Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 15 November 2009 Saturday, Nov 7 2009

MVOPC 15 November 2009 – Stephen Michaud preaching

Call to Worship: Psalm 95:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 12 “Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 24 (p. 791)

Hymn: 661 “As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams”

Hymn of Preparation: 57 “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul”

Old Covenant Reading:  Deuteronomy 10:12-22

New Covenant Reading:  Luke 15:11-32

Sermon Text:    Zephaniah 3:8-20

Sermon:  Sing, O Daughter of Zion!

Hymn of Response: 110 “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”

PM Worship: Psalm 92

Adult Sunday School: Fellowship Lunch – No Sunday School

Suggested Preparations

Monday (11/9) Read and discuss Zephaniah 3:8-20.  What happens when the LORD visits His people? The central message of Zephaniah deals with just such a visitation which is known as “the Day of the LORD”.  Historical Background: Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of good King Josiah (640-609 B.C.).  Part of what makes Josiah’s faithfulness so exceptional is how depraved Judah had become prior to his taking the throne.  Zephaniah strengthened the Josiah reformation by urging the inhabitants of Judah to repent, to seek the LORD, and to live in righteousness.  Judgment: The first thing that the Day of the LORD brings is judgment. In 1:12 the LORD says: “I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins.” With vigorous language, Zephaniah describes the devastating extent of God’s judgment.  Chapter three begins by declaring: “What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem, the city of violence and crime!” Deliverance: Surprisingly, as Zephaniah moves to 3:8 we see the LORD destroying Judah’s enemies and bringing about the restoration of His people. It is helpful to see the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace in this passage. As Alec Moyter puts it, “The whole promissory oracle rests on three first person singular verbs of divine action: ‘I will turn (3:9)’, ‘I will remove (3:11)’, ‘I will leave (3:12)’, with no explanation of how or why the Lord will so act.”  Division: So is the Day of the LORD a day of joy for all the inhabitants of Judah?  By no means!  This is one of many passages that anticipate Romans 11 which teaches that only those who trust God are truly Abraham’s children and heirs according to the promise.  In Zephaniah 3:11, God promises to “remove the proud and arrogant people from among (Judah)”.  This judgment of God is also an act of His grace.  For the covenant people will not simply be forgiven they will be purified “so that everyone can worship the LORD together (Zeph 3:9), … they “will no longer need to be ashamed (Zeph 3:11), … and, “The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will never tell lies or deceive one another. They will eat and sleep in safety, and no one will make them afraid (Zeph 3:13).”  God’s plan is not simply to gather a forgiven people to Himself, but a holy people into His family.  Zephaniah 3 tells us that God will ensure that this happens. Read or sing Hymn 12 “Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim”. Prayer:  Please pray for Exeter Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Exeter, NH that they would be effective in witnessing to the communities which surround their church.

Tuesday (11/10) Read and discuss Mark 6:1-6a. One of the dangers of Bible study comes from the fact that any form of study requires us to be making constant evaluations.  The danger comes when we think that it is our evaluation that matters most.  This passage reminds us that it is not our evaluation of Christ, but Christ’s evaluation of us, that ultimately matters most. The people who saw Jesus grow up in Nazareth knew that He was fully human.  The very grace of God in the Incarnation became a stumbling block for them.  They could not imagine that the man who framed a window in their house was really the one fulfilling Isaiah’s prophesies and whom they had to commit their lives to following.  Christ’s neighbors evaluated Jesus from a carnal point of view.  As a result they didn’t believe in Him.  According to verse 5, what did Christ’s neighbors miss out on because of their unbelief?  This should seem shocking to us, but it should also seem familiar.  People throughout history continue to say: “I will believe in Jesus if …” – as though Jesus needed to pass our tests to have the “privilege” of our trusting Him.  It is important to note that while Christ’s evaluation of us is the one that matters – it is not an evaluation of our performance.  The evaluation is not of who we are and what we have done but whether we are trusting Christ for who He is and what He has done. Rather than stumbling over those things that we don’t understand about Jesus, let us fully embrace Him for what He has clearly revealed Himself to be: Creator, Merciful High Priest, King of Kings, and Savior of the World. Prayer: Give thanks for what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit would cause you to walk increasingly by faith rather than by sight.

Wednesday (11/11) Read and discuss Deuteronomy 10:12-22. One approach to business management has been compared to bowling, only with this twist: The manager hangs a curtain in front of the pins so his employees can’t see what they are aiming out.  Then, after each employee attempts to hit the hidden pins, the manager shouts out how many pins he or she missed.  Amazingly, many people think of God like this.  They imagine that what the LORD wants us to do is a tremendous mystery and that He is eager to pounce on any of our mistakes.  This passage reveals the exact opposite to be true.  Moses is recounting how the LORD gave the law to Israel a second time – after they had rebelled in idolatry while Moses was receiving the first set of the Ten Commandments.  According to verses 12 and 13, does God keep what He requires of His people a mystery? Looking at verses 15 and 16, which comes first – God’s gracious provision or His expectations for His people? This principle is one you should be able to say while running out of a burning house – God’s provision always precedes His stipulations!  Therefore, whenever you see one of God’s commandments ask yourself this question: What promises of God’s provision do I need to trust in order to fulfill this commandment? According to this passage, why should Israel believe that all of God’s promised blessings will come true?  Hint: Look at verse 22! Read or sing Hymn: 661 “As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams”. Prayer: Please pray for Jonathan and Margaret Falk as they serve Christ in Uruguay.  Ask that He would open doors for teaching and preaching that they have not even considered.  Pray that clear Biblical teaching would spread throughout Uruguay to reform the existing churches and, through God’s grace, bring many new people into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thursday (11/12) Read and discuss Luke 15:11-32. God is far more gracious than we are.  In verse 12, the younger son makes an astonishing request: “Give me the money now that I would inherit when you die.” According to verse 13, what does the younger son then do with the money.  Jesus is drawing a picture of what unbelievers are like.  They want God’s gifts but, in rebellion against their Creator, they squander those gifts in destructive ways which ultimately brings about their own ruin.  Sin is so tempting when we are first approached by it, but consider how unattractive life becomes for those given over to sin. Ultimately, sin leads to death.  According to verse 17-19, what does the younger son say to himself when he finally comes to His senses? These words reflect both an awareness of how wrong his own behavior had been but also a deep appreciation for how good his father/Father was. At this point Jesus has the father do something that reveals the heart of God in a way that we would never have dared imagine.  “Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him”.  Many sinners imagine that if they repent (that is, if they are turned back to God) that God will scold them sternly for their behavior.  Jesus is saying, that isn’t the heart of God at all.  Anyone who truly turns to the LORD will find the warmest possible reception.  Indeed, it is God Himself who rejoices over the sinner who turns back to Him.  It is impossible to know how many people our heavenly Father has called to Himself through this revelation of His loving character.  Yet, that is not the end of the story.  The father has another son who is dutifully working out in the fields.  According to verses 28-30, how does the older son respond to his father’s generosity?  This is actually the main point in the parable!  Jesus is teaching those of us who are religious not to despise either the foulest sinners who return home nor the grace of our Father who rejoices in the presence of His angels when even a single sinner repents (Luke 15:10). There is also the very real danger of forgetting the amazing grace that God showers on those of us who have been Christians for many years.  In verse 29, does the older son rightly recognize the character and generosity of his father? What about you? Read or sing Hymn 57 “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul”. Prayer: Ask that the LORD would give us tender hearts toward the lost and toward the foulest sinners who are fleeing to Him.  Ask that He would make you and our church family a people who regularly display gratitude for the grace He has showered upon us in Jesus Christ.

Friday (11/13) Read and discuss Psalm 92. This is the only Psalm whose title identifies it as a Psalm for the Sabbath.  The fundamental idea of Sabbath is resting wholly in God.  In Psalm 92 this resting is specifically motivated by God’s faithfulness.  The LORD’s faithfulness can be seen in this psalm under three headings: (1) God is faithful in what He does for His people (v. 4); (2) God is faithful in destroying His and our enemies (v. 7, 9, 11); and (3) God is faithful in what He does in His people (v. 10, 12-14).  Today let’s look at the last of these causes for rejoicing.  Some Christians tend to think of God’s grace only in terms of becoming a Christian and then when the Christian dies.  Psalm 92 celebrates the LORD’s faithfulness in making us fruitful throughout our Christian lives – even into old age.  The image of the palm tree, in verse 12, as a simile for the Christian life is quite interesting.  The palm tree in the Middle East reaches maturity at around 30 years of age.  After this they tend to live another 70 years or so. In this sense, the date palm points to a good long life. Furthermore, unlike palms that you may have seen bent by hurricanes, in the Middle East they grow so straight that the Hebrew word for the date palm means “straight”.  Most importantly, the date palm produces between three and four-hundred pounds of dates each year.  The image is of a Christian who is remarkably fruitful throughout his whole life.  Why do they flourish? Christians flourish because we are united to the life-giving vine (John 15:1-17).  Therefore, according to v. 15, even in old age this life giving, fruit producing, sap continues to flow through the mature Christian.  Outwardly we may be fading away, but inwardly we are being renewed.  Regretfully, Christians in America have tended to conform our thinking to the secular culture.  We imagine that fruitful ministry is something done by the middle aged – and that young people and elderly people are primarily to be ministered to.  Let’s reform that mindset according to Scripture and realize that we are to be fruitful throughout our Christian lives.  It is interesting that carvings of palm trees adorned Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 6:32, 35; 7:36). Why not commit yourself today, to being a vehicle of God’s blessing until He takes you home? Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Pray for older Christians that you know that they would not “retire” from Christ’s service but abide in the Vine that Jesus would continue to bear much fruit through them.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would cause you to grow up straight and tall spiritually – and that He would produce all of the fruits of the Spirit through you.

Saturday (11/14) Read and discuss Zephaniah 3:8-20.  God gives us great cause to sing for joy.  Zephaniah 3:14 tells us:

“Sing, O daughter of Zion;

Shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

According to verse 15, what two acts of God should send us into these shouts of joy?  The first reason, that “the LORD will remove His hand of judgment” from sinners like us is indeed great news; but Biblically, forgiveness is never an end in itself.  The first goal of forgiveness is that the LORD will live with His people in an intimate personal relationship (“And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you!). Yet, there is a second and even more ultimate goal for God’s mercy than that it benefits us.  This can be observed if we pay attention to the literary structure of this passage.  Zephaniah is using the very common (in Hebrew) literary device called a chiasm.  A chiasm is simply “a pattern of words or concepts in which the first and last are similar, the second and next to last are similar, etc., making memorization easy (Douglas Stuart).”  If you look at verses 14-17 you will be able to identify this pattern:

A1 Zion rejoices over Yahweh (v. 14)

B1 Yahweh saves Zion (v. 15)

C1 Yahweh dwells in the midst of Israel (v. 15)

D Yahweh removes Zion’s fear (v. 15-16)

C2 Yahweh dwells in the midst of Israel (v. 17)

B2  Yahweh saves Zion (v. 17)

A2 Yahweh rejoices over Zion (17)

One common error (at least among pastors) to avoid is thinking that the middle of a chiasm is the main point.  This is simply wrong.  Often, the first and last things said in a chiasm are the most important.  A chiasm is simply a convenient literary device that aids in memorization.  It is always helpful to note what is different within a chiasm.  In Zephaniah 3:14-17 what stands out is the change from God’s people rejoicing in the LORD to the LORD rejoicing over God’s people. This is the astonishing thing that God is achieving through His mercy.  It is easy to see why we should rejoice in God, but the LORD so works in and on behalf of His people that He delights in us and glorifies Himself through our redemption. The ultimate goal of God’s mercy toward us is His own glory. Read or sing Hymn 110 “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”. Prayer:  Pray for Pastor Stephen Michaud who will be leading us in worship tomorrow.  Ask that the LORD would enable Pastor Michaud to preach with clarity and power.  Ask that the LORD would continue to mold Pastor Michaud into a faithful man of God.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 8 November 2009 Saturday, Oct 31 2009

MVOPC 8 November 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 119:1-24 (p. 829)

Hymn: 303 “Blessed Jesus, at Your Word”

Hymn of Preparation: 261 “What Wondrous Love Is This”

Old Covenant Reading:  2 Chronicles 36:1-16

New Covenant Reading:  1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon Text:  Mark 6:1-6a

Sermon:  Jesus the Prophet

Hymn of Response: 649 “More Love to Thee, O Christ”

PM Worship: Zechariah 11:4-14

Adult Sunday School: Luther the Reformer

Suggested Preparations

Monday (11/2) Read and discuss Mark 6:1-6a.  We confess that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.  This passage reminds us of just how fully God identified with us through the Incarnation.  Today we will look at that identification and, on Saturday, we will look at how Christ’s neighbors stumbled over this truth.  When Jesus came to His hometown, His neighbors said – isn’t He just one of us? On the one hand, verse 2 tells us that they were astonished at Christ’s teaching and the signs that He was doing.  On the other hand, they knew Him … didn’t they?  Wasn’t He a common worker (a carpenter/builder) like the rest of us?  It is interesting to notice that they don’t identify Jesus as the son of carpenter but as a carpenter. Our Lord would have learned to be a builder as an apprentice to Joseph and then He would have entered into this trade Himself.  Perhaps this business began as Joseph & Son, but soon it was just Jesus the carpenter.  The silence about Joseph in the New Testament suggests that he had died at least a few years before Jesus entered His public ministry.  On the good assumption that Jesus began His public ministry at around 30, this means that He probably worked as a carpenter/builder for at least 13 or 14 years – more than 4 times as long as His public ministry!  How completely did Jesus identify with us?  He took on a trade.  He made a living and helped support His family while His brothers and sisters were growing up. He would have been seen sweating as He carried building materials over His shoulder. Many people in Nazareth would have experienced Jesus as the reliable and honest worker who put an addition on their house or who replaced a cracked beam.  It is difficult to grasp this condescension on God’s part that He would walk so fully in our shoes.  Paradoxically, the very incarnation which apparently veiled Christ’s deity – also reveals what God is truly like.  Apart from the Incarnation, who would have ever believed that God would be gentle and willing to sacrifice Himself for sinners like us? Read or sing Hymn 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render”. Prayer:  Please pray for Hope Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, NH.  Like most Bible teaching churches in New England, Hope PCA is modest in size.  Over the past year several families have moved away without new visitors coming into the congregation.  Ask that the LORD would send people to Hope that would be blessed by becoming part of that church family and who would be a blessing to the congregation. Pray that the LORD would keep the congregation faithful and free of discouragement during this season of their church life.

