Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 10 January 2010 Saturday, Jan 2 2010

MVOPC 10 January 2010

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

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

Responsive Reading: Psalm 24 (p. 791)

Hymn: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

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

Old Covenant Reading:  Deuteronomy 12:1-14

New Covenant Reading:  Colossians 2:1-23

Sermon Text:  Mark 6:53-7:13

Sermon:  Vain Worship

Hymn of Response: 642 “Be Thou My Vision”

PM Worship: Zechariah 13:7-9 – The Shepherd Struck

Adult Sunday School: Calvin 1b: Consolidating the Reformation

Suggested Preparations

Monday (1/4) Read and discuss Mark 6:53-7:13.  Is following tradition good or bad? The answer is obvious – it depends. Tradition simply means those things that are handed down from generation to generation.  To be without tradition is to cast off the wisdom of the generations that have gone before us, yet to be wedded to tradition is to deny the need for all of the life to be renewed and reformed according to the word of God.  It has been well said that “Tradition is the living faith of the dead while Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”  Mark 7 reveals that the Pharisees had so identified with their traditional practices that, according to Jesus, their worship had become vain. Regretfully, this is not a problem that the Church has left in the first century.  How can we guard against this danger?  Two suggestions: First, be committed to understanding and applying God’s word to all areas of life.  It is primarily when people lose touch with the living voice of God that they seek substitutes by granting excessive authority to tradition.  Second, make sure that you don’t insist upon any tradition that cannot be clearly demonstrated from Scripture.  An interesting example of this is the question of whether or not Christians should celebrate Christmas.  In fact, many Puritans strongly objected to celebrating Christmas.  Were they merely kill-joys who were desperately concerned that someone somewhere might be having fun?  Absolutely not!  The Puritans were responding to a practice that developed in the Middle Ages where holidays like Christmas were made into “holy days of obligation”.  That is, unless you celebrated Christmas in the way the Church told you to – you were sinning.  Our Puritan forbearers rightly saw that the Church had no right to add religious obligations upon people.  So if any Church insists that you must celebrate Christmas – it has sinfully moved from tradition to traditionalism. On the other hand, there is certainly nothing wrong with getting together to celebrate the birth of Jesus by reading Scripture and singing appropriate hymns.  True Christian freedom cuts both directions.  While it is wrong to command Christians to participate in special worship services on Christmas Eve (or Christmas) it is every bit as wrong to forbid it. Read or sing Hymn 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing”. Prayer:  Please pray for the country of Cuba.  Having been cut off for many years from the U.S., and officially communist, there has not be a great deal of missionary activity in Cuba.  Right now Cuba is undergoing a transition into a post Castro era and the OPC is considering opportunities to open up mission work in Cuba.  Please pray that the LORD would grant wisdom to the Committee on Foreign Missions and also that He would open a door for us to plant biblically and confessionally reformed churches in the Republic of Cuba.

Tuesday (1/5) Read and discuss Mark 6:45-52. Jesus had a problem. That is somewhat shocking even to say. We naturally think that we have problems and Jesus solves them, but to understand this text we need to recognize that Jesus had a problem.  Simply put, Christ’s problem was the hardness of the human heart.  He had just performed the dramatic miracle of feeding the 5,000 yet neither the crowds nor His disciples understood the sign that He performed.  The irony of the crowd’s misunderstanding is striking.  After the miracle they wanted to make Jesus their king (small “k”) but they didn’t see past the sign to worship Him as their King.  Rome was famous for keeping the crowds under control through “bread and circuses” (free food and entertainment).  The crowd hated Roman rule and wanted to replace it with free food and entertainment (see John 6).  The way Jesus deals with this problem teaches us at least four things: (1) Jesus compels His disciples to get into the boat and head out to sea. When they run into the storm it is precisely because Jesus sent them there in order to provide the opportunity to stretch their faith.  When we run into the storms of life, we need to remember that they are entirely under the sovereign control of Jesus and look for how Jesus is trying to increase our faith. (2) Jesus prayed.  Since He came to His disciples during the fourth watch, which was between 3 and 6 AM, we know that Jesus prayed for several hours.  We should imitate Christ’s regular pattern of prayer but we should also observe that when He faced great challenges in His life such as calling His disciples and preparing for the cross Jesus carved out significant blocks of time to commune with God.  We need to do the same thing.  When you are facing difficult times it is wise to talk with your friends and family; but who should you talk to about them more than God? (3) Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples as the One who was able to control even the elements of nature  – and therefore as the One who was able to carry them safely through even the most difficult and painful challenges of life (“The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want!”).  As Christians we must remember that none of our problems are too big for Jesus to handle. (4) Undoubtedly one of the things Jesus did on the mountain was to pray for His disciples.  During His earthly life Jesus had laid aside some of the prerogatives of Deity.  With His resurrection and ascension into heaven He has taken them up again.  One of the dramatic things that Jesus is doing right now is praying for His Church … i.e. praying for you! (See Hebrews 7:25).  Taken together we see that Jesus not only shows us the way we are to face challenges in faith; it reveals how Christ grows His disciples in faith and sanctification. Prayer: Ask that God would grant you greater joy, faith, and fruitfulness in your prayer-life.

