And so, after a first phase of preparing the land, we, now, seek to plant the seeds and water them with prayer.
To paraphrase Hugh Latimer (c. 1487 – 16 October 1555) speaking prophetic words of encouragement to his colleague in the Gospel, Nicholas Ridley (c. 1500–16 October 1555), as they were bound together for the burning at present “Martyr’s Corner” in Oxford:
Today, by God’s grace, we aim to light a candle on a Golden Lampstand, that, if the Almighty permits, would burn brightly through the years until Jesus Christ comes again.
For today, The Lord’s Day, the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, in the year of our Lord 2017, we seek to proclaim the unsearchable riches of King Jesus in public worship at the new Trinity Chapel Charlotte (Presbyterian Church, ARPC) in Weddington, North Carolina, USA.
Without the anointing of God it shall be for naught, Thus, we seek the prayers of God’s people: for souls to be saved, lives to be transformed, and the Kingdom of God advanced in our generation. The Call to Worship will be at ten thirty o’clock in the morning in the auditorium at Weddington High School, Weddington, North Carolina.
“Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor[d] of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:16-17)!
Let us pray.
O Lord, whose only begotten Son declared that He would build His Church on the foundation of the confession of faith of mere mortals, thus, demonstrating His glorious power in the fragility of His creation, as well as His unfathomable love for humankind, grant that we, who also confess Jesus as the resurrected and reigning Lord, might know Thy providential blessing, be assured in Word and Sacrament of Thy transforming presence, so that today, as we lay the spiritual foundations of this humble branch in the magnificent tree of Thy Church, we may know The anointing and the power of the Gospel on Trinity Chapel Charlotte and that, if so honored to become a Golden Lampstand in Thy favor, this parish church might shine the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus until the sky is rent in twain and we see Thy appearance. For Christ’s sake, we humbly prayer. Amen.