Tuesday (11/3) Read and discuss Mark 5:21-43. This passage unfolds the climax of the three dramatic revelations of Christ around the Sea of Galilee.  As R.T. France put it, “Following his control over wind and water and over the most intimidating of demonic power, this pericope leaves the reader with the impression that nothing can be impossible for Jesus.” Yet, it is helpful to remember that, while we are in on the secret, Jairus hadn’t seen the two previous miracles.  As a ruler of a synagogue, Jairus would have been an important and probably affluent man in Capernaum; yet, according to verse 22, how does Jairus approach Jesus?  Why?  We aren’t told whether Jairus approached Jesus in genuine faith, or if he came to Christ in a sheer desperation, but he must have felt a surge of hope when Jesus agreed to return home with him … until Jesus was stopped by another person seeking help.  Jairus was wealthy and important while this other woman was poor and ceremonially unclean.  Which of them had a better claim on Jesus?  Actually, they had exactly the same claim upon Jesus that we do – none at all! Everything good that Chrsit does for anyone is entirely an act of His free grace. The astonishing power of Christ in healing a woman who had been ill for 12 years was exceeded only by His desire to enter into a personal face-to-face relationship with her.  Both of these things must have encouraged Jairus until the dreaded news came: “Your daughter is dead.”  This passage is sufficiently similar to the later death and resurrection of Lazarus that it is reasonable for us to understand that Jesus was intentionally delaying His journey until the girl died.  Why would He do this?  Well, it is one thing to see your daughter get better after someone lays his hands upon her and prays for her, but it is an entirely different category to see her raised from the dead.  According to verses 39 and 40, how did the crowd respond to Jesus’ claim that the girl was only sleeping?  By “sleeping”, Jesus didn’t mean that she hadn’t truly died (our LORD used the same expression for Lazarus when he had died).  He was simply indicating that death had not removed her permanently from this world.  Then, with great tenderness, Jesus restores Jairus’ daughter to life.  This victory over death is the climax of the miracles that Jesus performed around the lack.  While His command over nature and demons was dramatic, we know that death is the last enemy for us all. Praise God, that in Christ, “death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).” Prayer: The Session of MVPC is meeting this evening.  Please pray for the Session that they would make all decisions in accordance with God’s word upholding the unity of truth in the bonds of love.  Pray that God would grant wisdom to the Elders that they would help our congregation grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Give thanks to God for the spirit of unity and peace that we enjoy at MVPC and ask that He would preserve us from the foolish dissensions that all too frequently crop up in local churches.

Wednesday (11/4) Read and discuss 2 Chronicles 36:1-16.  At some point in your life you have probably wondered about what it would be like to be with one of the prophets or perhaps to have been one of the prophets yourself.  Frequently, when we envision such things, we imagine the LORD working through us in some dramatic way.  The actual day to day life of the prophets was far different from such fantasies.  God normally only sent His prophets at times of national crisis and widespread unbelief. Our passage today covers the two decades between Josiah’s death and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar.  Judah had been perpetually unfaithful to the LORD who had redeemed her and now He was breaking down the hedge of protection that He had built around her.  Left to herself, Judah was easy pickings for both Egypt (v. 3-5) and Babylon.  The chronicler evaluates the kings of Israel in verses 5, 8, 9, 12, and 13.  Do you notice a pattern?  How, according to verse 12, did Zedekiah respond to God’s word given to him through Jeremiah?  Indeed, the problem wasn’t simply with the kings.  According to verse 14-16, how did the priests and the people behave toward God?  It would be easy for us to walk away from this text and to treat it like a bit of ancient history.  Nevertheless, there are three ways in which we must apply it to ourselves today: (1) First, verse 15 reminds us of how long suffering God is toward His covenant people. This is something we should continually thank and praise God for. (2) Second, we should challenge ourselves to see that we are truly responding to God’s word.  The people of Judah mentioned in 2 Chronicles 36 didn’t cease to be religious.  What they ceased to be is faithful.  Let us heed their bad example and maintain tender hearts toward God. (3) God’s longsuffering is not a license for us to go on sinning.  Verse 16 tells us that the LORD finally abandoned His covenant people to judgment because of their rebellion against Him. As the Apostle Paul would later put it: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).” Read or sing Hymn: 303 “Blessed Jesus, at Your Word”. Prayer: Please pray for Ben and Heather Hopp as they serve Christ in Haiti.  Pray also for Daniel Lascaze who is a Deacon at Amoskeag Presbyterian Church in Manchester.  Daniel grew up in Haiti and will be traveling there at the end of the month to make preparations for a team from Amoskeag to do mission work there next summer.  Haiti remains a superstitious land that is hostile to the gospel.  Ask that the LORD would free many Haitians from the shackles of darkness by bringing them into the Kingdom of His Son.

Thursday (11/5) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. The Church in Corinth was a mess.  Because they had not reformed all of their thinking in light of Christ crucified, the Corinthians had made a mess of doctrine, worship, discipline, and their relationships. The way the Corinthians were living was out of step with their testimony that they had been redeemed entirely by the grace of God in Christ. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to set the Corinthians straight. As Frank Theielman put it, “Paul wants this church, divided because of the arrogance of its more powerful members, to work together for the advancement of the gospel. He wants them to drop their divisive one-upmanship, build up the faith of those who are weak, and witness effectively to unbelievers. In today’s passage, we witness the difficulty the Corinthians had in loosing the grip the city’s culture had upon them.  Corinth was one of the most economically and socially sophisticated cities in the ancient world.  It was also an area where both Jews and Gentiles scoffed at the idea of worshipping a crucified Messiah. According to verse 18, how is the message of the cross perceived by unbelievers? So, if we are telling and living in light of the message of the cross – how will unbelievers view us?  But here’s the problem: We don’t want the world to think that we are foolish.  The temptation we face, every bit as much as the Corinthians did, is to replace the message of the cross with an approach that the world can applaud and praise.  Why do you think that God carried out a plan of salvation that appears so contrary to human wisdom (v. 19-25)?  How does Paul answer that question in verses 28-29? Read or sing Hymn 261 “What Wondrous Love Is This”. Prayer: Please pray for the parents in our congregation.  Parenting in a fallen world is full of challenges (whether the children are infants, children, teens, or young adults getting established in the world).  Ask that we would be wise and faithful in raising our children in the fear and admonition of the LORD.

Friday (11/6) Read and discuss Zechariah 11:4-14. Last week we looked at the poetic portion of the chapter (v. 1-3) which speaks powerfully of the coming judgment upon Israel.  In verses 4-11, the reason and reality of this judgment is unpacked for us.  This prophecy, which is so clear to us in light of Christ’s fulfillment, may have been quite puzzling to those in Zechariah’s day.  As the LORD sometimes did with his prophets, He instructs Zechariah to act out a part which is meant to vividly convey a revelation to God’s people. Remarkably, Zechariah is to portray the part of the Good Shepherd Himself.  According to verse 5, what is the attitude of Israel’s current shepherds (Israel’s rulers/high priests) towards the sheep they are supposed to be taking care of?  Amazingly, the majority of these people prefer the wicked shepherds to the Good Shepherd.  The end of verse 8 puts it quite strongly – “they detested Me”.  As Mark 15:11-5 tells us:

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”

While this was a unique event in history, the mindset continues in our own day.  Do not many of our neighbors think that following Jesus is a type of bondage and yet look to Washington D.C. to deliver them from the struggles of life?  According to verse 6, how does God respond to the rejection of the Good Shepherd?  According to Zechariah 11:12-13, how highly did the people value the service (and life!) of the Good Shepherd?  Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave.  See Matthew 26:14-16; 27:3-10 for how this passage finds its fulfillment in the betrayal of Jesus. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  We are grateful that the LORD has continued to bring visitors to our congregation, yet we are also mindful of how few people in our area worship God at a Bible believing church every week.  Please ask that Christ would continue to build up His Church by bringing visitors to us and to the other Christ-centered Bible teaching churches throughout New England.

Saturday (11/7) Read and discuss Mark 6:1-6a. On Monday we looked at how fully Jesus had identified with us by working a trade in Nazareth.  This willingness to be a servant actually became a cause of stumbling for Christ’s neighbors.  Remember that Jesus was preaching about the Kingdom of God.  Specifically He was telling people to “repent, because the Kingdom of God is at hand”.  Human nature hasn’t changed.  Most people still find it easier to hear a celebrity evangelist such as Billy Graham tell them that they need to repent – than to have their neighbor call them to turn from the way they are living to trust in and follow Jesus Christ.  How much more must this have been the case with Jesus who, unlike Billy Graham, was calling people to repent on His own authority?  So Christ’s neighbors just couldn’t bring themselves to believe that the boy they had seen grown up, the young man who made them a door frame, could also be the Messiah the very Son of the Living God.  This passage in Mark parallels John 1:10-11: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”  According to Mark 6:5, what consequence did rejecting Jesus have for the people of Nazareth?  William Lane helpfully clarifies this text: “It was not Mark’s intention to stress Jesus’ inability when he states that he could perform no miracle to exercise his power in these circumstances. The performance of miracles in the absence of faith could have resulted only in the aggravation of human guilt and the hardening of men’s hearts against God. … Mark draws attention not to the limits of Jesus’ power but rather to the privations that result from unbelief.” Read or sing Hymn 649 “More Love to Thee, O Christ”.  Prayer:  Each of us has friends or relatives who do not yet know Jesus as their own Lord and Savior.  Ask the Lord of the Harvest to open their eyes and to grant them a clear and genuine conversion.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 1 November 2009 Saturday, Oct 24 2009

MVOPC   1 November 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Hymn of Praise: 32 “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 103 (p. 821)

Hymn: 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Hymn of Preparation: 167 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”

Old Covenant Reading:  Hosea 6:1-11

New Covenant Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:12-28

Sermon Text:  Mark 5:21-43

Sermon:  The Resurrection and the Life

Hymn of Response: 646 “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”

PM Worship: Zechariah 11:1-3

Adult Sunday School: Reformation History: The Early Luther

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/26) Read and discuss Mark 5:21-43.  Scholars call passages such as this one Markan sandwiches.  Mark frequently begins a story, interrupts it with another story, and then completes the original story.  The two narratives are then to be interpreted in light of each other.  Today we will begin by looking at the inside of the sandwich – the woman suffering with physical illness for 12 years.  We will look at the outside of the sandwich on Saturday. One twentieth century Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber, made quite a name for himself by distinguishing between I-It and I-Thou relationships.  An I-It relationship is the kind of relationship that you have with your computer or your car.  These things exist to be used by you.  There is nothing wrong with I-It relationships, but you wouldn’t want to have one with your children, parents, or spouse.  One of the terrible things that has happened in Western materialistic cultures is that we are prone to turn person to person (I-Thou) relationships into I-It relationships. Now, it is certainly possible that this desperate woman in our passage would have been quite happy to have an I-It relationship with Jesus if that resulted in her being healed. But Jesus isn’t happy with that sort of relationship. Jesus doesn’t want to simply be the hidden source of great things in our lives; He wants to have a vital relationship with His people.  This leads to something that can easily be misunderstood: Why does Jesus ask, “Who touched Me?” We should not jump to the conclusion that Jesus was startled by something and didn’t know what was happening.  Jesus, like His Father, often ask questions for other reasons.  For example, when God asks “Adam where are you?” it isn’t as though God had suddenly lost track of Adam and Eve’s location.  Furthermore, even if Jesus didn’t know exactly what had happened, He could have simply smiled to Himself and thanked His Father for healing whoever had touched Him – but then the healed woman would have remained in an I-It relationship with Jesus.  Christ asks this question to bring the woman into a face-to-face personal relationship with Him. In the Kingdom of God, miracles are never an end in themselves. They are a means of revealing who God is so that we will enter into a personal relationship with Him so that we will learn to trust Him more and more.  So Jesus does not address her as His patient but tenderly as daughter – with the affirmation that her trust in Him had saved her. Read or sing Hymn 32 “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. Prayer:  Please pray for our sister congregation in Jaffrey.  Several families in the small congregation are struggling with financial difficulties in this challenging economy – and this has also put pressure on the ability of the church to meet its financial obligations.  Pray for Pastor Stephen Migotsky and the Elders that they would faithfully minister to those who are hurting and that they would not lose heart over the challenges that the congregation is facing.

Tuesday (10/27) Read and discuss Romans 6:15-23. When adults convert to following Christ, they usually experience a period where trying to follow Jesus is filled with great joy and very little internal struggle.  Why should that be?  One aspect of this reality is that the new adult convert is so intensely aware of what he or she has been liberated from that obedience to Christ feels like the freedom that it truly is.  The trouble comes when we forget our former bondage or take our deliverance for granted.  When we do this we become easy prey to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. According to verses 17 and 18, what does Paul believe to be true of those he is writing to in Rome?  The importance of this fact is that Paul is writing to Christians. Yet, according to verse 19, although, in Christ, we have been set free from bondage to sin – we still have “natural inclinations (literally: “the weakness of your flesh”).  This is the reality of the Church militant. We have been justified, we are being sanctified, but we are not yet glorified. We are a pilgrim people precisely because we have not yet arrived.  This means that our conflict with sin is not only out there in the world, but within the heart and mind of every Christian.  Thankfully we can press on with joy and absolute confidence.  Christ has already died to pay for our service to sin.  If you trust in Him, you already have received the gift of new life symbolized by a pure white garment.  Let’s not take off those garments and roll around in the mud. Prayer: Please pray Mid-Cities Presbyterian Church in Bedford, Texas.  Mid-Cities is a fairly recent church plant of the OPC.  Recently they called Joe Troutman to be their first pastor. Please pray that the LORD would bless Joe and Jennifer Troutman as Joe serves the congregation in Bedford.  As that there would be peace within the congregation and a Christ given graciousness to all who would visit their congregation.

