Sustain - Thoughts from Communion/Baptism Service

So many prayers these last few weeks to sustain:

A son whose mother has gone home to the Lord.
A sister whose brother is dying from the same disease that took her father.
A family whose little unborn girl is not forming correctly within the womb.
A woman whose sister has turned her back on God and embraced a sinful life.

Lord, we are a weak and frail people. And our standing before You does not change this; it only enlightens our understanding of what it means for our souls. "We are unable to save ourselves, even if we wanted to," as a young man testified to at his baptism tonight. But You are omnipotent; in You is all power and by the word of Your power You uphold all things. By Your holy will, You act to not only keep us alive in body but bring us to life in spirit. And so it is in Christ alone that we come to You, for only You have the power and the will to accomplish what we, Your weak creatures, need. So sustain us, Lord. In faith let us not grow weary. In prayer make our hearts strong with the assurance that You hear and are close to the broken-hearted. In body let us live with courage and boldness even as we cry out for refuge in Your loving arms. In Your most excellent Name, Amen!

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior's name
He has hushed the law's loud thunder
He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame

Let us love the Lord who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes

He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more

He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted him before us
Now their praises fill the sky

He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He will bring us home to God

Jars of Clay - based on a hymn by John Newton (1725-1807)