Father’s Day Prayer
Almighty Father
June 15, 2014
Almighty Father, we bow before You to worship and adore You. You have demonstrated all the traits of a wonderful father. You have been our progenitor. Without Your conceiving us we would not exist. You have been our nurturer. Without your care we could not live. You have taught us to love by loving us. You have not allowed us to get away with sin and you have disciplined us. You have rebuked us sternly, but you have never abandoned us. You have never allowed us to stray far from your love.
Oh Merciful Father, when we sin, You let us feel the separation from Your closeness. You call us to repent and upon our repentance You extend Your mercy and grant us full and free forgiveness. Despite our failure to measure up to Your standard, Your Son Jesus Christ our Savior, You never withdraw Your love from us.
Oh, Wonderful Father, You sent Your Only Begotten Son to be our Savior. You loved us with such deep and abiding love that You sacrificed Your majestic Son the Second Person of the Trinity. You sent Him to become the God/man and to die in our place, to suffer the rejection You hold for sin as He became sin for us. Then you sent the Holy Spirit to us to quicken our spirits so that we could say, “Yes!” to Jesus.
Oh Marvelous Father, immediately upon our confession of faith, regardless of our moral condition, You adopted us as Your sons and daughters. You embraced us, drawing into your family. You not only gave us brothers and sisters in Christ, but You made us brothers and sisters to our Savior the magnificent God/Man, Jesus. All of that would have been more than enough, but You also made us joint heirs with Your Only Begotten Son. You have granted us all the power and authority in Christ. You have granted this stupendous legacy in the name of Christ.
Oh Gracious Father, out of Your generosity you have given us the blessed gifts of Your love and forgiveness of our sin and eternal life in Your loving Presence. Further, You have given us Your Holy Spirit to dwell in us. You have given Him to us with the promise that He will never leave us. He will guide us through this fallen world and He will give us wisdom and discernment.
Oh Bountiful Father, all this and more, much, much more is ours because of Your love. We are truly and deeply grateful. We long for that wonderful Day when we will stand before you fully cleansed of sin, completely whole and magnify Your righteousness, Your holiness, and Your love, lifting our voices to shout Hallelujah!
Please spend a few minutes praising God for His Fatherhood!
Gracious God, our earthly fathers differed; sometimes they were good and other times they were not so good. Each of us has a different experience with the man who You chose to be our earthly father. Nevertheless we affirm Your perfect will in our lives and acknowledge that the man that sired us was Your choice. You commanded us to honor him. We do so now before You.
Please pray for your father, speaking his name out loud.
Please pray and name those in our families who are in need of the Father’s care.
Please pray and name those in our congregation who are in need of the Father’s care.
Please pray for our nation and our leaders who are in need of the Father’s care.
To Your glory we offer the Prayer that Jesus taught us, saying:
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
National Cultural vs. Culture of Christ
Gratia Christi, quod Sum, quod Vivo, quoque Laboro facit.
“The grace of Christ makes what I am, what I live, what I do”
National Cultural vs. Culture of Christ
Posthumous portrait of Christopher Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus
America, as I am fond of saying, is a nation founded in Christ. Columbus, upon discovering the Western Hemisphere, planted a cross and claimed this new-found Continent for Christ. Jamestown was the first English colony in 1607. While the documents founding the colony cite that it is founded in the name of Jesus, in fact it was founded for commercial purposes only. The colonists thought there would be easy pickings. Instead it was hard work and they were not up to the challenge. All but 300 of the first 1,000 colonists died of starvation and disease.
In contrast, the Pilgrims were chartered as a commercial colony, but they actually came to establish a place to worship Jesus Christ in freedom. They too had a hard time and of the 102 colonists who landed half of them died in the first year. But they worked hard and established a Christian commonwealth. Their heritage to us has been a Christian nation.
GT—Volume 11 Issue 6
Why?
A two year-old child begins to differentiate himself or herself as an independent being. She learns the power of “No!” He begins to exercise his and her will (or won’t) power. Father says, “How would you like to go to the store with me?” That is what his daughter loves to do, because Daddy always buys her something. Still, she must be independent, so she says, “No!” Mother says they are going to get an ice cream cone. Despite the fact it is exactly what he wants, he feels compelled to say, “No!” Two year-olds find that they are individuals and grow out of that phase.
Four year-olds have a different phase. They are discovering the world filled with things they do not know. They learn that they can acquire information by asking questions. The simple one word question, “Why?” is a powerful elicitor of information. Realizing that the world is complex the four year-old strings together “whys” to expand his or her knowledge.
Driving by a country field a four-year old asks, “Why are the cows in that field?”
“Because the farmer lets them eat grass there.”
“Why?”
Because when they eat grass they produce milk.”
“Why?”
Realizing that an endless stream of “whys” is coming, Daddy tries to cut them off with the ultimate answer, “Because God made them that way.”
Court Culture vs. Christ’s Culture
Gratia Christi, quod Sum, quod Vivo, quoque Laboro facit.
“The grace of Christ makes what I am, what I live, what I do”
Court Culture vs. Christ’s Culture
In the last several years, the homosexual lobby has been vociferously advocating for general recognition of homosexual unions as legal marriages. They have not been satisfied with their recognition under the various jurisdictions’ laws protecting “Same-sex Unions”.