Wednesday (10/28) Read and discuss Hosea 6:1-11.  Hosea 6 contains two short speeches.  In verses 1-3, Hosea addresses the people as a fellow Israelite.  In verses 4-11, the LORD directly addresses His people. Hosea was given one of the most unusual and personally challenging roles ever given to any of the LORD’s prophets.  In order to picture the faithlessness of Israel, God commanded Hosea to take a wife of prostitution.  Hosea then had to suffer from the unfaithfulness of his wife in order to represent the way the LORD endured the unfaithfulness of His chosen people.  Hosea 5 ends by announcing God’s judgment upon His rebellious people.  Yet, Israel foolishly responds to God’s chastisement by turning to Assyria rather than back to the LORD who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  How should they have responded? As chapter 6 begins, Hosea is exhorting his fellow countrymen to return to Yahweh and to be healed.  According to verse 3, how likely is it that the LORD will heal those sinners who turn to Him?  This is a wonderful message that you can hold out to all your unbelieving friends and relatives.  No matter what they have done, if they turn to the LORD, He will heal them. Yet the condition in Israel is so desperate that, starting with verse 4, even God seems to be despairing of them.  According to verse 6, God desires steadfast love from His people. According to verse 4b, how steadfast was the love that Israel was displaying toward the LORD?  How steadfast is your love toward Him? The end for those who trust in Him will be a harvest of joy; but for those who continue to stubbornly resist the Living God – Hosea promises a harvest of judgment (v. 11).  Read or sing Hymn: 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”. Prayer: Please pray that the LORD would continue bringing visitors to our congregation and that we would make us aware of fresh opportunities to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

Thursday (10/29) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 15:12-28. First Corinthians contains a lengthy section where Paul is simply going point by point correcting errors in doctrine or practice that he has heard exist within the Church at Corinth.  The problem is quite straightforward.  Some members of the Corinthian church were denying the resurrection (v. 12).  It is helpful to remember that Corinth is a city in Greece and most of the congregation would have absorbed parts of the Greek philosophical tradition without even thinking about it.  One strikingly anti-Biblical aspect of much Greek philosophy is that it denigrated the physical in favor of the spiritual.  Some Greeks actually referred to the human body as a tomb that was encasing and holding down the person’s spirit.  The ultimate goal in such a worldview was to become liberated from this tomb as a disembodied spirit. Paul engages the Corinthians with a simple argument. If there is no resurrection of the body è then Christ wasn’t bodily raised either (v. 16).  According to verses 17-19, what are the consequences for believers if Christ has not been raised? The surprising thing, given the Biblical emphasis on the bodily resurrection of both Christ and believers, is that the resurrection has frequently been marginalized in Christian thinking.  In our own day it is still common to hear Christians speak about souls being saved instead of people being saved.  Furthermore, if you ask many Christians for their view of life after death – they rarely get past heaven.  But as Bishop N.T. Wright likes to put it, “Heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world.” Here is a glorious truth: Christ is not rescuing disembodied souls from a sinking ship as though the material creation wasn’t good. The victory of Jesus Christ over Satan, sin, and death on behalf of His people includes the promised redemption of all creation.  As Paul says elsewhere, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:22-23)”.  The twin pledges we have for this sure hope are that (1) Christ has already been bodily raised and glorified in history; and (2) God has given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment of the redemption to come. Read or sing Hymn 167 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”. Prayer: Let us lift up Brian and Dorothy Wingard and Brian’s work at Knox Theological College in Mbale, Uganda.  Knox Theological College exists primarily to train men for the gospel ministry.  It is difficult for Americans to realize how limited the access for this sort of training is in many parts of the world; but many ministers in Africa literally have no training at all.  Please pray that the LORD would use this strategically located college to fill churches in Uganda with sound biblical teaching.

Friday (10/30) Read and discuss Zechariah 11:1-14. We will only be looking at the first three verses this week, but they will make more sense in light of the following verses. Lebanon, with its beautiful mountains and fruitful valleys, exemplified strength and fertility within the Jordan Valley. Bashan, like Lebanon, was also known for its excellent timber.  The two lands are often spoken of as a pair.  Here they represent people who will be desolated by the judgment God will bring on those who reject the Good Shepherd. The picture is quite vivid. Yahweh is saying that though they were known for their fruitfulness – that fruitfulness will be devoured by fire.  In light of the passages we have been looking at over the past few weeks, and the fulfillment of those prophesies in history, it is quite likely that we can accurately identify what this judgment refers to:

1. Zechariah 9:1-8 refers to the invasion of the land by Alexander the Great (circa 330 B.C.).
2. Zechariah 9:11-13 refers to the Maccabean revolt (circa 166 BC) when God strengthened Israel to remarkably through off its foreign oppressors.
3. Zechariah 10 speaks of the coming of the Good Shepherd.
4. Zechariah 11:1-3 speaks about a judgment that will happen around the time of the coming of the Good Shepherd (this will be unpacked as we work through the rest of the chapter together).

Interestingly, even many Rabbis see this prophecy as finding its fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. – but they miss that Jesus is the Good Shepherd! Biblically, the judgment upon ethnic Israel which largely rejects its Shepherd can be seen in the Olivet Discourse.  Right up to His death, Jesus was warning of this judgment.  Take a moment to mediate upon the following poignant words of Jesus and remember that our long-suffering Lord had been giving this warning for four and a half centuries beginning with Zechariah chapter 11. As Jesus was being taken away to be crucified, “there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  This evening Pastor Reynolds will be giving a Reformation Day lecture at Amoskeag Presbyterian Church in Manchester. Ask that our Lord would give us thankful hearts for the restoration that He brought about during the Protestant Reformation.  Pray for this evening’s lecture that the learning and warm fellowship would build up believers in our area.  Be bold enough to ask that Christ would send a New Reformation in our own day.

 

Saturday (10/31) Read and discuss Mark 5:21-43. On Monday we looked at the healing of the woman suffering physically for 12 years, today we will look at the healing of Jairus’ daughter.  Jairus was the ruler of a synagogue.  Normally this would have meant that he was relatively affluent and influential both in the synagogue and in the town. Yet, Jairus comes to Jesus in complete humility and begs him for help.  That is the way any of us would respond if our child was near death.  In reading verse 23, do you think that Jairus had faith in Jesus?  It must have been a great relief to this father for Jesus to immediately agree to his request, but on the way Jesus stops to help a woman who had been sick.  On the inside Jairus must have been torn with emotion over the delay.  Couldn’t this woman wait until after Jesus saved his dying daughter?  Verse 35 tells us that “while he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the house of Jairus, …” with the dreadful news that his daughter was dead.  According to verse 36, how does Jesus tell Jairus to respond to this news?  What would responding without fear and in faith look like in a situation such as this?  When they arrive at Jairus’ home the response of the crowd is instructive.  They laugh at Jesus.  When Christ commanded the sea to be quiet, His Disciples responded with fear that would be turned to reverential awe.  When Jesus cast the legion of demons out of a man, the crowd begged Him to depart because the dreaded to be in your presence.  Both of these responses involve recognizing Jesus for who He truly was.  But to laugh at Jesus isn’t simply a sign of unbelief; it is a sign of not knowing anything about who He really is.  How difficult it must have been for Jairus to try to hold onto faith while hearing the crowd’s mocking laughter.  Yet, when Jesus astonished the crowd by raising the girl from her death – I can’t help but think that Jairus learned entirely new dimensions of faith.  The promises of men can fail, but the word of our LORD endures forever. Read or sing Hymn 646 “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”. Prayer:  Ask the LORD that he would open the hearts of any unbelievers who worship with us tomorrow morning that they would be soundly converted to trusting in Christ alone.  Ask that the LORD would cause us to enter fully into the rest that He provides on His Sabbath day.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 25 October 2009 Saturday, Oct 17 2009

MVOPC 25 October 2009 – Pastor Stephen Migotsky (Jaffrey OPC) preaching

Call to Worship: Hebrews 12:18-24

Hymn of Praise: 12 Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim

Responsive Reading: Psalm 51 (p. 804)

Hymn: 529 Love Divine All Loves Excelling

Hymn of Preparation: 654 O Jesus, I Have Promised

Old Covenant Reading:  Ezekiel 14:1-5

New Covenant Reading:  John 1:12-17

Sermon Text:  Romans 6:15-23

Sermon:  “Who Is Your Master?”

Hymn of Response: 598 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

PM Worship: Zechariah 10:8-12

Adult Sunday School: “Idols of the Heart” from Ezekiel 14:1-5 and other texts.

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/19) Read and discuss Romans 6:15-23.  Slavery is an ugly word.  American slavery was particularly evil in that it involved man-stealing, the breaking up of families, and the merchandizing of human beings as living tools. Yet, though we despise the idea that someone else might enslave us – fallen human beings regularly bring themselves into bondage.  Today we often label such bondage as addiction.  Common addictions include the relatively benign addiction to caffeine and the quite dangerous addiction to nicotine. But the greatest bondage of all is fallen man’s bondage to sin.  How do you know how much power an addiction has over you?  Try to stop.  In fact, this is a good exercise for Christians with things that are not wrong in themselves.  Try taking a break from television, talk radio, or simply talking very much for two weeks.  If we find this difficult to do that means that we are to a degree in bondage to such things rather than simply enjoying them or using them to the glory of God.  In this passage Paul says that, as creatures, we will all be serving something – the only question is whether we are serving the LORD who liberates us and builds us up or anything else which will ultimately lead to our destruction.  Of course, unrepentant sinners will always chaff at the instruction (Torah) of God as though it drains the joy out of life.  Their rallying cry throughout the centuries is “at least I’m free!”  Paul says – not so fast.  “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness (v. 16)?” You may be able to give up T.V. for a week, or even give up smoking; but ask the non-Christian to give up coveting for a week and he will discover just how great his bondage to sin really is.  Shockingly, the perversity of fallen man is such that unrepentant sinners try to turn the good news of Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death, on behalf of His people into a license to keep sinning (v. 15). But according to verses 17 and 18, what happens to our bondage to sin when God gives us new life and faith in Jesus Christ? Read or sing Hymn 12 Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim. Prayer: The Presbytery of New York and New England is meeting today and tomorrow at Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Rockport, Maine.  There is an unusually heavy workload for this presbytery.  The items most likely to have a long term impact on the church are deliberations over a proposed revision to the Directory for Public Worship, the licensing of men to preach, and the possible ordination of men to be Ministers of the Word.  Pray for the safety of those who are traveling to Rockport from throughout New England.  Pray that all things would be done in accordance with God’s word and that this meeting of Presbytery would bring glory to God.

Tuesday (10/20) Read and discuss Mark 5:1-20. One of the important disciplines in Bible study is to work at seeing how passages fit together.  After all, Mark didn’t simply write an isolated paragraph – he wrote a book.  This passage is the middle of three passages that together are painting a portrait of who Jesus is.  On the one hand, in all three passages Jesus is bringing Shalom into situations where there is pain and chaos (a life threatening storm; demonic possession; illness and even death).  On the other hand, we remember that when Jesus calmed the storm His disciples’ first response was to become even more afraid, asking: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  How does this sense of awe/fear carry over into today’s passage?  The first answer is fairly obvious, the demons are terrified that Jesus is bringing them into judgment (v. 7). They recognize who He is – and that knowledge horrifies them. Second, notice that when the people from the surrounding area realize what Jesus has done they become afraid (v. 15) and they beg Jesus to depart (v. 17).  This is sometimes described as though it were an irrational response on the part of these men.  Yet, while all sin is tainted with irrationality, this is a rather rational response for those who will not repent.  Sinners understandably want to keep the Holy God as far away from them as possible.  In the modern west this is done primarily in two ways.  First, we imagine a god who is far away.  If He is watching us at all, as the popular song put it, He “is watching us … from a distance.”  Second, we try to imagine a god who is far from holy.  The god created and portrayed by modern westerners would never destroy our factories or farms to deal with sin (i.e. send 2,000 pigs into the abyss).  The god we desire is simply someone who occasionally dispenses gifts and always had warm feelings toward everyone.  How different is this god from the Living God who has revealed Himself to us.  It turns out that the response of those begging Jesus to depart from them may be more perceptive than a country who prints “IN GOD WE TRUST” on our currency.  But let us not forget that Jesus did graciously deliver one man from demon possession.  And through that man He sowed His word so that the next time He went to that region at least 4,000 people gathered to hear Him teach.  While “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31),” we must remember what Christ’s mission was.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).” Prayer: With unemployment around ten percent, along with the sharp decline in housing prices, there are many people struggling with the difficult economy.  Please pray for the members and friends of our congregation who are wrestling with their finances.  Ask that the LORD would not only provide to meet their needs, but that in the midst of difficulties He would stretch and strengthen the faith of His people.

Wednesday (10/21) Read and discuss Ezekiel 14:1-5.  Whose word do we listen to? That is the key question in Ezekiel 13-14.  Do we place our trust in God’s word alone (Sola Scriptura), the word of anyone other than God alone (pure idolatry), or God’s word and the word of anyone other than God (syncretism)?  Which of these three categories best describes the “certain Elders” who have come to sit before God’s prophet Ezekiel?  Since they are coming to the prophet of Yahweh, it would be wrong to identify them as pure idolaters.  Yet, while outwardly showing deference to Yahweh, they had divided loyalties with idolatry in their hearts.  This is what is meant by syncretism.  Have you ever wondered why God hates syncretism so much? What does it say about God as Father when His children seek their good partly from God and partly from other so called gods? Such behavior is broadcasting a message: the LORD isn’t sufficient. This is a perversion of our chief end of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. The Reformation slogan of Sola Scriptura is not the hair-splitting position of a few Reformed theologians – it is biblically grounded in the desire that God would receive all of the glory (Sola Deo Gloria). What makes the matter even worse in our passage is that it is “certain of the Elders” who are behaving in this way.  Those who have been privileged to be in a leadership role among the LORD’s people were declaring by their actions that God was not sufficient for them. You may have had a bit of difficulty understanding a phrase in verse 4 – “I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols.” This expression is clarified in verses 7-8 where “I the Lord will answer him myself” is defined as “I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord”.  That is, the LORD will bring judgment upon such men.  But here is the amazing part, according to verse 5, why will the LORD judge this behavior? The LORD is pledging to judge syncretism in order to turn the hearts of His people back to Himself.  This is the intent of all judicial discipline in the life of the Church.  We are to seek to uphold Christ’s righteous standards in order that those wandering from Him will be turned to embrace the LORD in the Spirit and in truth. Read or sing Hymn: 529 Love Divine All Loves Excelling. Prayer: Please pray for our missionaries Al and Laurie Tricarico who are serving in Nakaale, Uganda.  Ask that the LORD would give them steadfastness and progress as they study the Karimojong language to be able to more effectively present the gospel among the Karimojong people.

Thursday (10/22) Read and discuss John 1:12-17. Cur Deus Homo? Why the God man? More than 900 years ago St. Anselm wrote a book by that title.  His fundamental argument was that God, having decided to redeem mankind, was committed to the Incarnation and substitutionary death of His Son because: (1) Since man had committed the offense of sinning against God, justice demanded that only man should pay the penalty; but (2) The weight of Adam’s sin, and the sin of all those who would be redeemed, against an infinitely holy God was so great – that only God could pay the debt.  Therefore the Redeemer had to be both fully God and fully man.  Whatever you think of Anselm’s argument, John lays out the purpose for the Incarnation so clearly that small children can grasp it while the most sanctified Christian can continue to marvel at its profundity. Verse 12 tells us that “to all that received Him, He gave the right to become children of God.” According to verse 13, do those who chose to receive God have something to boast about? God tells us that their new life was “not of blood” (i.e. not of human decent or ethnicity); but according to the rest of the verse – could it be of our free will? No, it is by grace alone (“of God” and “not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man”).  That Christ came as a sheer act of grace and to heap grace upon us is emphasized in verse 16.  The only part of this passage that is challenging to understand is verse 17.  According to verses 16-17, what is the relationship between what God gave through Moses and what God gave through Jesus Christ?  It is important to avoid thinking that God gave something bad through Moses (“the law”) which was replaced by something good (“grace”).  The Bible repeatedly speaks of the law as a precious gift from God.  As David puts it in Psalm 119:97 “Oh how I love Your law, it is my meditation all day long!” A better way to see this relationship between what God gave through Moses and what He gave through the person and work of Christ is to see law (Torah) as God’s instruction.  It is precious and valuable, but in itself it does not have the power to change you from being a sinner into a child of God.  The problem isn’t in the law, which is perfect, but in us – because we are sinners.  Therefore, although the law is holy and good – left to ourselves we are powerless to fulfill it.  Paul teaches this explicitly in Romans 8:3-4: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. So why did God become man? He came to actually redeem a people.  He did not come merely to make salvation possible, but to make it actual.  He came not simply to offer better advice, but to wash away the sins of His people; He gave us new life that we would become the children of God. Read or sing Hymn 654 O Jesus, I Have Promised. Prayer: Please pray for OPC ministers Lane Tipton and Carl Trueman who teach at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.  The past few years have been difficult ones for the seminary.  The school has reasserted its commitment to being a confessionally Reformed seminary which led to the departure of some faculty members.  Westminster Seminary continues to be an important center of education for many pastors within the OPC.  Ask that the LORD would enable professors Tipton and Trueman to impart a deep love of God’s word to their students.  Help them to show forth the beauty and joy of an orthodoxy that follows God’s ways without turning away to either the right or the left.