Wednesday (1/6) Read and discuss Deuteronomy 12:1-14.  Religious pluralism allows people to maintain (within certain limits) different religious views and practices while living peacefully with one another.  The United States has tightly woven religious pluralism into the fabric of our culture as a virtue so Christians need to be particularly aware of the dangers that religious pluralism poses to us in being faithful Disciples of Christ.  First, we should notice from Deuteronomy 12 that there is to be absolutely no religious pluralism within the people of God. The LORD commands, through Moses, that the Israelites utterly destroy the altars of the land He is giving them to possess. Canaanite methods of worship are not to be adopted for the worship of Yahweh.  The people of God are to seek Yahweh and worship Him precisely as He prescribes. The danger of living in a pluralistic culture is that Christians can easily confuse political rights with moral rights.  It may be wise for the Constitution and the laws of the land to protect the rights of everyone to worship as they see fit, but God never gives anyone the right to worship as he or she sees fit. Yet, if we don’t self-consciously remind ourselves that we need to approach the True God only – and to do so in the ways He prescribes – we will very naturally slip into thinking that God will be pleased with whatever worship springs from my imagination.  The second danger that pluralism presents to Christians is that it tends to privatize religious beliefs.  While deeply personal, following Christ is a public activity.  By “public” we don’t mean that following Christ is an ostentatious activity – Jesus specifically warned of us against making a show of our religion and piety.  By “public” we mean that following Jesus impacts every area of our lives.  We need to resist the call of pluralism to restrict following Jesus to a small sub-section of our lives. In light of the complete commitment demanded of God in Deuteronomy 12, what areas of your thinking and life have been challenged by living in a pluralistic culture? Read or sing Hymn: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”. Prayer: As unemployment in the U.S. has remained around 10% for a while, it seems that it is no longer newsworthy.  Yet, for those without meaningful work, the lack of employment can cause enormous financial and emotional stress.  Please pray for those in our congregation and communities who are struggling financially.  Pray that those with work would be generous and, together with those who lack work, all Christians would discover the sufficiency of God whatever goods we have to let go of.

Thursday (1/7) Read and discuss Colossians 2:1-23. The desire to make progress in the Christian life is a sign of spiritual health. But how do you actually do it? In verses 2-3 Paul gives us the starting point of all true spiritual growth.  What does Paul want the Colossians (and us) to know with complete confidence? If you’ve been a Christian for a while you know that spiritual growth can take both more work and more time than we imagined earlier on in life.  This reality is fertile soil for a particular temptation to grow.  That temptation is that there is some secret key to Christian growth that we need to discover.  Regretfully, there is no end to those who are happy to peddle such keys to the spiritual life. What does Paul say about these philosophies in verses 8-9? Perhaps the greatest temptation for committed Christians comes from a more plausible corner precisely because it demands so much of us.  Out of a desire to experience personal holiness we can easily fall prey to those who encourage us to abstain from things that are not harmful in and of themselves. The temptation comes from thinking that self-denial and severe bodily discipline will lead to genuine sanctification – if we will only try hard enough.  Historically, this is one of the main reasons that people chose to become monks. According to verse 23, how much value do these things have in actually helping us overcome sin? Read or sing Hymn 4 “All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above”. Prayer: Please pray that the LORD would raise up one or more full time OPC missionaries to serve in Ethiopia.  One of our veteran missionaries has been flying in to Ethiopia a couple of times per year to help with the preparation of men for church office.  While we are grateful for this work it is no substitute for the relationships and consistency that are built and demonstrated by having a full time missionary presence.

