On Sunday Pastor Chris preached from Galatians 4:8–20. May we be committed to imitating Christ when we are tempted to turn back from the gospel.

Pray for Pastor Daniel as he prepares to preach this coming Sunday, February 1st.

Pray for healing for Bob and Diane in their continuing journey with cancer. 

Pray for all in our midst who are experiencing depression, disappointment, pain, anxiety, or grief. May we support one another in the darkness so that we will rejoice together in the light. 

Ask the Lord to bring new people to our Christianity Explored class as we resume on February 1st. May we be a congregation that more and more desires to reach our neighbors with the gospel. 

Pray for our Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies, our Youth Ministry, our Small Groups, and our Adult Sunday School. May we more and more become people of the Word. 

Pray for our Community Chat Potluck on February 15th. 

Pray for our Naperville Coffee & Classics group, which resumes on February 21. 

Please pray for the following events to invite and welcome people to NCC:

Coffee & Cannoli (February 1), Discover NCC Class (February 8), Membership Class #1 (February 15), Membership Class #2 (February 22). May people be drawn into our fellowship and be given the tools they need to be joyful and productive members of the NCC family. 

Pray for our scheduled Sisters Together events on February 7 and April 18. 

Pray for our NCC Forums as we set the schedule for this semester. We need wisdom. May we settle upon events that bless our community and draw people—including us—closer to Christ. 

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” —Genesis 12:1-3

God our Father, to remember your great story of redemption is the way of life and peace. So many stories compete for our hearts, our energy, our time and attention. This morning, help us see the drama of redemption—the narrative that connects all of history and names us as characters within it, through your Son.

We praise you for making promises to an unsuspecting pagan named Abram—promises you alone could keep. From beginning to end, your story is one of sovereign grace. Thank you for the promise of an inheritance. It began in the Garden, continued in Canaan, was inaugurated in your Son, and will culminate in the new heaven and new earth. Place and space matter to you. You have promised to redeem and restore your entire world. We praise you for the scope of your love, and for your power, which brings it to fruition.

Thank you for the promise of the seed. From one man, Abram, you created a great nation as the birth canal of the Messiah. You promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent—a victory that came in the fullness of time. Jesus entered the world to destroy the work of the devil, and he has triumphed. His cross and resurrection guarantee that, just like Abraham, we are counted righteous in your sight by faith. For this gospel, we praise you.

We realize, Father, that we often fail to believe the gospel. Instead of relying on you, we depend on ourselves, and forget your promises. In view of this and other offenses, we now come, silently confessing our sins to you. 

Thank you for T & R, our min partners, as they serve you abroad. 

Thank you for all our missionaries. Please bless them richly. It is your plan to redeem a family from ALL the families of the earth. For this, we praise you. 

Finally, we thank you, Father, that you have made us both characters in and carriers of your salvation story. May this morning's worship impress upon us the indescribable joy that comes from belonging to it—a joy we proclaim here in Naperville and to the ends of the earth. Amen.