Friday (10/23) Read and discuss Zechariah 10:8-12. In response to centuries of rebellion, God had sent His chosen people into captivity.  First He used Assyria as the rod of His judgment against the northern tribes of Israel in 722 B.C.  Even though the southern tribes of Judah saw the judgment God poured out upon the northern tribes, they continued to engage in idolatrous behavior.  So the LORD sent Judah into the Babylonian exile in 586 B.C. Through Zechariah God is promising to re-gather the people whom He has scattered.  The image in verse 8 is of a shepherd who is whistling to gather his sheep.  This isn’t any ordinary shepherd; He is the Good Shepherd who has also redeemed His people.  We see an initial fulfillment of this passage in John 10:27 where Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  Of course, the greater fulfillment occurs after our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection which Jesus also prophesied about in John 12:32, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” These truths can help us understand where we are in God’s plan for history.  The Church is not God’s returned from exile people.  We should not expect the conditions of the New Heavens and the New Earth until after Christ comes again.  On the other hand, we are not a people who are still in exile.  There is a strand of thought within the Reformed world that sees the Church as a people in exile and tells us to live in this world in the same way that Old Testament saints like Daniel lived in Babylon.  This can have significant ramifications in terms of if and how we engage the broader culture as Christians outside of the Church. Yet, living after the Good Shepherd has come, we are in the process of being returned from exile and therefore enjoy, and are intended to reflect, some aspects of the age-to-come right now.  What central Old Testament event is being brought to mind in verse 11?  This means that the same power which God displayed in the original Exodus will be used in the New Exodus for gathering people out of darkness into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Unlike the Exodus from Egypt, which delivered the people physically; what does God promise in verse 12 that He will do with the people in the New Exodus?  The New Exodus which Jesus accomplishes for His people will be greater in both scope and quality than the First Exodus. Recite the Apostle’s Creed. Prayer:  Please pray for our brothers and sisters at First Presbyterian Church in Ipswich, MA.  Over the past few years First Presbyterian has been seeking out ways to plant new congregations in the communities in the region near their current location.  We are blessed to worship as part of a congregation that was planted by First Pres more than 20 years ago.  Ask that the LORD would open doors for their efforts to plant new churches that would be effective in evangelizing local communities.  Ask that the LORD would encourage our brothers and sisters at First Pres to not needlessly delay this important outreach.

Saturday (10/24) Read and discuss Romans 6:15-23. All of Romans chapter 6 is an argument in support of the proposition that those justified by God’s gift ought to lead to righteous living.  Today let us just think about the last verse which summarizes the chapter. Romans 6:23 is a verse that every Christian should memorize: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There are three pairs in verse 23 that every person needs to understand:

Sin                   vs.        God

Wages             vs.        Gift

Death              vs.        Life

Having demonstrated that everyone is either serving sin or God, the obvious question to ask is which of them is the better master.  It turns out that sin pays wages for our service. Wages are something that we earn. Everyone who serves sin gets exactly what they deserve – death.  What wages does God pay? It turns out, in spite of what our firs grade teachers told us, that this really is a stupid question. No one ever has or could put God into his or her debt. God never pays wages to anyone who serves Him. As Jesus says in Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Even the most faithful saint of all time never put God into his debt for a single moment.  This truth not only magnifies God’s glory – but it is the best news we could possibly hear.  In Christ, God gives us astonishingly more than we could ever hope to earn and He lavishes it upon us to the degree that He is generous rather than to the extent that we are worthy. Death is the wager earned by those who serve sin.  Life is a gift received by those who serve God.  Choose life! Read or sing Hymn 598 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. Prayer: We are privileged to have Pastor Stephen Migotsky with us tomorrow morning to preach and to lead in worship.  Pastor Migotsky served for a year at Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church prior to being called to pastor in Jaffrey, NH where he has served for a decade.  Pray that the LORD would bless His word as it is preached in Merrimack.  Ask that the LORD would also use this time to encourage Pastor Migotsky in his work as a Minister of the Word.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 18 October 2009 Saturday, Oct 10 2009

MVOPC 18 October 2009 – LORD’s SUPPER

Call to Worship: Psalm 106:1

Hymn of Praise: 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render”

Confession of Sin:

Most merciful God, Who are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised forgiveness to all those who confess and forsake their sins;  We come before You with a humble sense of our own unworthiness, acknowledging our manifold transgressions of Your righteous laws.  But, O gracious Father, Who desires not the death of a sinner, look upon us, we beseech You, in mercy, and forgive us all our transgressions.  Make us deeply sensible of the great evil of them;  And work in us a hearty contrition;  That we may obtain forgiveness at Your hands, Who are ever ready to receive humble and penitent sinners; for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer.  Amen.

Hymn: 101 “Come, Thou Almighty King”

Hymn of Preparation: 103 “Holy God, We Praise Your Name”

Old Covenant Reading:  Psalm 2:1-12

New Covenant Reading:  Revelation 6:1-17

Sermon Text:  Mark 5:1-20

Sermon:  Christ the Conqueror

Hymn of Response: 164 “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”

PM Worship: Zechariah 10:3-7

Adult Sunday School: Lord’s Supper and Fellowship Meal – No Adult SS

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/12) Read and discuss Mark 5:1-20.  It is always helpful to read a passage of Scripture in light of its immediate context. Regretfully, chapter divisions (which were not part of the original documents) can sometimes obscure the connections.  A much better chapter division would have been at the beginning of Mark 4:35 which initiates a sequence of three encounters in Christ’s ministry with the same fundamental message: Jesus is bringing shalom.  Shalom is a helpful word to understand.  Primarily it means peace, but it means more than the absence of conflict.  Shalom includes the idea of the restoration of well-being.  In Mark 4:35ff Jesus overcame the terrifying forces of nature with shalom by calming the sea.  In Mark 5:1-20 Jesus brings shalom to a man who is possessed by demons and in the following passage Jesus brings shalom to a woman plagued with illness and climatically to a family whose child had died (by raising her from the dead).  Reading these three narratives together helps us to see the portrait they are painting of Jesus more clearly.  Of the three passages, this week’s passage (the second in the sequence) is the one that modern Western thinkers have the most problem with.  Oddly, many people today dismiss the reality of demons and assume that people in the first century were naively attributing medical problems to demonic activity.  Actually, anyone reading the gospels can see how carefully demonic activity is distinguished from medical conditions.  Furthermore, no one has been able to explain what medical condition (illness?) would give the man in this passage the power to break the chains with which people tried to bind him.  This clearly reflects a supernatural activity.  Christ’s triumph over thousands of demons (like his ability to silence a raging storm at sea in the previous story) reveals that he is far more than just another good Jewish teacher.  He is the Lord of all. Read or sing Hymn 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render”. Prayer: Please pray for Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls, Texas.  Wichita Falls is located in northern Texas and has a population of a little over a hundred thousand people.  Pastor Todd and Karin Dole are friends with our congregation as Todd completed a four year internship at MVPC prior to being called to Grace Presbyterian. Pray that the LORD would cause the congregation to grow in faith and love.  Ask that Christ would use Grace Presbyterian to effectively proclaim His grace to the city of Wichita Falls.  Pray that the Lord would provide financially for the congregation as they have been struggling during this difficult period in the economy.

Tuesday (10/13) Read and discuss Mark 4:35-41.  It is rightly said that “the prospect of imminent death focuses the mind wonderfully.” But what does the mind focus on at a time like that? Certainly one of the most remarkable accounts of any Christian facing imminent death occurs in Acts chapter 12.  King Herod had imprisoned and executed James – who was a very prominent leader in the Jerusalem Church.  When he found out how much killing James pleased the Jewish leaders, Herod had Peter arrested as well.  That very night the LORD sent an angel to rescue Peter. Do you remember what the angel had to do?  He had to wake Peter up.  Peter was sleeping!  How can a person calmly take a nap when starring death in the face? Of course, this can only be done by grace.  Yet, John Newton had the order exactly right:

“Tis grace that taught my heart to fear, tis grace that fear relieved.”

In order to bring us to the place where we can rest fully in His grace, Jesus must first bring us through trials.  Mark 4:35-41 is about the grace of teaching our hearts to fear. According to verse 35, who is it that leads the disciples into the storm (“Let us go across to the other side”)? This helpfully reminds us that following Jesus does not guarantee smooth sailing.  It should also encourage us that suffering hardships and tribulations does not necessarily mean that we have taken a wrong turn.  Sometimes faithfulness to Jesus is what leads us into harm’s way.  After the Disciples wake Jesus; He rebukes the storm and then He rebukes His Disciples for their lack of faith.  We are naturally anticipating that the Disciples would be greatly relieved and comforted by the calming of the storm – but our instincts fail us at this point.  There is something far more terrifying than being at the mercy of impersonal forces and that is to be a sinner in the hands of the Holy God who is sovereign over every square inch of the Universe.  One danger in reading short portions of Scripture is that we can draw the wrong conclusions because we don’t read it in light of the whole story of Scripture.  The goal of this event in the life of the Disciples was not to leave them terrified.  Instead God was unfolding a three-stage process of sanctifying them: (1) The Disciples were terrified by the storm. (2) The Disciples were terrified by the God-man Jesus Christ. (3) The Disciples came to truly understand that Jesus Christ was for them by His substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.  Ultimately it is God’s perfect love for us in Christ that casts out our fear. Prayer: Pray for the work of the Psalter-Hymnal Composition Committee.  It would be difficult to exaggerate the impact a hymnal has on the life of a church.  As the Psalter-Hymnal that is being developed will likely be used for multiple generations – let us ask the LORD to cause this project to bring great glory to Himself as it builds up His people. May the arrangements of the Psalms rightly communicate their original meaning to us in the twenty-first century; and may all the hymns chosen be fully orthodox and those which will best lead us to rightly worship our Savior and King.

Wednesday (10/14) Read and discuss Psalm 2:1-12.  In Genesis 12 God promises Abraham that He will bless those who bless him, and curse those who curse him.  This promise is rooted in the nature and office of Abraham’s Seed – Jesus Christ.  Ultimately all of humanity will be divided into those who are crushed as Christ’s enemies and those who have been redeemed by His blood and brought into His family as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Psalm 2 begins with the nations raging against the LORD and His Anointed – and therefore bringing cursing upon themselves as God had promised to Abraham. The Psalm has four evenly balanced sections:

Verses 1-3:      The nations rebel against the LORD and His Anointed

Verses 4-6:      The LORD responds to His opponents

Verses 7-9:      The Messianic tells what the LORD has promised to Him

Verses 10-12:  The Psalmist tells the nations how they should respond

If we focus on verses 4-6, we might be tempted to read this Psalm primarily as a Psalm of judgment.  But the announcement of the coming judgment is actually a gracious warning and call to repentance.  The purpose of the Psalm is to comfort God’s people by reminding them that God’s plans are never hindered by the evil rulers of this world and that the LORD’s Messiah will eventually possess the nations to the end of the earth (v. 8). It is true that the nations will only find lasting peace and joy when they submit to the LORD and His Messiah; but that is precisely what this Psalm is calling all who hear it to do. “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him (v. 12).” Read or sing Hymn: 101 “Come, Thou Almighty King”. Prayer: Please pray for Bob and Martha Wright in Nakaale, Uganda.  Pray for the teaching and outreach ministries with which they are working.  Ask that the diaconal work would be used to assist the Karamojan people to develop the work skills needed to improve their living conditions and that it would be a bridge to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Thursday (10/15) Read and discuss Revelation 6:1-17. The book of Revelation was given to encourage Christians to be faithful in the face of persecution. In chapter 5 a sealed scroll was introduced.  The scroll is like a dramatic script which unveils God’s plans for the world.  No one was found worthy to open this scroll, until the startling appearance of Jesus Christ who appeared as a Lamb that had been slaughtered but also as one with great authority (5:6 ff).  In chapter 6, we see Jesus breaking the seals and opening the scroll (6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12).  This should comfort us because it reminds us that our Lord and Savior literally holds history in His own hands.  The six-fold revelation that comes from opening these seals has a single message: the Lord will vindicate His people and judge His enemies. As the Shorter Catechism puts it in Q/A 26 “Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” Some Christians try to flatten out who Jesus because they don’t like to see Jesus as a warrior who brings judgment.  Yet, verse 2 tells us that “(Jesus) rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.” Let us bow in wonder before all that Jesus is and does; and let us remember that the destruction of Christ’s enemies is the salvation of His people. Read or sing Hymn 103 “Holy God, We Praise Your Name”.  Prayer: Please pray for tomorrow’s special meeting of the Presbytery in Upton, MA.  Immanuel Chapel in Upton is being received into our Presbytery as a congregation of the OPC.  Pray that their transition to being part of a Presbytery would go smoothly and that being part of a connectional church would be a great encouragement to the congregation.

Friday (10/16) Read and discuss Zechariah 10:3-7. This passage continues the theme of focusing on God as the Good Shepherd.  Last week (10:1-2) we looked at the contrast between the Living God as Good Shepherd and the false gods of idolatry. This week begins with the contrast is between the Good Shepherd and the false under-shepherds – that is the priests and civil rulers in Israel who fail to live up to their holy calling.  According verse 3, what does the Lord feel toward these shepherds who are not walking in His ways? Thankfully God’s plan is not merely to judge the false leaders but to replace them. God is putting out a clear sign: UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.  With this new leadership the People of God will be transformed from a wandering and confused flock into a powerful movement for carrying out God’s plans.  Verse 4 tells us that God will provide everything needed for this reconstruction of the people of God.  In light of Psalm 118:22 (“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”), and the consistently messianic nature of Zechariah, it is difficult to see the cornerstone as referring to anything less than Jesus Christ. As a cornerstone is the foundation stone around which a building is constructed, so Christ is the foundation stone around which the people of God will be reconstructed.  According to verses 6 and 7, what does this result in for the people of God? Why (v. 6b)? Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Please pray for the unity and growth of Igreja Presbiteriana Brasileira em  Lowell, and for Roberto and Marieta Laranjo as Roberto seeks to provide Christ honoring leadership for the congregation. Pray that we would be able to better integrate the Portuguese (Brazilian) speaking members into the regional church.