Friday (1/8) Read and discuss Zechariah 13:7-9. Who killed Jesus? There are several correct answers to that question.  The Romans killed Jesus and the Jews killed Jesus.  That the Gentiles and Jews united to kill Jesus is important – because that covers all of us. Since Jesus died for my sins, there is a sense in which we could say, “My sins killed Jesus.” Yet, Zechariah 13 relates perhaps the most surprising answer of all: God killed Jesus. Of course, while our involvement in the death of Jesus was entirely wicked – God’s involvement was entirely benevolent. Verse 7 begins a sort of chronological flashback in the book of Zechariah.  He had described the Jewish people as one day looking back on “Him whom they have pierced (12:10)”, so it is entirely appropriate to look at this piercing from a theological point of view.  Zechariah tells us that it wasn’t some fluke of man’s free will that the Jews put Jesus to death. Chapter 13 verse 7 describes God as commanding the sword that would strike (i.e. kill) Him.  Notice that this verse describes Jesus as “my shepherd” and “the man who stands next to me”.  If there were any doubt what this prophecy meant, it is clarified in the twenty-sixth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew:

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

The scattering of the sheep, at least in part, must refer to the scattering of Jesus’ original disciples (although it certainly means more than the scattering of the 11 disciples other than Judas). By God’s sovereign decree the Shepherd is struck and the sheep are scattered. This is followed by a period that separates the true remnant of believers from the larger crowd of would be disciples.  In the midst, and by means of, significant trials – God purifies a people for His own name. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Give thanks that God would be willing to sacrifice His own Son in order to redeem His Church.

Saturday (1/9) Read and discuss Mark 6:53-7:13. We find out what our real priorities are when we have to choose between different things that we think or claim to value.  What do we give up and what do we hold unto? Whatever we actually hold unto is what we truly value most.  By the time of Christ, a great number of ceremonial washings had become expected of those (like the Pharisees) who wanted to be, or at least appear, pious.  Traditions like this often start with good intentions.  The ceremonial washings that the Pharisees had adopted were primarily ceremonial washings that God required of the priests serving in the Temple. When the practice of copying the ceremonies of the Temple first came to pass, the participants probably did so simply out of a desire that all of life would be lived as holy before God.  Nevertheless, this was a particularly dangerous tradition because everyone else could see you doing it.  Other people can’t see that you are loving the LORD your God with all your heart; but they can see you performing religious rituals that make you appear particularly devoted to God.  Given the choice between appearing pious and loving your neighbors as yourself – the Pharisees chose the appearance of piety as enshrined in their tradition (instead of loving their neighbors (i.e. Jesus’ disciples) as themselves).  We should not imagine that we are not prone to the same sort of trade-offs.  Practically speaking, how can we make sure that we are really focused on loving God rather than appearing religious?  Here are two suggestions: First, spend time with God asking him to reveal the true state of your heart (Psalm 139:23-24).  Second, realize that the LORD has graciously commanded us to make choices now that both indicate and shape the direction of our hearts such as giving the first-fruits of our time, talent, and resources to worship and spreading the gospel. It has been rightly said that tithing isn’t God’s way of raising money it is His way of raising children. Read or sing Hymn 642 “Be Thou My Vision”. Prayer:  Ask that the LORD would cause Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church to be built solidly upon His word rather than upon the traditions of men.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 3 January 2010 Saturday, Dec 26 2009

MVOPC 3 January 2010

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Hymn of Praise: 2 “O Worship the King”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 77 (p. 812)

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

Hymn of Preparation: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

Old Covenant Reading: Job 9:1-12

New Covenant Reading:  Hebrews 5:1-14

Sermon Text:  Mark 6:45-52

Sermon:  Hard Hearted Disciples

Hymn of Response: 708 “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go”

PM Worship: Zechariah 13:1-6 Idolatry Cut Off

Adult Sunday School: Congregation Interviews Elder Joe Jager for Possible Installation as a Ruling Elder at Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church

