A Call To Return To God

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Almighty God, we come to you this day, Lord, and ask your forgiveness, for as your people in these last few decades in this country, we have loved lightness over light. As the prophet Jeremiah once said, shall I not punish them for these things, says the Lord? Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this? An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land. The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bear rule by their own power. And my people love to have it so, but what will you do in the end? This is the peril of sitting under a deficient and a light representation of the Word of God, the purpose of God, the power of God, and the Spirit of God. God needs to forgive us as a people for loving likeness. It's been the plague of the American church for several decades. We've loved comfort over conviction, and we've sought pleasure over purity. Our hope today, as the Scripture says, is that we will humble ourselves, seek his face again, and confess that all of our ways are not as pure as we would like to think they are, and ask God to bring us back into the light of his Word again. We ought not to be afraid, because he speaks to us for good and never for evil, to bring you and I to a desired end. And if we will open our hearts one more time to the light of God, not only will we not be condemned or rendered powerless in this last day, but you and I, as the Church of Jesus Christ, will become a force to be reckoned with in our society. My cry and the prayer of my heart is, God, bring us back again to the light of your Word, and let the glory, the absolute glory, of the risen Christ through the power of his Holy Spirit radiate in us again, in our thoughts, in our hearts, in our pursuits, in our witness, the way we live, the way we speak in the reverence of our worship before a holy God. My prayer is, God, bring us back to our purpose on the earth, to stand as a testimony, not an argument, but a testimony to the reality of God, and to bring men, women, and children into a living relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. May God give us the grace to find our voice again. May God give us the grace to find the courage that only the Holy Spirit can give to the Church of Jesus Christ. May God give us the grace to pray in a way that one more time in our generation, mountains will be forced to be moved and be cast into the midst of the sea. Oh God, in Jesus' name, touch your people again. Touch your church. Holy Spirit, come! We need you now. We need you more than life. We need you more than all of our plans and schemes and the things we've done in your name. My God, we humble ourselves before you and confess that we need your presence in our lives. Bring us, oh God, to the light one more time, and let Jesus Christ, above everything in this nation, be glorified. Amen, and amen, and amen.