Saturday (10/17) Read and discuss Mark 5:1-20. You have probably never seen anything like what happens in this passage. Why does there seem to be such a high degree of demonic activity in Christ’s ministry? At least part of the answer must be this: Satan, like any ruler, is going to pour his resources into to defending the part of his territory that is most under attack.  Don’t miss the fact that the demons identify themselves as “Legion”.  This doesn’t simply identify how many demons there were – but it uses the term for a large Roman military unity.  This passage makes us witnesses to the conflict between Jesus and a force far more terrifying than the vaunted Roman Legions – but Jesus defeats them simply by speaking a word.  What does this tell us about Jesus? There are a few unusual features to this story.  The demons ask to be sent into the pigs, and Christ grants their wish.  The unbelievers from the surrounding regions ask Jesus to depart – and He does.  Yet, when the very man whom Jesus has so remarkably freed from demonic possession begs Jesus to go with him, the Lord denies this man’s request.  This reminds us that it is not always God’s plan that we would be able to carry out the good desires of our hearts.  According to verse 19, what did Jesus tell the healed man to do instead?  According to verse 20, how faithfully and enthusiastically did this man carry out Christ’s commission?  One interesting fact, that could easily be missed, is that the healed man’s ministry of proclaiming God’s mercy apparently bore great fruit.  If you turn over to Mark 8 you will see that Jesus draws a huge crowd and He performs the miracle of feeding 4,000 people.  But where does this take place?  Mark 7:31 tells us that it was in the region of decapolis – which is the very place where the formerly demon possessed man was proclaiming the mercy of God he had received in Jesus Christ.  When the Lord hinders us from doing what we consider good, we should remember that He is marvelously working all things for His own glory and the good of His people in a way that we cannot even imagine. Read or sing Hymn 164 “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”. Prayer: Life in a fallen world is full of struggles to which Christians are not immune.  Ask that the LORD would comfort and encourage those in our congregation who are struggling with relationships, financial stresses, and disappointments.  Pray that He would reveal Himself more fully to us so that we would understand that He is truly and fully sufficient and that we would find our deepest joy in Him.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 11 October 2009 Saturday, Oct 3 2009

MVOPC – 11 October 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 9 “All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 107:23-43 (P. 825)

Hymn: 707 “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken”

Hymn of Preparation: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

Old Covenant Reading:  Amos 4:1-13

New Covenant Reading:  Revelation 1:1-20

Sermon Text:  Mark 4:35-41

Sermon:  Jesus Christ: Meek, Mild, and Absolutely Terrifying

Hymn of Response: 644 “May the Mind of Christ My Savior”

PM Worship: Zechariah 10:1-2

Adult Sunday School: The Early Luther

Suggested Preparations

Monday (10/5) Read and discuss Mark 4:35-41.  There are few things as scary as being caught in a storm at sea.  Perhaps the only thing more frightening is when that storm takes place at night.  According to verse 37, how serious was the storm that Jesus and His disciples experienced that night? Yet, at the very hour of crisis Jesus is sleeping in the back of the boat.  Don’t overlook the fact that Jesus was sleeping.  First of all, this reminds us that Jesus was genuinely tired.  We easily forget that Jesus worked very hard at His vocation and being truly man this often left Him exhausted – so He needed to rest. Second, Jesus had no fear of what was going to happen to Him because He always entrusted Himself fully to His Father. In their panic, the Disciples wake Jesus with the astonishing accusation that He did not care about the peril they were facing.  Do you ever think of God as being distant when you are beset with troubles?  If so, you are behaving exactly the same way that the Disciples were.  At least they brought their lack of faith to the right person, they brought it to Jesus. After rebuking the wind and the waves Jesus turns and rebukes His disciples.  According to verse 40, what did Jesus rebuke the Disciples for? What would a faithful response have looked like for the Disciples?  What would it look like for you when you feel overwhelmed by troubles? Read or sing Hymn 9 “All You That Fear Jehovah’s Name”. Prayer: The Session of Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church will be meeting tomorrow evening.  Please pray that the LORD would grant wisdom and clarity to the Elders as they meet and that all things would be done in accordance with God’s word.

Tuesday (10/6) Read and discuss Mark 4:30-34.  The parable of the mustard seed completes this cycle of parables by revealing how God has ordained extraordinary growth for His Kingdom in history.  The three parables fit together to explain the surprising ministry of Jesus and to provide encouragement for all of Christ’s disciples throughout history.  (1)  In Mark 4:1-20 we saw how the ministry of sowing the word produces different results depending on the soil (the hearts of the hearers). This helps us understand the different reactions we see to the sharing of the Gospel both in Christ’s ministry and throughout history. It was the same good word, but it produced sharply different results. Jesus also uses this parable to exhort us to “pay attention to how we hear” in verse 24. What we listen to and how we listen largely determines what we live for and how we live. (2) The parable of the Sower (v. 26-29) focuses on the results of the word being given to those with receptive hearts.  The spread of the Kingdom of God unfolds quietly and gradually but, over time, the growth is remarkable. (3) The parable of the mustard seed (v. 30-34) simply juxtaposes the tiny size of the Kingdom of God in Jesus’ day (“the smallest of plants”) to the large plant that it will certainly become before His second coming. Why does God reveal to us the scope of the spread of His Kingdom?  Shouldn’t we be faithful to what the LORD commands us without any regard for the consequences?  Well, we should – but God is graciously letting us know that we have been grafted into a living organism that will be astonishingly fruitful.  Or to change metaphors, we have been drafted onto a team that will win the greatest of all championships. This should provide great encouragement to you as you face the struggles and challenges of this world.  Put simply – Jesus wins! And here is the amazing part, His victory is reckoned as your victory if you place all your trust in Him.  Prayer: Unemployment is hovering near 10% in the United States and many Americans continue to struggle with the consequences of the recession. Please pray for those in our congregation and in our communities that our suffering financial hardship.  Ask that the LORD would provide meaningful work for His people that we would both be able to meet our own financial obligations and have some left over to share with others who lack.  Ask that our government officials would be wise in doing what is right rather than merely seeking to do what is politically expedient.

Wednesday (10/7) Read and discuss Amos 4:1-13.  Paul writes in Galatians 6: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” This principle is vividly illustrated in the book of Amos.  It was the middle of the eighth century B.C. when the LORD sent Amos to Bethel to prophesy against the rich in Israel who were shamelessly oppressing the poor and flaunting God’s laws.  In 4:1-3 God directs His judgment against the affluent women (“fat cows”) who seem to think that the purpose of life is to party. This doesn’t mean that these women (and their husbands) weren’t religious. According to verses 4-5, what do these rich Israelites love to do? But God will not be mocked.  As Samuel had told Saul, centuries earlier, “to obey is better than sacrifice”.  So the LORD sent judgments upon Israel which should have caused them to wake up and repent (to repent means to turn away from sin and to God).  Yet four times we read “but still you would not return to me”.  According to verse 12, what is the result of Israel’s hard-heartedness? This is a reminder that it is only a blessing to meet God when we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  For the rebellious – “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).” Read or sing Hymn: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”. Prayer: Mike McCabe will be presenting tomorrow at the Pellerin’s about his missionary work in China.  Please pray for the McCabe family that this busy period of sharing about the work of God would be encouraging to them and also to the churches in our area.  Give thanks that we are able to share in the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ all over the world.

Thursday (10/8) Read and discuss Revelation 1:1-20. The book of Revelation is often approached as a mysterious book that cannot be fully understood even after much study. Actually, most of the book is quite straightforward once we understand its purpose.  The book of Revelation was written to encourage Christians to be faithful while facing persecution. If every time you open the book of Revelation you remind yourself that it was written to encourage Christians to be faithful while facing persecution – you will find that the passage is much easier to grasp and apply.  The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos.  While being persecuted by the rulers of this world, John was comforted by a vision of the King of Kings.  What has made the book so confusing for many people is that they have been told that Revelation is primarily a series of predictions about events that are going to happen in our future. This is wrong on two counts.  First, Jesus explicitly says that the revelation concerns “things that must soon take place (1:1)” and that “the time is at hand (1:3)”.  The book’s original audience was the church in the first century and it primarily reveals what the LORD will do on their behalf.  Secondly, the ultimate encouragement from the book comes not from decoding what event each vision corresponds to, but from its portrait of Jesus Christ as “the ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5)” who fully vindicates His own people.  According to verses 5-6, why can we be confident that Jesus will protect and vindicate us? Another common misunderstanding of the book of Revelation is that it predicts a future tribulation (it is true that there will always be tribulations for Christians prior to Christ’s return), but notice that in verse 9 the Apostle John says that he is in the tribulation.  As you meditate upon the extraordinary portrait of Jesus presented in verses 12-20, remember that Jesus is also presented as the One who is dwelling with His churches.  For all who are His disciples, this awesome King of Kings is our Good Shepherd. Praise the LORD! Read or sing Hymn 644 “May the Mind of Christ My Savior”. Prayer: A meaningful part of our missionary outreach in China takes place in the context of reaching university students and their families.  Please pray for our missionary associates Heidi Carson, Tina Dejong, and Jeff and Rosie Kim that they would be effective witnesses to Christ at the university where they are teaching.

Friday (10/9) Read and discuss Zechariah 10:1-2. The great and pervasive sin of Israel throughout the period of the divided monarchy was syncretism.  Religious syncretism is the fusion of different religious beliefs either into a new system or the holding of conflicting views that cannot be worked into a system because they are inherently contradictory.  When we read about the Jews in the Old Testament who were going after Baal or worshipping Asherah we could easily think that these Jews didn’t believe in Yahweh at all.  But all of the religions outside of Israel were syncretistic where loyalty between the “gods” could be divided. Following this pattern, very few Jews would have entirely given up on the worship of Yahweh. Instead they were trying to cover all of their bases by going after those “gods” who specialized in things they wanted (e.g. Baal was particularly sought out when worshippers were seeking fertility – including the fertility of crops). Yet the very idea of putting these idols on the same level as the living God is an outrageous abomination.  This is why the first commandment reads “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” Through Zechariah, God is reminding His people that idolatry is not only wicked it is stupid. The Sovereign LORD controls the rain and all things necessary for life.  The priests of the idols are simply sharing the vanity of their own imaginations and the lies of demons.  It would be easy for us in the 21^st century to look down on the ancient Jews who fell into idolatry and thus ignore the many ways modern Many Americans have made idols out of democracy, materialism, or family by placing them in the place of God.  The fact that democracy, free-market economics, and family are good things makes drifting into such idolatry a very real temptation for Christians in North America. Indeed, syncretism is the very spirit of the modern age.  Your neighbors will not be offended to discover that you believe in Jesus Christ.  The offense comes when they discover that you believe Jesus is the only way to be saved. We will only resist being pressed into the world’s mold by regularly renewing our minds through meditating upon God’s word. We need the daily reminder that the LORD alone is God. Thankfully the LORD is all that we need – and far more. Recite the Apostle’s Creed. Prayer:  One of the exciting changes to the OPC over the past few years has been the opening of mission works to Spanish and Portuguese speaking communities here in the United States.  Please pray for Cristo el Rey OPC, our Spanish-language work near New York City. Ask that the LORD would grant them both faithfulness and boldness as they seek to proclaim the full counsel of His word.  Prey for our presbyteries that we would be able to fully integrate congregations from diverse language groups into the life of our regional churches.

Saturday (10/10) Read and discuss Mark 4:35-41. Sigmund Freud famously suggested that our concept of God was the result of wish projection.  Freud asserted that when people look around at all the uncertainties and dangers of life, they can’t deal with the thought that such impersonal “chance” forces could wreck havoc upon us – so we personalize these forces in the hope that we can appease them.  There may actually be something to Freud’s analysis as applied to pagan religions.  Many pagan religions focus on trying to gain control over aspects of nature that seem out of our control – particularly with the fertility of crops but also those sudden dangers that threaten our lives or livlihoods. Indeed virtually all pagan religions come down to trying to manipulate the “gods” to provide health and wealth for those who practice the religion faithfully.  Yet when we turn to the Bible we find that the Living God is nothing at all like the gods that Freud asserted that man would create.  Undoubtedly, the Disciples were terrified by the forces of the storm.  On Freud’s analysis, the one thing that would give them peace would be for the Jesus to calm the storm so that they would feel safe from the chaos of the sea.  But according to verse 41, how did the Disciples respond Christ’s miracle of commanding the sea to be quiet?  It turns out that there is something far more terrifying than an impersonal storm, and that is for sinners to be in the presence of the personal holy God who absolutely controls everything. This passage reminds us of the awesomeness of Jesus, whose word heals the sick, casts out demons, and calms the sea.  But we are also reminded that Jesus is not to be trifled with.  He is LORD. Read or sing Hymn 707 “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken”. Prayer: Please pray for our congregation as we prepare to worship together tomorrow morning.  Ask that we would approach the LORD earnestly and expectantly and that He would bless His word.  Pray that Christ would strengthen our sense of unity and mutual affection. Ask that the LORD of the harvest would continue to send visitors to our congregation.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 4 October 2009 Saturday, Sep 26 2009

MVOPC – 4 October 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 44 “How Great Thou Art”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 91 (p. 817)

Hymn: 317 “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying”

Hymn of Preparation: 310 “Rejoice, the Lord is King”

Old Covenant Reading:  Isaiah 54:1-17

New Covenant Reading:  Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon Text:  Mark 4:30-34

Sermon:  Far Greater Than You Think

Hymn of Response: 642 “Be Thou My Vision”

PM Worship: Zechariah 9:11-17

Adult Sunday School: Birth Pains: Luther and the Beginnings of the Protestant Reformation

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/28) Read and discuss Mark 4:30-34.  Does it discourage you to look around at the decline of Biblical Christianity in New England and the many disturbing aspects of American culture in the twenty-first century? Imagine how Christ’s first disciples must have felt (and remember that they first heard these parables on the other side of Christ’s resurrection). Nearly all first century Jews were expecting the Messiah to bring in the Kingdom of God with a bang.  Oppressors, both in Israel but particularly the Roman Empire, would be overthrown – and God’s faithful people would be established at the top of the pyramid. That is how the movie was supposed to run.  Then there was Jesus.  He was constantly teaching about the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was the central theme of His preaching. Furthermore, with His miracles and extraordinary teaching He seemed such a likely candidate to be the Messiah. Yet why did Jesus keep deviating from the script everyone was expecting the Messiah to follow?  No one was expecting a Messiah who came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).” In order to reorient the crowds to His way of thinking, Jesus had to explain that though the Kingdom was coming quietly and in an almost imperceptibly small way (it starts like the tiniest of seeds) – God had foreordained the Kingdom to experience extraordinary growth.  Several of His parables are related to this theme.  They serve as visual reminders of encouragement throughout the Church age that God’s Kingdom cannot fail. Read or sing Hymn 44 “How Great Thou Art”. Prayer: In a sinful world we often confront situations where all of the options seem bad.  This is the type of challenge the world faces in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Engaging in military action against Iran or allowing them to develop nuclear weapons are both frightening possibilities. Let us lift up this challenge to the Living God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think. Pray that God would grant wisdom to world leaders.  Ask that He would graciously act beyond the abilities of our diplomats and heads of state to produce a genuinely just peace.