Suggested Preparations

Monday (12/28) Read and discuss Mark 6:45-52.  One of the striking, and perhaps surprising, things about Jesus is that He was a man of prayer.  It is easy for us to imagine that Jesus had all the answers and had no need for prayer – but this misses that reality that when God the Son became man He put aside the prerogatives of Deity.  Undoubtedly, part of the reason Jesus was a man of prayer was that He simply enjoyed spending time in communion with His Father.  On the other hand, the Bible draws attention to Jesus praying at major turning points in His life such as when He selected His 12 Disciples and when He was about to die. As pressed as He was by the demands of His calling, Jesus at times assertively, carved time out of His schedule to spend in prayer.  Sometimes this involved blocks of several hours. Oddly, modern culture has come to think of the dependence on Another – which a deep prayer life signifies – as a sign of weakness.  I say oddly, because the men in the Bible who are known as men of prayer annihilates this picture.  The people known as great men of prayer in the Bible include Moses, King David, Elijah, Elisha, Peter, Paul, and Jesus.  None of these men would be regarded as anything other than exceptional. Read or sing Hymn 2 “O Worship the King”. Prayer: If you think that prayer is only something to do when you have “free time”; ask that God would reorient your priorities that you would spend more time in private praising, thanking, and entreating Him in the coming year.

Tuesday (12/29) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. The birth narratives are an effective prologue to Jesus’ life and ministry.  They reveal His character, His vocation, His nature, and His reception.  The Magi were from the East – probably from Babylon and/or modern Iran.  Guided by a star, they came seeking a new King who was to be born in Israel.  Not surprisingly, they first come to Jerusalem – the nation’s capitol.  Where else would you expect royalty to be born?  Yet God the Son had chosen to be born in very humble circumstances in the little town of Bethlehem.  This reveals Christ’s character.  He “came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).” Jesus reveals that God is gentle in His very nature.  Secondly, this story reveals the reception that Jesus would receive.  While the gentiles, moved by God, showed deep interest in His birth; none of the religious or political leaders in Jerusalem were willing to make the short trip with the Magi to Bethlehem to see where the Messiah had been born.  Verse 12 tells us that the Magi had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod.  We know the fuller story.  Herod wanted only one thing from Jesus: He wanted Jesus dead! Thus at the beginning of Christ’s life we see the hostility that He will face from the Jewish religious and political leaders. Yet, in the Magi’s presence we also see something else of Christ’s vocation: He came not simply to be the redeemer of Israel but the Savior and King of the whole world. Thirdly, this story shows us the true nature of Jesus as the Incarnate God.  Verses 2 and 11 dramatically reveal that the Magi were not on a diplomatic mission.  They had come for a solitary purpose – to worship the child who was King at His birth.  How much they understood about Jesus being fully God we will not know on this side of glory.  But the reader of Matthew is left in no doubt at the outset of the gospel account – Jesus is God! Regretfully, one part of this story has been so distorted by Christmas cards that we need to correct our thinking.  The Magi are sometimes called “wise men”.  Creators of Christmas cards and other Christian nick knacks have been unable to resist the tag line that “Wise men still seek Him”.  The problem with this is that it implies the Magi came and worshipped Jesus because they were wise.  The reality is that the Magi came and worshipped Jesus because they had been sought out by the Spirit of God.  The LORD had supernaturally provided a star to guide them to Jerusalem, and then brought them to Bethlehem through the revelation of the prophet Micah.  This story is not about wise men seeking Jesus, but about a Loving God who sought out sinners like us.  It is also about a Father who was zealous to testify about His Son that He should be worshipped as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  If by God’s grace you have come to know who Jesus truly is, don’t number yourself among the wise – but among the redeemed sinners upon whom God’s favor rests.  Let us, like the Magi, fall down and worship Him. Prayer: Please pray for Jonathan and Margaret Falk as they seek to spread the gospel and plant churches in Uruguay.

Wednesday (12/30) Read and discuss Job 9:1-12.  Here is one of the most important things that anyone can ever learn:  There is only one God in the universe and you are not Him.  Oddly, many adults never seem to come to grips with this foundational truth.  Some people will say: “I would believe in God if …” as though the King of Kings had to answer to them.  Other people are even more direct when they say, “my god is …” Of course this is nothing but idolatry.  Job, in the midst of his torments is absolutely clear about the transcendent nature of the Living God. At the moment, this causes great distress to Job. He doesn’t understand what God is doing. Job wishes to contend with the Almighty, but has to resign himself to the reality that no man has any claim upon his Creator. The book of Job does not answer all of Jobs questions in detail.  Instead Job is provided with an even fuller and more personal encounter with the LORD – and he responds to this encounter with faith.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God directly addresses our limited understanding of His unfolding plan:

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Like Job, we need to respond to Providence by trusting God without trying to negotiate with Him.  Living on this side of the cross we have such a fuller revelation of how deeply He loves us.  How can we doubt His good will towards us simply because things don’t go our way?  As Paul so beautifully put it: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things (Rom 8:32)?”  Read or sing Hymn: 164 “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”.  Prayer: Lift up the young people in our congregation that they would come to see the greatness of the Living God.  Ask that they (and we) would be prevented from trying to bring God down to fit within the limitations of our own thinking.

