Please Stand for the Reading of God’s Word

Jeremiah 6:16 ESV  Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Deuteronomy 32:7 ESV  Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

You May Be Seated

This past week, Deacons Jared and Elizabeth, as well as brother Michael Hall, Pastor Amanda and I, all went down to Sioux City for Homecoming at Cornerstone World Outreach.Now if you forget who Cornerstone World outreach is, remember that they are the ones who gave us $25,000 for our building fund…These are people who passionately love God and passionately love His Word… in fact, while we were there this week they even gave another $21,000 to another churches building fund! Because they believe the God’s Word ought to still be preached, and they support any church that loves God and His Word.I tell you this because I want you to know why we go to homecoming every year, and because I hope to encourage you to go next year!We go because we love being surrounded by people who passionately love God and His Word, and because the teaching and worship is so rich that it is life changing every time we go.This year the conference centered around Jeremiah 6:16 and was called “Return to the Ancient Paths.And God did such a work in Pastor Amanda and I that we came back this week knowing that we need to make some changes in the church for the Glory of God and the goodness of His Kingdom.How many of y’all know that CLC is not a stagnate church, but we are a moving and maturing church doing everything we can to strive towards holiness, to be more Christ like, to go from glory to glory.So when the Lord grabs a hold of me and says “Here is a better way, walk in it” then I am going to come back to the church and help guide us in that better way for the glory of God, amen?!So we are going to take a little break from Luke and we are going to talk about returning to the ancient paths..

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Would you join me in praying? Close your eyes and take a moment to pray silently about what we are about to receive, and then in a humble and contrite spirit I want you to listen to the prayer that I pray and decide in your heart if you agree with this prayer.Because if you don’t agree with a prayer then don’t you dare say Amen, because Amen means “I agree”. So let’s pray, firs silently, then I will pray and I ask you to listen and agree.

Text of Avinu Malkeinu, recieted first before the Ark of the Covenantah-vee-noo mahl-kay-noo chah-tah-noo lih-fah-neh-chah ah-vee-noo mahl-kay-noo s’lach oo-m’chahl lih-chole ah-voh-no-tay-noo ah-vee-noo mahl-kay-noo mih-chay vih-ha-ah-vair pih-shah-ay-noo vih-chah-toe-tay-noo mee-neh-gehd ay-neh-chah ah-vee-noo mahl-kay-noo zach-ray-noo lih-pahr-nah-sah vih-kahl-kah-lah Amen  Our Father, our King! we have sinned before You. Our Father, Our King! forgive and pardon all our iniquities. Our Father, Our King! blot out and remove our transgressions and sins from before Your eyes. Our Father, Our King! Maintain us and give us our sustenance. Amen

The prayer that I just prayed, first in Hebrew then in English is part of an ancient Hebrew prayer called the ah-vee-noo mahl-kay-noo (Avinu Malkeinu) which literally means “Our Father, Our King” it was first recited in by a priest in front of the Ark of the Covenant, thousands of years before Jesus would walk the earth.This prayer is considered the oldest and most important prayer in Jewish history, and is still recited by Jews around the world.

Our Father, our King!we have sinned before You.Our Father, Our King!forgive and pardon all our iniquities.Our Father, Our King!blot out and remove our transgressions and sins from before Your eyes.Our Father, Our King!Maintain us and give us our sustenance.

I hope these words and