Opening Prayer: O God, prepare us, through the active presence of thy Spirit, to come before thee worthily and to ask of thee rightly; enlighten our understanding; purify our every desire; quicken our wills into instant obedience to thy Word; strengthen every right purpose; direct this hour of worship to the magnifying of thy name, and to the enduring good of us thy children and servants; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read: Psalm 37

Read: James 5:7-11

Prayer:for the church, for others, for myself.

Hymn: “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken”
Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition:
God and heaven are still my own!

Let the world despise and leave me;
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like those, untrue.
And, while thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate, and friends may shun me;
Show thy face, and all is bright.

Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith and winged by prayer;
Heaven’s eternal days before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mansion;
Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise. Amen.

Closing Prayer: Live today in Christ’s presence, remembering he is near and will sustain you as you serve in his name. Amen.