord God of mercy, we depend upon Your mercy entirely to defend us and rescue us from the enemy. All our sinning ways lay open before You, lead us to full repentance in the strength of Your merciful love for us.

I ask for the gifting of the Holy Spirit to increase our self awareness, a true sense of our state before God, the ability to examine our conscience in all honesty, hiding nothing, being acutely aware of our need of grace.

Please root us in this, according to the daily work of the Holy Spirit ever drawing us deeper and deeper into an anointed friendship with the Lord Jesus, our Saviour Brother.

Jesus is the revealed truth, and for this we offer all thanks and praise. He is our shield and Defender against the enemy, ever seeking, thank You, to heal and restore us.

Let us receive our training as disciples, readily receptive and willing to live accordingly, as Your ambassadors in love, Lord Jesus, Your envoys sent far and wide.

Be the centre of our life, the main focus, the aim and objective of our call to serve You, especially to those who as yet, have not met You. May we bring them Your peace that the world does not give, because it cannot.

May our life be full of godly intention, of love put into action, of kindly words offered amidst the gladness of the gospel message of all the hope, peace and joy founded on true agape love.

Let Your companionship strengthen our faith to go always forwards, never backwards, nor sideways, nor stagnating, for that would be a serious sin of omission.

Please keep sending Your Spirit of love to both animate and dedicate our faith in love’s truth, goodness, friendship and strength. Make us wise as to what to do and what not to do.

May we live the life of the Spirit, that of loving kindness put into practice at all times, ever our gaze fixed upon You, Lord and Saviour. Live in us, through us and amongst us in the Spirit.

May all our efforts to serve be holy because they are blessed by Your presence, Lord Jesus, enabled thereby to defend all that is right in God’s sight.

Let our life of love spread to many others a life of peace, of hope, of joy in whatever ways we each can, when gifted by the Spirit and His charisms.

May all our actions become virtuous because they are sincere in their efforts to love, perfect in holiness, made so by overcoming our self-centredness, to be done in all humility with no thought of a reward, enduring to life’s end.

To work for You, Lord Jesus, is to work our way towards heaven. But we must realise that this grace of entry to our homeland is never earned, but freely given by Your body and blood sacrificed at the †.

You paid the highest price with Your life, to secure our eternal place in the company of heaven. All thanks, all praise, all glory ever, ever be. We must entrust ourselves to You.

May You ever minister to us by means of Your Spirit of love, teaching us how to live and pay all respect to our Father in this way, honouring Him by honouring each other.

“Now we are Your body Lord Jesus, the Christ, and each one of us is a part of this.” (based on 1 Corinthians 12 v 27 NIV) What an honour, never to be taken for granted.

What a privilege to know You as our Saviour, our Shepherd, our High Priest, as well as being the Paschal Lamb of a perfect sacrifice. Lord Jesus, You are everything needed to grow in holiness.

Please continue to help us by Your Spirit, that we lack nothing requisite to lead an honourable and worthwhile life in Your service, all to the glory of God as we rely upon the Holy Spirit.

Frequently, as this is so necessary, let us turn to God pleading mercy, ‘Have mercy on me, a sinner’ being an honest and sincere plea coming from both heart and mind as formed by our will and our conscience.

We must treat life as a pilgrimage, for it is! “Blessed is (s)he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the (wo)man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (Psalm 32 v 1)

It is the joy of forgiveness experienced through the sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus, which allows us to feel the mercy so lovingly offered to us. Thank You so much, Lord God.

In the light of Your kindness in offering us forgiveness, “For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found” (Psalm 32 v 6) which is whenever we become a believer in being gifted a Saviour.

To know this truth, to have the joy of reconciliation with You as a Trinity of love and mercy, You become holy Three, everything to us, thank You.

It is in all sincerity, knowing now how to combat satan, I say “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance,” (v 7) praise ever be.

“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked” (v 10) heaped upon themselves when failing to combat the world, the flesh and all that is evil. Forgive us, Lord, forgive us, the price of our salvation being so very costly.

Thankfully, “(S)he who trust in You LORD, mercy shall surround him (or her).” (v 10) Therefore, having been made righteous, we can feel joy not sadness, relief not anxiety, peace of mind not fret.

“Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (v 11) We have an all loving, ever merciful Father, Brother and Sanctifier. Life is enriched by blessings indeed.

We can go forwards in faith, not lost to kindness, goodness, nor holiness. We pray, watch and wait with no need for worry, nor any concern, for we know all prayer is answered sooner or later.

“Our soul waits for You LORD” waits for You to act ever lovingly, for You are “Our help and our shield,”

(based on Psalm 33 v 26) our sure defence against the enemy.

“Our hearts shall rejoice in You” as Protector, Saviour and Faith Sustainer, “Rejoicing because we have trusted in Your holy name, (based on v 21) which means a new, blessed, purified and sanctified life for us.

“Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, just as we hope in You,” (v 22) because of the life and death of Jesus, made our own so as to claim our right standing before Your throne.

May none of us be lost to satan. When in any fear of the danger of compromising or abandoning our faith, please reach down and rescue us. May the Spirit continuously alert us to the source of such mercy.

The Lord Jesus is new life to us, a life in which we find holiness is our peace, our joy and our hope of a holy destiny in heaven, when You decree.

Lord God of mercy, I offer You all thanks, all praise, all adoration and all admiration for Your mercy. Thank You for being “Merciful and gracious,” (Psalm 103 v 8) as You always are.

“Slow to anger and abounding in mercy,” (Cont) You send us a Saviour, meaning You “Will not always strive with us nor will You keep Your anger forever.” (v 9)

Mercifully compassionate and kindly, You have “Not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities” (v 10) but have forgiven us through our faith in Jesus, our Saviour.

May our faith in You as a Trinity, ever take us forwards, not backwards, sideways nor stagnating in self limiting circles, for we look outwards, onwards and upwards, delighting so to do. All praise for the glory that

will be, Your glory, most holy endearing Trinity.

“Blessed be You, Lord God. Blessed be Your holy name. Blessed be You, Lord Jesus, the Christ, the God and the Man with a sacred heart, Your precious blood spilt for us.” (based on The Divine Praises)

“Blessed be the Lord Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar” (Cont) our celebration of the Holy Eucharist, whereby we can offer You ourselves and our efforts to serve in holiness.

We can make this offer inviting ourselves to be in union with Your divinity and humanity, both present to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all thanks to our faith.

“Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete” who makes all the difference in the world to a sterile or vibrant faith. “Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints,” (The Divine Praises concluded) us in a faith come fully alive in Christ Jesus.

You are not “The God of the dead but of the living!” (Luke 20 v 38 The Truth) For our life is given over to the Kingship of Jesus’ reign and that will be eternal. We shall not die but live, all praise, all thanks to the

Trinity of Glory. Amen.

CATEGORY: (BELIEF, Service)