June 24 Prayer Rally for our nation and our leaders- Downtown North Augusta

Prayers Offered

Dear Heavenly Father, Creator of all things, and Sustainer of all that is good, wholesome and right, we approach your Throne of Grace on behalf of our nation.

• We confess our own personal sin and culpability in what is taking place in our nation. 
• We repent and seek forgiveness on behalf of ourselves and our nation for the ways we have drifted away from the Godly foundations upon which this great country was built.  We pray you strengthen your hand of grace upon us as we place our eyes back upon you.  
• We pray you continue to raise up Godly leaders from among us, and that you give them the mind of Christ and a character pleasing to You.  We pray for our leaders present here today, and all our leaders everywhere. 
• We pray against the divisions that rack our nation, and ask you to restore the peace and unity that this country has known so well. 
• Finally, Lord, we pray for true pluralism in which religious freedom can be found for all, and we pray that we Christians faithfully stand as a counter-voice to the secularism and paganism that opposes that freedom.

But in the midst of it all, Lord God, we cannot help but give thanks to You for being our God and calling us to be Your people.  We thank You for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love shown us in our redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ.  And, we pray, give us such an awareness of all your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

June 24 Prayer Rally in Downtown. North Augusta

"These are different sort of times we live in- we know it as post-modern and post-Christian.   It is, however, coming to be more than that.  It is becoming anti-Christian.  We are here today to publically and very specifically pray into that."

"In terms of our Judeo-Christian foundation as a nation, we have lost our footing.   We no longer, at least publically, acknowledge God’s grace as the underpinning of this great nation.  We have jettisoned values that have allowed this nation to prosper and to stand out among the nations of the world.  We have forsaken our Christian birthright."

"Eph. 6:12 tells us, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. All that is good and right about our nation is therefore being laid defenseless before Satan.  We as a nation have made ourselves as vulnerable to Satan’s wiles as all other nation on this planet.  American exceptionalism, clearly a gift from God, is being devoured, and we now are playing this game society-building on Satan’s home court rather than in the courts of the Lord."

"But as Scripture says, “the battle is mine, says the Lord.”  God’s weapon is our faithfulness and prayers of His people.  I am thankful for the faithfulness of Christians such as you who are willing to come together on this hot summer morning to pray and stand in the gap for our country."

"The 19th C pastor and song-writer, Samuel Francis Smith, understood the beauty and power of real freedom.  And he knew that true freedom comes only from the One True God. our King.  Apart from the living God freedom is impossible.  Smith calls God the "Author of Liberty" in the hymn we will sing together today, "My Country 'tis of Thee."  

Prayer Rally, Veterans Park, Georgia Ave, North Augusta, Saturday, June 24, 10 am

Dear family and friends of Holy Trinity:

We and several other churches are sponsoring a prayer rally in downtown North Augusta, Saturday, June 24, 10am to 11am. 
Purpose of this Prayer Rally
·         As our nation’s 4^th of July celebration approaches, this is an opportunity for churches and the community to come together as a visible witness to our faith and our dependence upon the providence of God, both as a nation and as individual Christians.
·         Our desire is to pray in solidarity for the governance, well-being, and future of this nation.  We will pray for our local, state, and national leaders, and our prayers will be that God will bless our leaders with wisdom and character pleasing to Him. 
·         We will express repentance and seek God's forgiveness for the ways we, as a nation, have drifted away from the Godly foundations and moral underpinnings upon which this great nation is founded. 
·         Finally, we will pray for true pluralism, where Christians and the Christian worldview can stand as a counter-voice to secularism, providing a Godly voice in the marketplace and in our political system.
 Agenda        
Opening Music                                 Music led by Lynn Green and Caleb Mortimer
Welcome                                            The Rev. Rob Hartley
Invocation and Scripture              Dr. Matt Clark
Song: My Country ‘tis of Thee    
Senator Shane Massey                  State Senate, District 25
Mr. Andrew Siders                          Chair, Aiken County Council
Letter from Sen. Tom Young       State Senate. District 24
Prayers                                                 The Rev. Rob Hartley
Benediction                                       Minister Wyatte Brown, First Providence Baptist Church
Song- God Bless America