Prayers of the People

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretence you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?...

But false prophets also arose amongst the people, as false teachers will also be amongst you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber. --2 Peter 2:1‭-‬3

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Let the redeemed by the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in. He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground, and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs. There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in, sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.  --Psalms 107:1‭-‬7‭, ‬33‭-‬37

Behold, one came to him and said, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’ ‘Honour your father and your mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he was one who had great possessions. --Matthew 19:16‭-‬22

Let your loving kindness also come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your word. So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust in your word. Don’t snatch the word of truth out of my mouth, for I put my hope in your ordinances. So I will obey your law continually, forever and ever. I will walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be disappointed. I will delight myself in your commandments, because I love them. I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.  --Psalms 119:41‭-‬48

What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see then that by works a man is justified, ...

However, if you fulfil the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judgement is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement. --James 2:8‭-‬13

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy. “‘You shall do no injustice in judgement. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favouritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbour in righteousness. “‘You shall not go around as a slanderer amongst your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbour. I am the Lord. “‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord. --Leviticus 19:1‭-‬2‭, ‬15‭-‬18

Week of October 25: I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.  --Ephesians 1:18

“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. I don’t receive glory from men. But I know you, that you don’t have God’s love in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God? “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” --John 5:39‭-‬47

In all things show yourself an example of good works. In your teaching, show integrity, seriousness, incorruptibility, and soundness of speech that can’t be condemned, that he who opposes you may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say about us. --Titus 2:7‭-‬8

Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night. You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass. In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry. Relent, Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children. Let the favour of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. --Psalms 90:1‭-‬6‭, ‬13‭-‬17

Then king Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages who dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God, and steadfast forever. His kingdom is that which will not be destroyed. His dominion will be even to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.  --Daniel 6:25‭-‬28

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness towards the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! Sing praises to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. --Psalms 98:1‭-‬9

God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water. So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches. For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings. My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up. --Psalms 63:1‭-‬8

Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! Declare his glory amongst the nations, his marvellous works amongst all the peoples. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth. Say amongst the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods s...

Week of October 18: “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” --Luke 22:46

The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned amongst the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.  The Lord is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples.  Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!  The King’s strength also loves justice. You establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.  Exalt the Lord our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!  Moses and Aaron were amongst his priests, Samuel was amongst those who call on his name. They called on the Lord, and he answered them.  He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.  You answered them, Lord our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.  Exalt the Lord, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for the Lord, our God, is holy! --Psalms 99:1‭-‬9

Therefore I exhort the elders amongst you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is amongst you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, but willingly; not as Lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.  Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility and subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” --1 Peter 5:1‭-‬5

Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God. --3 John 1:11

For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. --Philippians 3:20‭-‬21; 4:1

Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. --John 6:32‭-‬35

Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy, to God our Saviour, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. --Jude 1:24‭-‬25

The Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth. For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall. As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.  In this mountain, the Lord of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines. He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples...

Week of October 11: Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. --Luke 21:36

John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”  Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast.  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then will they fast in that day.  No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made.  No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.” --Mark 2:18‭-‬22

You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. --James 4:4‭-‬10

Bayshore will resume in-person worship services beginning October 11 at 10:30 AM. COVID-19 safety precautions will be observed (face masks required, social distancing observed, sanitization, etc.). This reopening phase is for in-person worship only. No childcare, no children's activities, and no other small group activities at this time. Online worship services will continue. For more details, go to bayshorebaptistchurch.com and click on the "Latest News" link.

Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord, or fully declare all his praise? Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times. Remember me, Lord, with the favour that you show to your people. Visit me with your salvation, that I may see the prosperity of your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. --Psalms 106:1‭-‬6

You shall fear the Lord your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, for the Lord your God amongst you is a jealous God, lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. You shall do that which is right and good in the Lord’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken. --Deuteronomy 6:13‭-‬19

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. --2 Corinthians 5:17‭-‬21

Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be disappointed.” For you who believe therefore is the honour, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offence.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. ...

Week of October 4: It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander ... and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives. --Isaiah 37:4

Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. --Philippians 3:13‭-‬14

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe. Beware of the dogs; beware of the evil workers; beware of the false circumcision. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. --Philippians 3:1‭-‬4a

Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, amongst whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run in vain nor labour in vain. Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. In the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. --Philippians 2:14‭-‬18

The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork. Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course. His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends. There is nothing hidden from its heat. The Lord’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. The Lord’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple. The Lord’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. The Lord’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The Lord’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether. They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb. Moreover your s...