Tuesday (9/29) Read and discuss Mark 4:26-29.  As you read this passage it may have seemed very similar to the parable of the mustard seed that you read yesterday.  While they are related, Jesus is not simply repeating Himself.  We need to pay particularly close attention when reading parables lest we miss what God has for us.  In the parable of the mustard seed, the seed represents the Kingdom of God.  In today’s reading, the whole parable is about the Kingdom of God while the seed represents God’s word.  This parable is building on the previous one in Mark 4:1-20 but is narrowing the picture only to the effect of the seed (Word of God) on the good soil (the renewed human heart that is tender toward God). With that in mind we can see a threefold lesson in this parable: (1) The mystery of the Word; (2) the potency of the Word; and (3) the victory of the Word. MYSTERY: Most of the Jews in Jesus’ day were expecting the Messiah to bring in the Kingdom of God with a bang.  The Roman Empire would be dramatically overthrown, and the Jews would become the rulers of the world.  In short, Jews were thinking that the coming of the Messiah would be a time of harvest.  Thankfully, that was not the case.  If the LORD had made Christ’s first coming the time of harvest; there would have been very little fruit gathered into His Kingdom.  This parable tells us that part of Christ’s first coming was to initiate a period of sowing.  Indeed the entire age between Christ’s first and second comings would be one where the word of God would be sown.  POTENCY:  Yet neither the Jews nor we should despise the day of small beginnings.  Apart from time-lapsed photography, it is impossible for us to actually watch a crop grows – but it grows nonetheless.  This is the primary way that the word of God works throughout history.  Does this mean that the word has little power?  Absolutely not!  If you went out and tried to break through a sidewalk by hitting it with your bare hands you would (one would hope!) quickly discover how foolish such an act is.  Yet we have all seen sidewalks with small trees or plants growing through them.  The seed sprouted very slowly, but over time the plant it produced was able to break through even hardened concrete. HARVEST: The harvest that the Jews were expecting at Christ’s first coming will indeed be gathered when He comes again.  Thankfully, because the LORD has been sowing His word for numerous centuries between His two comings – the Harvest will be vastly larger than anyone in the first century could have imagined.  With absolute confidence in God’s word, let us respond by regularly sowing it in our own lives, the lives of our families, and through His Church – even to the ends of the earth. Prayer: Thank the LORD for the remarkable gift of His word – the Bible.  Ask that He would cause us to sow His word more abundantly through both individual and corporate Bible study and through the numerous missionary activities that we are privileged to be a part of.

Wednesday (9/30) Read and discuss Isaiah 54:1-17.  When we meditate upon the life of Sarah and Abraham we can deeply feel their anxiety as they grew old not having received the child of promise.  They were people of faith, but they also struggled to believe what seemed absolutely impossible from a human standpoint: Could an old man and a woman far past childbearing years really still give birth?  It is easier for us to confess that “nothing is impossible for God” in the abstract – when we are not having to trust his promises against everything we can see and touch.  Why would the LORD make Abraham and Sarah wait so long?  There are at least three answers to that question.  First, the LORD was using these circumstances to grow Abraham and Sarah in their faith. Secondly, God wanted to make it abundantly clear that the blessing would come through His power and not through the efforts of human flesh.  Third, God was creating an image of His gracious and faithful fulfillment that would serve as a sign for His people until the end of time.  It is the third use that is being picked up in Isaiah 54.  Israel may have made shipwreck of her vocation to serve as a light to the nations; but through Christ’s substitutionary death (see Isaiah 53) God was going to wipe away her guilt and restore the fortunes of His people.  They may look barren, just as Sarah did in her old age, but God was going to multiply her children beyond the wildest imagination of anyone living in Isaiah’s day. But who are the children that Isaiah 54 is talking about?  In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul develops the very same theme from the life of Abraham and Sarah that Isaiah 54 is dealing with.  He writes: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” It is important to remember this.  God is making His promise to those He has chosen and who manifest this by their faith in Jesus Christ.  If we miss this, we may wonder about those churches that are destroyed by God Himself.  But the even greater wonder is the depth of God’s commitment to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  Take a moment to meditate on verse 10 and know for certain that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Read or sing Hymn: 317 “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying”. Prayer: We are so grateful for the children which Christ has given to our families and by extension to our church family.  We are also grateful that God has chosen to work through families so that the children of believers are brought into His covenant people and to where the means of grace are concentrated.  Pray for the children of our church family that they would come to personally know Jesus at an early age and that each of them, in God’s grace, we be children of His promise.

Thursday (10/1) Read and discuss Ephesians 3:1-13. A mystery in the Bible normally refers, not to something that is difficult to understand, but to something that was hidden and is now being revealed.  You can rightly think of a mystery as God’s secret.  The remarkable thing is that God has chosen to make His secret plan known through His Apostles.  As you read through the text you probably noticed the extra-ordinary level of excitement that Paul has about this mystery.  According to verse six, what’s the big secret that has now been revealed?  From other passages we realize that the mystery was not merely the salvation of the gentiles, because that had been revealed as far back as Genesis 12.  The shocking thing was that the Gentiles would be saved and constituted full members of God’s covenant people without first having to become Jews. Nearly two thousand years later, this may not strike us as a particularly big deal – but in the first century it was revolutionary.  For one thing, this revealed that the LORD was far more interested in manifesting His grace than anyone had dared to imagine. Yet, the Christians in Ephesus could have been discouraged given that the Apostle to the Gentiles was writing to them from prison.  According to verses 8 and 9, how did Paul regard the position that the LORD had brought Him to?  Is this the way you view the role that Christ has granted to you in His Kingdom? Clearly Paul did not let difficult circumstances take over his thinking and neither should we. As the following hymn will put it:

His kingdom cannot fail, he rules o’er earth and heav’n; the keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n. Lift up you heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

By His grace alone we have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and into this Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  According to verse 10, how central is the Church in God’s plan? Read or sing Hymn 310 “Rejoice, the Lord is King”. Prayer: Please pray for the visitors that the LORD has brought to our congregation over the past year that they would settle into strong Bible believing churches.  Ask that the LORD of the Harvest would continue to bring visitors to our congregation who would benefit from uniting with our church family and whose gifts would be a blessing to the rest of the body.

Friday (10/2) Read and discuss Zechariah 9:11-17. When we come to a passage like this without any background, it can be a bit difficult to understand.  In situations like this we will want to do three things: (1) Remember the context.  Two weeks ago we saw that Zechariah 9:1-8 was significantly fulfilled when God judged three civilizations around Jerusalem through the army of Alexander the Great. Therefore we should be alert to the possibility that Zechariah 9:11-17 may also relate to the Greek conquest of the land of Palestine.  (2) We should attempt to identify any incidents in the text which are clear.  This can serve as a type of anchor to our interpretation.  In verse 13 we find what we are looking for when God declares that He will stir up the sons of Zion against Greece.  If we can know when that happened, this will be very helpful in providing a context to the passage.  If you aren’t immediately aware of what this is referring to, then you should go to the third step: (3) You should consult a good study bible or a one volume commentary.  Here is the entire note from the generally superb ESV Study Bible:

The oppressors of the sons of Zion (or Israel) are identified as the sons of Greece (v. 13). God promises to make Zion like a warrior’s sword, defeating the Greeks. This is best understood as a predictive prophecy regarding future events, much like the mention of “the king of Greece” in Dan. 8:21. Zechariah was writing between 520 and perhaps 480 b.c., but the Greek ruler Alexander the Great did not conquer Palestine until 333. Then the Jewish people did not successfully rebel against domination by the Seleucids (the Greek-speaking successors to Alexander’s rule) until the Maccabean period (the revolt was 166–160 b.c.; they gained full independence in 142). Some interpreters, not allowing the possibility of such predictive prophecy, see this as a later insertion added into the text, but there is no manuscript support for this idea, and it is not necessary. The name “Greece” (Hb. Yawan) was known at the time of Zechariah, for the Greeks had defeated the invading Persian armies of King Darius at the battle of Marathon in 490 b.c., but Greece was never an enemy of Israel or a conquering world power until Alexander the Great.

This note helps us realize that the only time the Jews successful waged war against Greece was during the Maccabean revolt more than three hundred years after the time of Zechariah’s prophecy.  Now that we have fixed this portion of the passage we can understand what God is saying to Israel: (1) Some of the nations around you look so prosperous and powerful at the moment, but I am going to bring them into judgment at the hands of Alexander the Great and the Greek army (Zechariah 9:1-8). (2) Does this mean that Israel will be a vassal state to Greece? Yes, for a little while. Yet the day is coming when I the LORD of Hosts will cause you to rise up against Greece and cast off her yoke (Zechariah 9:11-17).  (3). At the center of these two prophesies is the promise that God will send the Messiah who will rule the whole earth and ultimately bring warfare itself to an end (Zechariah 9:9-10). Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Please pray for the First Presbyterian Church in Ipswich.  Over the past few months they have noticed a trend toward declining attendance, particularly at their “traditional” service.  Ask that the leadership of the church would be faithful at shepherding those members who seem to be drifting away from their commitment to their church family and that the LORD would use our sister congregation to boldly proclaim His gospel to the surrounding communities.

Saturday (10/3) Read and discuss Mark 4:30-34. Half a century ago J.B. Phillips wrote the surprising best seller Your God is Too Small.  While the book was hugely popular, most Christians (perhaps all of us) still worship a God who is smaller than the Living God who has revealed Himself to us in Scripture.  This was true even of Moses, the man of God.  During the wilderness wanderings the people began to murmur against God because they were tired of eating manna all the time.  So God tells Moses to gather the people together and He will give them so much meat to eat that they will grow sick of it.  Do you remember how Moses responded?  He said: “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough? (Numbers 11:21-22)”. When Moses considered how numerous Israel had become, he could not imagine how God could provide meat for all these people.  But God rebuked Moses for his lack of faith: ““Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!” We easily wonder how Moses could doubt the ability of the God who spoke the universe into existence to provide meat for His people – but, at that moment anyway, Moses’ God was too small.  In the modern world we often reduce the scope of what the LORD is doing by personalizing it to me, my church family, and my friends.  So Jesus ends up being thought of as the Savior of dozens, or perhaps thousands – but this parable reminds us that the Kingdom will grow to astonishingly large proportions.  We so easily focus our eyes on the smallness of the mustard seed, but we need to also lift our eyes to stand in awe at the vast scope of what Christ is doing.  Let us remember that Scripture does not reveal Jesus as the rescuer of a few isolated individuals – but as the glorious Savior of the World (John 4:42)! Read or sing Hymn 642 “Be Thou My Vision”. Prayer: Quiet your soul and take some time to contemplate the greatness of our Sovereign King at whose word the entire universe leapt into existence. Ask that He would give you a greater appreciation for His majesty and for the astonishing plan He is carrying out in moving His Kingdom toward harvest and to the New Heavens and the New Earth.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 27 September 2009 Sunday, Sep 20 2009

MVOPC 27 September 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Hymn of Praise: 2 “O Worship the King”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 2 (p. 785)

Hymn: 460 “Amazing Grace!”

Hymn of Preparation: 535 “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus!”

Old Covenant Reading:  Ezekiel 17:1-24

New Covenant Reading:  Romans 10:1-17

Sermon Text:  Mark 4:26-29

Sermon:  The Mystery of Kingdom Growth

Hymn of Response: 461 “Not What My Hands Have Done”

PM Worship: Zechariah 9:9-13

Adult Sunday School: Distinctives of the OPC: Covenant Theology

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/21) Read and discuss Mark 4:26-29.  Most of the Jews in Jesus’ day were expecting the Messiah to bring in the Kingdom of God with a bang.  The Roman Empire would be dramatically overthrown, and the Jews would become the rulers of the world.  Oddly, two-thousand years later, some Christians still think that this is the primary way in which God acts in history.  With this parable Jesus was teaching His disciples that the Kingdom of God was spreading in history in a radically different manner.  We know from the first parable that Jesus taught that seed common refers to the word of God.  Rather than through military conquest, Jesus plan for spreading the Kingdom of God would come primarily though the sowing of God’s word which would, by His sovereign grace, change hearts and minds to worship the King.  Can we explain how this happens?  Not really.  We know that God acts by His Spirit to open the hearts of His elect to receive the word – but we can’t predict or manage the spread of the gospel the way we would the rolling out of a new chain of fast food restaurants.   We are called to simply be faithful about scattering the seed of the gospel while entrusting all of the results to the care of our LORD. As Robert Stein put it: “The Kingdom of God is hidden, but growth is certain, and the results will be glorious.” Read or sing Hymn 2 “O Worship the King”. Prayer: Please pray for Ralph and Julie Pearson as they begin their journey back to Florida this week.

Tuesday (9/22) Read and discuss Mark 4:21-25.  During the sermon this week we learned that the literal rendering of this passage is that “the light came” rather than “the light was brought”.  This awkward expression safeguards the truth that we do not ascend into heaven to gain Christ, but that for us and for our salvation He has come down to us. The Bible presents a three-fold answer to the question – “what is light?”  First of all Jesus is the light of world (John 8:12). Secondly, God’s word is light (Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”). Third, and this may surprise us, Christians are also called the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Christ’s parable relates to all three of these realities.  We are to hold forth Christ and God’s word openly and boldly to a dying world; and we are also to be openly Christian in all that we say and do. But how do we hold forth the light according to Jesus?  We might be tempted to think of all the activities we could perform.  Should we rent billboards?  Should we go door-to-door and engage in personal evangelism?  Actually, very few people are gifted and called to that sort of outreach.  Instead Jesus tells us that what we listen to and how we listen will determine what we live for and how we live. Listening is not a passive activity. Listening rightly to God’s word takes commitment, the willingness to have both our minds and our practices changed, and the desire to continue growing in your knowledge of who God is.  The description of this can be found in Psalm 1 where the blessed man meditates upon God’s word day and night.  This has been fleshed out for us in the life of Jesus.  After He had gone without food for forty days, Jesus was literally at the point of starvation.  Satan came to Him and tempted Him to turn stones into bread to satisfy His very real hunger.  Jesus replied: “It is written,

          ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
           but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

This is true for us as well. Prayer: Take time to quiet your mind from the business of the week.  Then ask Jesus to make you a more attentive listener to His word throughout the coming week.