Thursday (12/31) Read and discuss Hebrews 5:1-14. While the Holy Spirit is at work in conforming us to Christ-likeness, that doesn’t mean that growth is automatic.  The author of Hebrews laments: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, …”  What about you?  How much progress are you making in your pursuit of Christian maturity? There are at least two significant challenges to our rapid growth in having our minds renewed by God’s word.  First, we live in a convenience nation.  If you want to make your retail store a success – you make it as easy as possible for people buy your product.  Many churches have done the same thing with Christianity.  The result is that it seems odd for modern Americans (including us!) to think of the Christian life as something we have to work hard at – but that is exactly how it is presented in Scripture (e.g. Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”). The second challenge is that we live in such a noisy culture.  There is always a phone, Internet connection, radio, or T.V. calling for our attention.  If we don’t self-consciously carve out time for things like studying God’s word – we will find all of that time spent (without really knowing where it all went). Tomorrow is the beginning of a new year.  What a great time to take back some of the time we have been squandering and to invest it in things that will matter forever. Read or sing Hymn 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”. Prayer: Pray that the LORD would make you a better steward of your time.

Friday (11/1) Read and discuss Zechariah 13:1-6. At the end of Zechariah 12 we read how the LORD would take the initiative to turn the Jewish people back to Himself in genuine repentance. Chapter 13 begins by telling us that, having brought His people back to Himself, God will cleanse them from their guilt and sins.  It is likely that Zechariah is self-consciously echoing the Ezekiel’s prophesy from the time Israel was in the Babylonian exile:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-26).

It is important to see that God is promising to deliver from both the guilt and power of sin. “That is, the salvation of God’s people is not merely from the condemnation due to them for their sin; it is, in addition, a progressive (and eventually a full) deliverance from the power and presence of sin in their lives (James Montgomery Boice).”  According to verse 3, how will this renewed sanctification be manifest?  According to God’s law, false prophets were to be executed (Deuteronomy 13:5, 10; 18:20).  Yet, the Jewish people had tolerated the false prophets while killing the true prophets.  In the future, according to Zechariah, the situation would be reversed.  The renewed zeal for the holiness and glory of God would be manifested by the fact that parents would put God’s honor above their own children. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Ask that the LORD would bless Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church in the coming year that we would be a more faithful and fruitful witness to who Jesus is and what He has done.

Saturday (1/2) Read and discuss Mark 6:45-52. According to verse 45, why did the Disciples get in the boat and head across the lake?  It is important to realize that Jesus compelled them to get into the boat.  We easily imagine that when we hit rough seas in our lives that we must have made a wrong turn somewhere.  Perhaps we have.  But Jesus sends challenges to us, just as He sent the Disciples into the storm, in order to increase our faith.  When you find yourself in one of life’s storms; instead of looking back to see where you went wrong – look up in faith and discover what Jesus is trying to teach you.  What does verse 52 tell us about the Disciple’s understanding? This may be surprising because the Disciples certainly did not doubt Christ’s power.  They themselves had cast out demons and healed the sick in Jesus’ name.  No, the problem the Disciples had was not with Christ’s power but with His identity.  Jesus graciously put them into the frame of mind where they could be taught and than miraculously demonstrated to them how different He was from a “mere” prophet. Read or sing Hymn 708 “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go”. Prayer:  Pray for tomorrow’s worship services that through corporate worship we would glorify our LORD and have our minds renewed by His word.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 27 December 2009 Sunday, Dec 20 2009

MVOPC 27 December 2009 – Lord’s Supper

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep.  We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.  We have offended against Your holy laws.  We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.  And we have done those things which we ought not to have done;  and there is no health in us.  But You, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.  Spare those, O God, who confess their faults.  Restore those who are penitent;  According to Your promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.  And grant, O most merciful Father;  For His sake;  That we may hereby live a godly, righteous, and sober life;  To the glory of Your holy name.  Amen.