The unspoken purpose is to breakdown the morality of our nation by attacking and redefining the basic unit of society. Several decades ago homosexuals stated all they wanted was to change the laws to eliminate the illegality of homosexuality. They got that.
Shepherds Fool Ministries Mission
Mission and Passion
Ted Bradshaw (on right) preaching and teaching in Pakistan with an interpreter.
My passion is to reach the far corners of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in different formats to appeal to varied individuals, whereby the hearts of some may be changed.
Because Jesus chose me out of all the billions of people in the world, I want to bring Him glory. He has loved me with an everlasting love and I earnestly want to please and glorify Him.
I understand that I am of minuscule influence on the world’s scale. Nevertheless, I desire to be as true a witness as I can in my corner of God’s vast universe.
See the Need for Jesus
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness, so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20,21)
Ted Bradshaw visiting Rockland Congregational Church in Rockland, ID, 2010. Ted was the Area Representative for the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC).
I see around me friends and family and uncounted numbers of folks who do not have the freedom of joy that I have in Christ. I long for them to experience His intimate fellowship, by first embracing Jesus as Lord, and further by seeking to press into His heart. Paul says, “For me to live is Christ”. It is my goal to introduce that hunger to everyone I can.
Serving People in the Name of Jesus
In pursuit of this goal, serving and learning where the Lord leads me:
- I served as Pastor to three churches
- I traveled to Slovakia, Pakistan, Russia (St. Petersburg), Micronesia (3 times), Philippines, and Bulgaria on short term missions
- I produce a Christian monthly publication, Glad Tidings, that explores a general topic, and looks at it from God’s perspective
- Written a blog, Christ and Culture, exploring an issue from both angles
- Maintain a website, theshepherdsfool.com, to publish Glad Tidings, blog posts, my collection of Biblical teachings, sermons, prayers, and books
Ted Bradshaw teaching new Christian Pastors in the Micronesia, 2006.
Books by Ted Bradshaw
I am a published author. Please see my information on Amazon.com.
- Saul—The Traitor, Historical Novel of the Early Life of the Apostle Paul ©2016
- Servant of the Servants of God, a practicum for pastors
- Disclosures: Poetry from a Guarded Heart, poetry
- The Shepherd’s Crook, Novel, work in progress
- The Shepherd’s Staff, Novel, work in progress
- Ted’s Comments, Biblical Devotional Commentary on the books of the Bible, work in progress
Read More About Ted Bradshaw
Advent: Third Sunday
Advent—Love
December 22, 2013
“For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
Jehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all peoples: but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)
In 1917, Fredrick M. Lehman wrote,
“The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell
God’s love so sure shall still endure, All measureless and strong
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race – The saints and angels’ song.”
Because God’s love is infinite and eternal, He has given us the privilege to ask Him to bless the those things we care about. Since we have this honor and responsibility, this morning we will be praying for four things:
- Our Nation
- Our Church and our Pastor
- Others in need
- Ourselves and families
Please pray with me:
“Almighty God our Father, we love you. You have planted love in our hearts and you have nurtured it, so that love has grown in us.
Lord Jesus, there are many things we care deeply about and the love you give us expands to encompass them. Now as we pray hear our hearts and intercede for us before the Father.
Holy Spirit of truth, guide our prayers to express the desires of our Savior’s heart for saving the world.
Lord, you have blessed America far beyond the blessing of any other nation except, Israel. You built into the land vast resources and fruitfulness. You established our nation in freedom. You revealed Yourself to our forefathers and they established in this nation a godly government. Over the two centuries of America’s existence, our generosity has been unprecedented in history.
And yet in these latter days we have lost our first love. Since we are now turning our backs on You, we are in serious danger of losing Your blessing so that America ends up on the dust heap of history. Save us from our foolishness.”
Please pray for God’s intervention and His saving of America:
Prayer
“Thank you, Jesus for blessing us with Grace Fellowship Church. You love us. You called us out and brought us together in this special relationship with You and with one another. We are deeply grateful. Thank you.
We know we are not complete. We want to grow into the Body of Christ that You intend for us to become, so we are open to grow in our relationship with You and grow in numbers.
You have blessed us with an educated Pastor that loves us and is seeking to nurture us to see the purposes You have for us.
We ask that you strengthen his spirit and deepen his love for us, so he will have the resources to minister to Your glory and our benefit.”
Please pray for our church and our pastor:
Prayer
“We live in a fallen world, Father. We see that in the lives of those we care for. They struggle with their situations in the world. They struggle with afflictions in their bodies. The struggle to find employment, they struggle with finances.
Therefore, as You have laid the struggles of our loved ones on our hearts we now turn them over to You, with confidence in Your love to bring them through their struggles and into Your blessings.”
Please pray for the ones you love:
Prayer
“We need more of You Jesus. You love us and we love You. We acknowledge that too often we do not live in Your love. Manifest Your love in our lives to cure all our ills and bring us closer to You. Heal our diseases, Guide our prayers, strengthen our faith, and make us more like You, Lord.”
Please pray for yourselves:
Prayer
Join with me now in offering the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us, saying…
The Lord’s Prayer
All Together In One Accord
Group Prayer
January 27, 2013
Please offer your thanksgiving prayers for our oneness in Christ
Personal Prayer
Please offer your prayers
Personal Prayer
Please offer your prayers for those in need
Personal Prayer
Please pray for your selves.
Personal Prayer
Finally, our Lord God we offer the Prayer that You taught us, saying
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