Wednesday (9/23) Read and discuss Ezekiel 17:1-24.  The LORD cares that His people live faithfully by keeping their commitments.  This is particularly true of those commitments that we have made in His name such as oaths of office, testifying in court, and marriage covenants.  Few passages teach this truth with greater forcefulness than Ezekiel chapter 17.  Like some of Jesus’ parables, the first part of this passage in verses 1-10 could be difficult to understand (they are called a riddle in verse 2) except that God explains its meaning to us in verses 11-21.  It can also be helpful to understand the historical situation, which you can find out from any good study Bible.  Ezekiel is a prophet during the period when Israel is taken into the Babylonian captivity.  Instead of totally destroying Jerusalem, Babylon initially took King Jehoiachin and the noble youths of Israel into captivity (vs. 12). Nebuchadnezzar installs Zedekiah to be a vassal king who will rule Israel on behalf of the Babylonian empire.  When Zedekiah was installed he would have sworn an oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar in the name of Yahweh. Instead of maintaining his oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah sought support from Egypt in order to break free from Babylonian control.  The truth is that this is the way earthly rulers commonly act. Yet God is more than a little displeased and asks the rhetorical question: “Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?” In verse 16, the LORD Himself takes an oath to punish Zedekiah; and unlike with Zedekiah, we can be sure that God will carry out His oath. According to verses 19 and 20, against whom did Zedekiah rebel? This is the heart of the Third Commandment.  The LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His name in vain.  Let us respond to this revelation with a renewed commitment to walking uprightly with our God.  Verses 22-24 end this passage with encouraging news.  While it is true that God will condemn those who despise the covenants made in His name; He will also lift up those who are insignificant in the eyes of the world in order to demonstrate that He truly is the One who governs all things. Read or sing Hymn: 460 “Amazing Grace!” Prayer: Pray for the President and Congress of the United States as they consider various proposals which would significantly overhaul our nation’s healthcare system.  Also pray that they would be wise in handling the challenging foreign policy situations in Afghanistan and Iran.

Thursday (9/24) Read and discuss Romans 10:1-17. In Romans 9-11, Paul is dealing with the very difficult reality that most of the Jews in his day had not accepted Jesus.  In chapter 9 he addressed this issue from the standpoint of God’s sovereignty.  In chapter 10 he moves to explaining their failure to enter God’s rest from a human perspective.  Verse 3 is critical: “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” Oddly, there are some theologians today who argue that the Jews were not trying to establish their own righteousness – but Paul clearly states that they were. This is a perennial problem.  God’s righteousness comes to us as a gift when we trust Him, yet human beings keep trying to receive it (at least in part) by our own achievements – so that we can take part of the credit.  In verses 5-13 Paul is belaboring the point that we don’t have to go on some great quest to find salvation. What is needed is that we stop trying to achieve and trust in Jesus who accomplished everything on our behalf.  Does this mean that we have nothing to do? Absolutely not! While we do nothing to gain our salvation, God has given us the astonishing privilege, in response to the grace He has shown us in Christ, to be His instruments in bringing the good news to other people.  Young children at Christmas don’t purchase any of the presents.  They don’t work; they simply celebrate and receive the gifts with joy.  Salvation comes to us in the same way. Jesus prepares and pays for everything. Nevertheless, in verses 14-17 we are told that Jesus has called us to help distribute gifts related to salvation in His name. If we remember the priceless nature of this gift, we will do so with great joy. Read or sing Hymn 535 “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus!” Prayer: Pray for the work of Jonathan and Margaret Falk as OPC missionaries in Uruguay. Jonathan writes: “It will be a considerable challenge to establish a Presbyterian church in a secular environment like Montevideo. Pray that God would prod Spanish-speaking pastors and families to leave comfortable ministries in North America to go out as missionaries in order to reach a nation that is largely ignorant of biblical truth. But more urgently, pray that God would raise up evangelists and church planters from within the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Uruguay who have the vision and the gifts to reach this lost generation for Christ.”

Friday (9/25) Read and discuss Zechariah 9:9-13. Last week we looked at how God was going to bring judgment upon some of Israel’s historic adversaries through a coming judgment (probably largely fulfilled through the military campaigns of Alexander the Great).  Interestingly, Alexander the Great left Jerusalem unharmed which is consistent with Zechariah 9:8.  The use of this gentile king as God’s instrument naturally leads us to look for the exaltation of God’s own King on Mount Zion which we see in verses 9-10. These verses are among the best known from Zechariah because they are quoted by Matthew and John during Christ’s triumphal entry. David Baron has helpfully observed that “Christ is the only person in all history whose character and experience answer to the description of the ideal king in this prophecy. He alone, among the sons of men, can be described as the true Righteous One, who did no violence nor was deceit found in His mouth.”  We should not miss two beautiful aspects of Christ’s reign.  First, He will ultimately put away all war and bring in perfect peace.  Second, His dominion “shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Recite the Apostles Creed. Prayer:  Give thanks to Jesus for His willingness to identify with sinners. Who “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 1:7-8).”

Saturday (9/26) Read and discuss Mark 4:26-29. Because of the quiet way in which the Kingdom of God comes and grows, we could wrongly conclude that not very much is going on.  This is particularly true of us who live at a time when T.V. shows wrap up the most complicated dramas in less than an hour.  Yet, drawing such a conclusion would be a horrible mistake.  Rather than seeing the gradual spread of the Kingdom as anti-climatic we should recognize that “the mystery of the Kingdom provides an opportunity for seed to be scattered in the field (William Lane).” Do we feel too weak?  The good news of this parable is that the strength is not found in human farmers but in Christ and in the seed of the word.  Furthermore, we have Christ’s promise that the scattering of the seed will produce a great harvest.  Instead of God’s sovereignty making our involvement unimportant, His absolute sovereignty guarantees that our efforts to sow His word will never be futile but will accomplish the purposes for which He sends His word forth.  In a fallen world, all of our labors run the risk of being a waste of time (or even counter-productive) from a human point of view.  Yet, as God’s children, everything we ever do in faith (including our failed business pursuits!) will ultimately be used for our good and God’s glory.  Don’t miss the fact that this parable ultimately ends with a harvest.  The Kingdom comes and grows almost imperceptibly; but the day of harvest is coming.  Let us sow as those who expect to reap bountifully. Read or sing Hymn 461 “Not What My Hands Have Done”. Prayer: John Calvin had a personal motto that showed outstretched hands offering up his heart with the words: “My heart I offer to You, LORD, promptly and sincerely.” Pray that our Gracious King would move in the hearts of all who gather at MVOPC tomorrow – that we would respond promptly and sincerely in the service of the LORD.

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Guide for Preparation for Worship on 20 September 2009 Saturday, Sep 12 2009

MVOPC 20 September 2009 – LORD’s SUPPER

Call to Worship: Psalm 106:1

Hymn of Praise: 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing”

Confession of Sin:

O eternal God and merciful Father, we humble ourselves before Your great majesty, against which we have frequently and grievously sinned.  We acknowledge that we deserve nothing less than eternal death, that we are unclean before You and children of wrath.  We continually transgress Your commandments, failing to do what You have commanded, and doing that which You have expressly forbidden.  We acknowledge our waywardness, and are heartily sorry for all our sins.  We are not worthy to be called Your children, nor to lift up our eyes heavenward to You in prayer.  Nevertheless, O Lord God and gracious Father, we know that Your mercy toward those who turn to You is infinite;  and so we take courage to call upon You, trusting in our Mediator Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Forgive all our sins for Christ’s sake.  Cover us with His innocence and righteousness, for the glory of Your name.  Deliver our understanding from all blindness, and our hearts from all willfulness and rebellion, we pray through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.  Amen. 

Hymn: 493 “We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought”

Hymn of Preparation: 529 “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”

Old Covenant Reading:  2 Chronicles 15:1-15

New Covenant Reading:  1 Peter 2:1-12

Sermon Text:  Mark 4:21-25

Sermon:  You are Light – Now What?

Hymn of Response: 570 “Faith of Our Fathers!”

PM Worship: Zechariah 9:1-8

Adult Sunday School: Lord’s Supper: Fellowship Meal no Adult SS

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/14) Read and discuss Mark 4:21-25.  Jesus regularly uses the simplest images in memorable and profound ways.  No one would ever purchase a lamp to put it under a bushel.  We often do just the opposite.  We put a lamp on a lamp stand in order to maximize the impact of the lamp in spreading its light.  The question this parable raises is: “what precisely is the light that Jesus has in mind?”  The Bible gives a three-fold answer to this question.  First of all Jesus is the light of world (John 8:12). Secondly, God’s word is light (Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path”). Third, and this may surprise us, Christians are also called the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Christ’s parable relates to all three of these realities.  We are to hold forth Christ and God’s word openly and boldly to a dying world; and we are also to be openly Christian in all that we say and do. This parable also guards us from misapplying the previous passage. Someone might ask: “Since Jesus taught in parables so that those who were outside the Kingdom would not understand; should we also limit whom we share the gospel with?” This parable reminds us, in the words of the popular song, that we are “to take God’s word and shine it all around.” Read or sing Hymn 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing”. Prayer: Pray that the LORD would cause every member of our church to more self-consciously stand firmly on the truth and to reflect the light of the gospel into our world.  Pray that He would begin with you.

Tuesday (9/15) Read and discuss Mark 4.1-20. Jesus makes it clear in this passage that He is intentionally veiling the truth to those who are on the outside.  But what does it mean to be on the outside or on the inside?  The key is for us to remember that Scripture interprets Scripture.  If we look back to the end of chapter 3, we read: “31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” According to Jesus, those on the inside are “whoever does the will of God”.  This leads to an essential aspect of Christian life: The key to growing in the knowledge of Christ is in actually trusting the truth He has already revealed to you.  This is not an ethereal issue.  Trusting Jesus always goes public in how we actually live. The good news from Mark 4:20 is that the LORD delights to produce a super-abundant harvest through those who hold Him in reverential awe. Prayer: As students have returned to school around the country, one of the big health concerns is that we would see a large-scale outbreak of swine flu.  Pray that the LORD would spare our children (and the rest of us) from an epidemic.  Ask that He would give great wisdom to our public health officials as they seek the best approaches to protecting the public’s health.

Wednesday (9/16) Read and discuss 2 Chronicles 15:1-15.  It can be a disturbing experience to read the history of the divided monarchy and to realize how God’s people repeatedly lapsed back into idolatry.  As a sheer act of grace, God frequently sent His word through His prophets to turn His people back to Himself.  God’s word often confronts us in the same way.  We are reading God’s word or hearing it preached and all of a sudden we are struck by our disobedience to the Living God.  How do we respond when the truth becomes personal like that?  By God’s grace, Asa and the people of Israel were turned back toward the LORD through the ministry of Azariah.  In verse 8 we see that this repentance went public by Asa putting away the detestable idols. When the people came to the realization that they had broken God’s covenant, they engaged in a covenant renewal ceremony. The key elements of covenant renewal are (1) Confession of sin; (2) Sacrifice for past sin; and (3) Commitment to a new walk of righteousness (2 Chronicles 15:11-15).  Without question the only sacrifice that can take away sin is the atoning death of Christ on the cross.  Israel sacrificed animals to symbolically point to this great event because, of course,  “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4)”. So when we recognize that we have offended God we confess our sins; trust Christ’s finished work on our behalf; and ask the LORD to grant us the ability to walk in new obedience.  Thankfully, we have the assurance of God’s forgiveness and continued fellowship through His word and through the Lord’s Supper.  Our need for regular covenant renewal is so important that Calvin (and many subsequent Reformed churches) actually organized their Sunday morning worship services as covenant renewal services. Yet, you don’t have to wait until Sunday morning to turn from your sins and back to the Lord.  Keep short accounts.  As soon as you are aware that you are drifting away from the LORD, turn from the error of your ways and cast yourself on the mercy of Him who has promised: “I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).” Read or sing Hymn: 493 “We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought”. Prayer: Pray for a friend or relative who does not know Christ that the LORD would bring that person to salvation.  Pray for the members of our congregation who have unbelieving family members that entire families would become united in Christ.

Thursday (9/17) Read and discuss 1 Peter 2:1-12. We all hate hypocrisy.  It is perhaps the only universally despised sin.  So when Peter tells us to “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy …” we all shout amen! But this begs an obvious question: “If hypocrisy is so despised, why do we have so much of it?” The answer is that we all want to appear to be better than we really are. In light of this truth, what does it mean for Christians to have appropriate self-esteem?  Peter tells us that we need to start, not with a higher view of ourselves, but a more exalted view of Whom we are coming to and how He was treated.  Jesus is the corner stone in God’s new Temple.  He was rejected by men, but is chosen and precious to God. We therefore should find the right estimation of ourselves in relationship to Jesus Christ.  On the one hand Peter describes us not as masters and teachers, but as newborn infants who long for the pure spiritual milk.  We are not the source of greatness in ourselves.  Yet, astonishingly, Peter goes on to say that in Christ we “like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” This is an important check against the tendency of some Christians to think that the Bible teaches that we should have low self-esteem always bemoaning what miserable sinners we are.  Left to ourselves that would be absolutely true; but thanks be to God – He has not left us to ourselves.  In Christ we have been exalted to a position that our unbelieving neighbors can’t even imagine. Since our unbelieving neighbors don’t see this, we should not be surprised when they treat us as they treated Jesus.  As He was rejected, so we should expect to be rejected.  Yet, if we are rejected with Him we can have confidence that we will also be glorified with Him.  As Paul put it in Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”.  Read or sing 529 “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”. Prayer: One of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer is “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Take time to meditate upon a challenge our nation faces and a challenge that you face in your personal life.  Then pray that God’s will would be done in those circumstances for His glory.

Friday (9/18) Read and discuss Zechariah 9:1-8. There is a story of a farmer who, refusing to stop working on the Sabbath to worship with God’s people, used to mock the Christians by saying: “If God is so unhappy with my not going to worship, why does He keep blessing my crops?” Finally, a godly lady gave the right answer: “The LORD doesn’t always settle all of His accounts by the end of the harvest.” While God was judging Israel for its rebellion against her Covenant Lord, He also allowed many of the surrounding nations to prosper.  Now God is announcing through His prophet Zechariah that the coming of Messiah (and the Kingdom of God) will begin a judgment process upon the nations.  Their wealth will prove transient and their apparent security will be unmasked as merely an illusion before the wrath of a Holy God.  The only enduring wealth is that which has been entrusted fully to God. Zechariah reminds us of the wisdom of James Elliot when he said: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”  Recite the Apostles’ Creed. Prayer: When we consider the struggles that the so-called “main-line” denominations in the United States are going through we can be tempted to through up our hands in despair.  Instead, let us lift up our hearts and hands in prayer and ask that the LORD would send genuine revival and reformation to those denominations which are currently struggling with being faithful to the Church’s Lord.  Let us pray especially that He would send genuine renewal to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. which is historically linked with our own denomination.

