Our Resurrection Weekend services begin with our Good Friday Evening Gathering, March 29 at 7:00 pm, and conclude with our regular Sunday activities on Resurrection Sunday Morning, March 31!

Please find below Rob Stouffer's notes from the Mid-service comments this past Sunday. Meditate on these texts and the prayer below on our Sovereign God and trusting Him in the handling of this nation's leaders.

I’m interested in politics and always have been since the early years of high school. To my Mom’s chagrin, one of my college degrees is even in political science. I probably spend too much time following state and national politics and I am especially compelled by the strategy behind campaigns.

I understand that elections have consequences, but this election cycle has been different for me. Rather than being invested and strongly rooting for candidates and closely following the ebb and flow of presidential politics, I have found myself less invested and more dismayed and bewildered. Never questioning God, but certainly wondering how His perfect will could include all of this absurdity and misfortune.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you find yourself in a similar quandary as I do.

That’s why I’m going to pray for us. I am going to pray for our church regarding how we think about these matters, how we engage our culture, and how we engage our God during these strange times in American history.

PRAYER

Father God, remind us of the truth revealed about You and also about us in Isaiah 55:8-9 when you said [8] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. [9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Father, you are infinite and holy. We are finite and sinful. Humble us, for Your thoughts are always superior to our thoughts and Your ways are always right. They are directed by your perfect wisdom and our ways are marred by sin and pride. You know the end from the beginning; while we see just a narrow span of time. Your perspective is perfect; ours is grossly flawed. You know the whys with your perfect purpose; we grasp for wisdom with our flawed understanding and perspective. When we struggle to understand your ways and thoughts, please have mercy on us and forgive our doubts and our unfaithfulness. Help us to trust in you more.

Remind us, that as your people, we can take great comfort amid times of confusion because of your perfect nature, power, and love. Your word tells us the outcome of this election is already determined. Although we might be surprised or even shaking our heads by the results on November 8, You will not be.

Psalm 103:19 tells us “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; And His sovereignty rules over all.” This includes elections. In the book of Daniel, you are referred to as:

  • “the Most High”
  • “the Great God”
  • “the God of gods”.

We know you as the King of kings and Lord of lords. May we put our confidence and trust in You and not in flawed men or fleeting governments.

As 1 Peter 1 reminds us as believers, we are exiles, we are foreigners, we are aliens to this earth. We should not be looking to create heaven on earth through government, but instead, like Philippians 3 tells us: [20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Help us live and engage our culture in a manner that reflects this truth. Mark us as people looking upward toward heaven and forward to the day when you reign on earth with perfect justice. NOT as a people simply wringing our hands, confused by our worsening culture that is gleefully and unashamedly ruled by sin.

Forgive us for when our words or actions make it seem like we are desperate for this world rather than the one to come. Yet, while You have us here as citizens of this world:

  • We pray for human flourishing.
  • We pray for justice to be done for all men who are created in Your image.
  • We pray that life will be valued from the earliest moments of life until the time when last breaths are taken.
  • We ask for godly leaders who submit their will to biblical authority.
  • We ask for honest, trustworthy, and honorable men and women to exercise their authority over us knowing that you are the One who places them in authority
  • Regardless of the righteousness or unrighteousness of those you put in authority, I pray that we will have submissive hearts to those leaders.
  • Remind us to pray for them as they make decisions.
  • Remind us to pray for their salvation.
  • Remind us to pray for those who will boldly carry the gospel message to these men and women in power.
  • Trust that You will cause some of them to submit to the power of the message of the cross and no longer see it as foolishness but as the power to save them, causing them to boast in You, not in themselves.

I pray that our actions and attitudes concerning this election will be distinct from those around us in the world, informed and shaped by the truth of your word. Give us platforms to explain why our trust is placed firmly in You and not politicians. In those conversations, may you be honored and glorified.