Please find below the notes from the Elder's Prayer this past Sunday.

This morning I would like to lead us in prayer based on Ephesians 4 for our church Summit Woods Baptist, our partners together in the gospel, Evanston Baptist, and Central Baptist. Let’s pray.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly places even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him to the praise of His glorious grace.

YHWH, we thank you and praise you that you adopted us to be your children. Thank you for this precious entity called Church that you died for dear Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father, for keeping us in your name that we may be one even as you are one in Trinity. (John 17:11). We are floored and cover our mouths with our hands in awe and humbleness because we know we are undeserving of your grace.

Please help us to walk in a manner worthy of your calling with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We praise you for we are all baptized into one body, with one Lord Christ as our head, by one God and Father of all, through His One Holy Spirit.

Thank you for the grace you have given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Thank you for giving us apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Please help our church leaders to take their calling seriously and model Christ in their lives for the saints. May our leaders serve you and the body in the will of God for the glory of God and not look to be served.

Please help our body to engage in the work of ministry that the body of Christ may be built up. Protect our churches from the influence of the false teachers.

I pray for those in our midst who have been content with just milk. Please help them to grow up from glory to glory.

I pray for those who have been complacent. Please wake them up to reality. We have been commanded to grow up in every way into Christ who is the head.

Please help those who have been actively growing to continue to grow from strength to strength.

Please forgive the pew warmers in our midst.

I pray for those who have every desire to be active but are unable to be due to physical illnesses or age or other personal reasons. Thank you for such faithful saints. Please help those saints who physically can’t be active, to be spiritually active, lifting our churches, their ministries, those who have been serving, and their families in their regular prayers. If not for the prayers of the saints, there would be no fruitful ministry, Father. Thank you for their godly desires.

Please help all of us to grow together and be built up in love. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior who died for His body, Amen.