Saturday (9/19) Read and discuss Mark 4:21-25. Listening is not a passive activity. If we are not careful we could misread Mark 4:1-20 to be teaching a fatalistic view of hearing God’s word.  But in verse 24 Jesus tells us to “pay attention to what you hear”.  What does responsible hearing look like? It can be helpful to make a distinction between belief and faith – even though the terms are often used interchangeably.  We believe many things to be true that we see on the news, which have absolutely no impact on our lives. This is not what Biblical faith is.  Having faith, according to the Bible, means that we trust what we are hearing – and therefore we act upon it.  If we listen to God’s word in a way that makes no difference in our lives – then we are not responding to it with Biblical faith.  In the case of the person who is like shallow soil, the response of short-term joy may look for a time like the genuine article.  Indeed, some outreaches such as Young Life have become so good at making Christianity look attractive that they are in danger of converting people to Young Life rather than having them become genuine followers of Jesus Christ.  What looks like faith in such circumstances is unmasked once such “believers” have to face persecution for their “faith” and they wither under the pressure.  If you are a new believer, paying attention to how you hear means examining yourself to see if you are putting down deep roots in the faith.  Do you long to learn and apply every text of Scripture, or do you search for religious experiences or clever turns of a phrase which will give an emotional lift to your day?  The faithful disciple lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The person whose apparent faith is choked out by the cares of the world is a person who has tried to straddle the fence without becoming fully committed to following Jesus.  This is challenging because we all desire the praise of men.  What can we do? We can examine ourselves to see whether or not we are growing in our desire to seek the praise of God rather than the praise of man.  The mark of the person who is rightly hearing God’s word is not perfection but growth. Perhaps the clearest commentary on this truth comes from 2 Peter 1:3-8: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Read or Pray Hymn 570 “Faith of Our Fathers!” Prayer: Please pray for the children of our congregation that the LORD would protect them from the many dangers of this world.  Pray that Christ would grant self-conscious faith to each of these children at an early age. Ask that the Holy Spirit would strengthen parents to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 13 September 2009 Saturday, Sep 5 2009

MVOPC – 13 September 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 4 “All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 119:89-112 (p. 830)

Hymn: 537 “Take Time to Be Holy”

Hymn of Preparation: 558 “That Man Is Blest Who, Fearing God”

Old Covenant Reading:  Isaiah 6:1-13

New Covenant Reading:  Romans 9:1-18

Sermon Text:  Mark 4:1-20

Sermon:  Sowing the Word of Truth

Hymn of Response: 562 “All to Jesus I Surrender”

PM Worship: Zechariah 8:18-23

Adult Sunday School: A Confessional Church III: Theology in the Life of the Church

Suggested Preparations

Monday (9/7) Read and discuss Mark 4:1-20.  When I was at Reformed Theological Seminary two decades ago, one of my professors was fond of saying: “Instead of pastors preaching more sermons on parables, they should preach more sermons that are parables!” Do you think that would be a good idea?  Is this an area where pastors should imitate Jesus? In Mark 4:1-9 Jesus tells a parable that is probably very familiar to you – and that is a problem in terms of understanding this passage.  We hear this parable and know what it means, so we don’t understand why Jesus’ own disciples don’t get it in verse 10 (Of course, we come to the parable knowing how Jesus will explain it in the following verses!!). We will attain a better understanding of what Jesus was doing if we recognize that, had we been there, we wouldn’t have understood this parable the first time we heard it either. It is commonly suggested today that Jesus told parables because they were so memorable.  That may be partly true, but Jesus Himself gives us other reasons: In verse 11-12 Jesus gives what is perhaps a surprising reason for speaking in parables.  What is it? Does that surprise you? Americans often speak as though God is doing everything He possibly can to save every single human being.  It is difficult to see how Jesus could be any clearer than in these verses that this was not His purpose. Perhaps we misunderstand the purposes of Jesus because God has commissioned us to preach the gospel to every creature under heaven.  We don’t know the hidden decrees of the LORD nor can we read the hearts of other men and women.  This gives us an answer to my old professor’s question: No, we should not try to teach in parables. The purpose of parables was to hide the truth from some people while we are called to make it as clear as we possibly can to everyone we meet.  This answer is confirmed by the fact that none of the Apostle’s taught using parables.  Rather than being clever we are called to be faithful. Read or sing Hymn 4 “All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above”. Prayer: Gerry and Marja Myndars are serving as OPC missionaries in Suriname. This small country, just north of Brazil, is relatively poor with a per capita GDP of around $4,000 U.S. Interestingly, the two largest segments of the population are from India (over ¼ of the population) and descendent of West African slaves who intermarried with the Dutch (around 18% of the population). Most of those of Indian decent are Hindu’s, while there is also a history of Roman Catholicism and now Pentecostalism in the country.  Please pray that our missionaries would have great wisdom in determining which local churches to partner with and for great freedom in proclaiming the gospel.  Pray that the LORD would raise up indigenous men who would take on the task of being Elders, Deacons, Pastors, and Missionaries to their own land.

Tuesday (9/8) Read and discuss Mark 3:31-35.  We all have a desire to truly belong to a wonderful family that is filled with joy and blessings.  Even the best human families only partially fulfill this desire. This longing is reflected in the large number of fairy-tales where a young peasant girl meets a handsome and virtuous young prince.  They fall in love, marry, and live happily ever after.  Those of us who are older will remember the fairy-tale like character of the wedding between Prince Charles and Diana which was one of the most watched and talked about events of any kind in the history of the world.  But rather than being a fairy-tale, their marriage ended in pain, divorce, and tragedy.  How much better it is to be in Jesus’ family – and unlike all of the fairy tales, what Jesus is promising those who do the will of His Father is absolutely true and certain! Furthermore, God has taken the responsibility upon Himself to ensure that your relationship with Him will endure forever (Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”).What does it mean for us to “do the will of the Father”?  Prayer: Rejoice and give thanks to the LORD that He would bring us into His family and for His promise that nobody can snatch us out of His loving hands.

Wednesday (9/9) Read and discuss Isaiah 6:1-13.  The first half of this passage tends to be much better known than the second half.  The reasons are obvious: (1) The first seven verses are one of the most dramatic passages in the whole Bible as Isaiah is confronted with the awesome holiness of God; and (2) Verses 8-13 can be difficult verses to accept as they run so counter to our culture’s notion that God is desperately trying to make everyone’s life a little bit better.  Let’s start with verses 1-7.  In ancient Hebrew there were no exclamation points.  If a person wanted to really emphasize a point, often the word would simply be repeated.  We see this idea carried over into the (Greek) New Testament in the way Jesus introduces solemn statements.  Everything the Son of God says is absolutely true, but sometimes, in order to draw attention to the solemnity of what He is about to say, Jesus will preface His remarks by saying “Truly” (or “Verily”).  On a small number of occasions Jesus raises the tone by repeating this word and saying “Truly, truly” (or “Verily, verily”).  Yet, the only characteristic of God raised to the ultimate intensity of being repeated three times is His holiness.  In Isaiah 6 the angels themselves are crying out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Indeed the picture of God’s holiness is so overwhelming that the angles are actually sheltering their faces from looking directly upon His glory.  It is against this background that we see the astonishing reality of God commissioning a mere man to go and be His messenger.  If we stopped at this point (as many mission conferences do) wouldn’t we all want to say with Isaiah “Here am I!  Send me.”?  But then the LORD tells Isaiah the results of his mission in verses 9-13.  Should Isaiah expect an enormous response of people turning back to the LORD?  According to verse 10, is the LORD using Isaiah to try to turn the people back to Him or for some other purpose? Yet in verse 13 we are reminded that this is not all bad news.  God will preserve a remnant and from this remnant will spring forth a multitude that will fulfill God’s promise to Abraham that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars in heaven and the sand on the sea shore.  Seen in that light, this passage reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways and that we should joyfully engage in what He has called us to – knowing that He is working out a plan that is far greater than any we could even imagine. Read or sing Hymn 537 “Take Time to Be Holy”. Prayer:  Please pray for Pastor Gregory Reynolds (from Amoskeag OPC in Manchester, NH) who is preaching in Cairo, Egypt this week. Dr. Reynolds will also be giving 5 or 6 lectures to the ministers in the Synod of the Nile on the centrality of preaching.  The Synod of the Nile has approximately 250 congregations with around a quarter of a million members. Please ask that the Holy Spirit would bless His word as it is proclaimed – and also that this would be a time of great encouragement for those pastors who are laboring in a very difficult portion of Christ’s vineyard.

Thursday (9/10) Read and discuss Romans 9:1-18. Romans chapter 9 is a classic text for demonstrating the absolute sovereignty of God in man’s salvation.  Yet, this chapter did not flow out of the Apostle Paul doing abstract theology.  Paul was dealing with the very real issue in his day of the majority of ethnic Jews not embracing the Messiah while Gentiles were streaming into the Church. Paul addresses this challenge in two primary ways.  In verses 6-8 Paul makes it absolutely clear that blood lines alone were insufficient to lay claim to God’s covenant promises. How does he make this clear in verse 7 (While both Isaac and Ishmael are Abraham’s sons – the promise is given to and through Isaac by God’s sovereign decree)? In verses 10-13, Paul moves the issue forward one generation to God choosing to give the promise through and to Jacob instead of Esau before either one of them was even born. How could it be any clearer that the promise depends on the Sovereign Grace of the Promise Giver rather than on the will of sinners like us?  Of course, you know what the objection is to this doctrine: “That’s not fair!” How would your respond to that objection?  First of all we can point out that this is the whole point: Salvation is not about fairness but it is entirely of grace.  If anyone was entitled to receive grace it would no longer be grace (grace = unmerited favor).  Second, it should be observed that this objection is precisely the objection that Paul anticipates being made against his own teaching in verse 19.  When people object to your teaching the same way that they object to Paul’s teaching you are probably on solid ground (please note that nobody ever accuses the Arminian scheme of being “unfair” which reveals that it is a different doctrine than the one Paul is teaching).  This also leads to Paul’s second major line of argumentation in verses 20-21.  How do these verses direct our attitude toward God?  The final refutation of those who want salvation to depend upon us is found in verse 29.  If God had only made salvation possible, none of us would have been delivered from our sin.  Praise be to God that on the cross Jesus actually redeemed His people. Salvation was truly accomplished and so we can rest in His grip on us rather than hope in our grip on Him. Read or sing Hymn 558 “That Man Is Blest Who, Fearing God”. Prayer: Pilgrim OPC, our sister congregation in Dover, NH, is hoping to expand its outreach to the nearby University of New Hampshire.  This Fall will mark the first time that there has ever been a Reformed Campus Ministry at UNH.  Pray that incoming students from Reformed congregations would quickly become connected with this ministry and that the Holy Spirit would make this outreach effective among the broader student body.  Pray that these students would quickly become active at Pilgrim OPC in Dover and Exeter PCA in Exeter, NH.

Friday (9/11) Read and discuss Zechariah 8:18-23. In verse 19 the LORD tells the delegation from Bethel that the fasts over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple will be turned into “seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts”.  According to verse 19, how does the LORD say that His people should respond to this news?  It can be helpful to realize that the word “truth” in verse 19 also carries the idea of “faithfulness”.  Therefore it both means that the people should love the truth which God is revealing to them but also that they should respond in faithfulness to God and to one another. We see the same pattern in the New Testament when Jesus, who is the Light of the World, tells His disciples: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16)” According to Zechariah 8:20-22, how will God cause the nations to respond when His people respond in faithfulness to His gracious provision? Is this because God’s people are smarter or have discovered some unusual formula’s for success?  According to verse 23, what is it that really distinguishes God’s people? Recite the Apostles’ Creed. Prayer:  Eight years ago we watched in horror as evil men hijacked plans for the purpose of slaughtering innocent civilians.  Nobody who saw the collapse of the World Trade Centers will ever erase those images from our minds. At that time many of us believed that we would soon be attacked again.  Let us give thanks to the LORD that we have been spared a repeat of such terrorist attacks in America.  Let us also pray for not merely the absence of war here on our soil, but for the genuine spread of peace throughout the world. Pray that the LORD would intervene in Afghanistan, whose people have known little but war throughout their entire lives that the gospel would go forth to change the hearts of people and give them the only true hope that any man or woman can ever  truly have.

Saturday (9/12) Read and discuss Mark 4:1-20. On Monday we looked at the first 12 verses of this section.  Now we will see how Jesus explains the parable.  The parable is not merely a “timeless truth” but an unfolding of what Jesus is doing in His own ministry. The people of Israel had been sent into exile in 722 and 586 BC because of their unfaithfulness to God.  One of the results of these exiles is that the land had been made desolate.  As we have been seeing in our Sunday evening studies through Zechariah – the LORD had brought a small remnant of the people back into the land but the fullness of restoration had not yet happened prior to Christ’s coming (i.e. (1) There had been no visible filling of the Temple by the Spirit of God; and (2) Israel was under the thumb of foreign powers). Many Jews in the first century were expecting the Messiah to bring in all of the blessings of the Kingdom of God in one dramatic burst.  In this parable, Jesus says that the Kingdom wasn’t coming like that.  Instead it was coming in a manner analogous to the sowing of seed in a field.  Israel was being replanted and would one day be a garden again – but the results would be gradual rather than cataclysmic.  This parable also helps us interpret our life in the Church today.  We see people respond quite differently to the very same word of God.  According to verse 15, some people (because of the hardness of their hearts) don’t respond to God’s word at all.  Verses 16-19 draw portraits of two different kinds of people who seem to respond favorably to the word of God at first, but then fall away.  What reasons are given in verses 17 and 19 for why these individuals fall away from (apparently) following Jesus?  Don’t miss the end of Jesus’ explanation.  The resulting fruitfulness of those who do truly entrust themselves to Christ’s word will ultimately reap a crop that dwarfs those who fall away.  As B.B. Warfield once said about the parable of the tares and the wheat field:  Looking back upon history we will see that it was a wheat field with tares and not a tare field with a little bit of wheat. Read or sing Hymn 562 “All to Jesus I Surrender”. Prayer: Please pray for the work of African Bible Colleges (http://www.africanbiblecolleges.org/uganda/) and the ministry of O. Palmer Robertson. Dr. Robertson serves as director and principal of the African Bible College campus in Kampala, Uganda (the college also has campuses in Liberia and Malawai). Dr. Robertson is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and a well known seminary professor who has taught at Covenant, Westminster, Reformed, and Knox Theological Seminaries. All of the faculty members are either from the PCA or the Free Church of Scotland. From a human standpoint, the Bible College is in a strategic position to assist the churches and to bring reformation to several countries in Africa.   While there has been an explosive growth in Christianity in parts of Africa, the typical pastor has virtually no theological training.  Schools such as African Bible College are literally training the next generation of leaders and can profoundly impact the future of these churches.  Pray that the LORD would maintain these schools as bastions of Biblical orthodoxy and zeal for His glory.

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