Hymn: 225 “Once in Royal David’s City”

Hymn of Preparation: 213 “What Child Is This”

Old Covenant Reading:  Micah 5:1-5a

New Covenant Reading:  Romans 1:1-17

Sermon Text:  Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon:  Gentiles Worship Israel’s King

Hymn of Response: 193 “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”

PM Worship: 1 Chronicles 17:1-15

Adult Sunday School: Christmas Fellowship Meal

Suggested Preparations

Monday (12/21) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12.  The Gospel according to Matthew begins with a genealogy.  This is not the way we would do it today. Nobody who wants to sell a biography would begin with a list of names regarding who gave birth to whom. Nevertheless, this genealogy is important for Matthew’s gospel account.  By commencing with Abraham, and emphasizing the place of King David (v. 6), Matthew clearly fixes Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Yet, there is the interesting inclusion of four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.  Each of these women represents a surprise that God had intended to graft Gentiles not only into Israel but into the line of the Messiah Himself. As I. Howard Marshall puts it, “The effect of the genealogy is to root Jesus in the Jewish people and in its royal line, and to prepare the way for his irregular birth and for the inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God.”  In chapter 2, we see the Gentile theme expanded as Magi come from the East to worship Jesus. Why were they seeking Jesus? They were seeking Jesus because God had first sought them – and given them a miraculous sign to lead them to His Son.  The minor note of this passage is foreboding:  Herod and the Jewish leaders are entirely unwilling to receive the one born King of the Jews.  Yet, the major note of this passage is a vision of God’s grace that includes sinners from every tribe and tongue and people.  Jesus was born not merely to deliver the Jewish nation but to be the Savior of the World. Read or sing Hymn 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”. 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 (12/22) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20. Many of our neighbors approach Christmas like it is simply a heart warming story or a movie they enjoy like The Princess Bride. Yet Luke begins his account by writing:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

The emphasis upon careful investigation and eye-witness testimony is essential to Christianity.  The gospel is not good advice or a good story but good news. The Christian message rests on historical events. Yet God doesn’t simply leave us with historical events, He tells us what those events mean. Verses 10 and 11 summarize this message in two lists of three items: First there is (1) good news (2) of great joy (3) for all people.  Second the content of that news is a baby who is (1) Savior (2) Christ (i.e. Messiah); and (3) LORD. This message is so simply yet we could spend the rest of our lives trying to plumb its depths. The sure sign that we are beginning to grasp what God has done and said is that we are glorifying Him and worshipping Jesus. 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 (12/23) Read and discuss Micah 5:1-5a.  Micah is a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah. “Both Isaiah and Micah lived through the traumatic days of the devestation of the northern kingdom and its exile at the brutal hands of the king of Assyria in 722 BC.” Although God had graciously protected Judah from Assyria, both Isaiah and Micah focus on the judgment God will bring through Babylon because His people are not returning to Him in faith.  Quite simply they are promising that God will fulfill His promises by giving the people of Judah what they deserve.  But then a remarkable thing happens.  God promises to take the initiative to deliver His chosen people even though they have forsaken Him and gone after idols.  This deliverance unfolds in two stages.  First God promises to deliver His people physically from Babylon.  We have been looking at the fulfillment of this in the post-exilic book of Zechariah on Sunday evenings.  Second He promises to fully deliver His people by sending the Messiah.  It is therefore not surprising that God would choose the incredibly insignificant town of Bethlehem.  The LORD is drawing attention to the fact that this deliverance would be entirely of His grace.  There is, perhaps, another reason why God orchestrated the birth of both David and Jesus in Bethlehem.  The name Bethlehem literally means house of bread – or house of food.  Therefore there is a remarkable appropriateness that the Bread from Heaven, our true provision, would become man in Bethlehem. Verse 5a tells us something of great importance: Jesus will not only give His people peace – He will be our peace.  May you find complete peace in Him today. Read or sing Hymn: 225 “Once in Royal David’s City”.  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 (12/24) Read and discuss Romans 1:1-17. Apart from Jesus, Paul is the best known figure in the New Testament.  Nevertheless he wrote his most famous letter to a church that he had not yet visited. How would he introduce himself? First calls himself a servant, or better “a slave of Jesus Christ”.  Second he calls himself an Apostle – which fundamentally means ambassador. At the outset Paul is making it clear that he is not a free agent.  He belongs to Christ and therefore is focused on proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But what exactly is the gospel?  A “gospel” was an official announcement of good news.  The Romans would have heard this term frequently used in relation to the Emperor.  A herald would go around and proclaim the gospel (good news) about something that Caesar had accomplished on behalf of the Roman people.  According to verse 1, whose good news was Paul proclaiming? Verse two tells us that this gospel was not a complete surprise.  It had been promised by God through the Old Testament; but what had only been promised had now been brought to pass.  It is important to see that the content of the good news is focused on the person and work of Jesus (“the Son” – v. 3). Furthermore, the announcement of Christ’s victory contains within it the call for us to respond.  Verse 7 tells us that we are “called to be saints.”  Christ’s victory over sin was not for His own sake but on our behalf.  Jesus came not only to save us from the consequences of sin but to save us from sin itself. Finally, the gospel is explained in terms of Jesus’ victory over death (the Resurrection) and the declaration that He is both Messiah and Lord. A helpful way to remember this is to use the following definition:

The Gospel is the victory of God in Jesus Christ, over Satan, sin, and death, on behalf of His people.

What difference does this make? It makes all the difference in the world. God has so ordered the universe that when we trust His victory in Jesus Christ – He treats us as though it were our victory.  According to verse 17 this is not merely the starting point for the Christian life, it is the totality of the Christian life.  The righteousness of God is revealed when we trust in Him for everything.  Good works are nothing more than faith that has gone public. In the concrete struggles of the day, let us look to Jesus and ask: “How does Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death on my behalf impact how I perceive and respond to this situation?” Read or sing Hymn 213 “What Child Is This”. Prayer: This evening, for those who wish to gather for worship on Christmas eve, some of us will be worshipping at our sister congregation in Ipswich, MA (7 PM http://www.opc-ipswich.org/). Please pray for the continued faithfulness and fruitfulness of First Presbyterian Church in Ipswich.  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.

Friday (12/25) Read and discuss 1 Chronicles 17:1-15. Today, in the West, it is very common to exchange gifts in celebration of the birth of Christ. A natural question that is often raised is what present will we give to Jesus?  This is the idea behind the song “A Little Drummer Boy”. It is natural to want to respond to the amazing gift of God’s grace by offering Him part of the bounty that He has blessed us with. Perhaps that was what David was thinking when he told Nathan of his desire to build a Temple where the Living God would be worshipped.  The prophet thought that this was such a great idea that he immediately blessed David’s plans – yet they were not God’s plans.  The LORD sent Nathan back to King David to tell him that instead of David building a house for God, the LORD would build a house (i.e. a dynasty) for David.  In the future God would raise up one of His descendents not merely to a long reign – but to an eternal reign.  On Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of this prophesy with the gift of Jesus who was rightfully King at His birth. Giving to each other and returning tokens of thanks to the LORD are entirely appropriate and delightful activities. Yet let us remember that Christmas is not about what we give to God but about the astonishing gift that He has given to us.  Let us receive God’s gift with open and thankful hearts. Recite the Nicene Creed. 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. Then give thanks that He would humble himself to unite with humanity and be born in a manger.

Saturday (12/26) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. They came in order to worship Him. We may take that for granted.  Why wouldn’t they worship Jesus? But we need to remember that worship is reserved for God alone.  Consider how odd it would be if important people, even rulers, from far away were to come to the United States on an official visit and behaved this way.  What if they went to the White House and told the President that they were seeking a baby (who happened to be born in a small town in Iowa) to worship him as the King of the United States.  Such a though might be merely amusing, but for Herod it presented a clear and present danger.  Many in Israel still hoped for the coming of God’s Messiah – and Herod wasn’t Him.  Even rumors that God had sent a new King could destabilize Herod’s reign.  But notice that it wasn’t just Herod who was troubled.  Verse 3 tells us that all Jerusalem was troubled with him.  Like those who rebelled against Moses because he had made them to be an offense in the eyes of Pharaoh – there are many people who just don’t want the boat to be rocked.  If the Messiah was really here they would have to change their ways (repent), and they preferred to continue living largely for themselves rather than for God.  Many people in the Church are exactly that way in our own day.  Consider the scribes who can rattle off Scripture about the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem – but who don’t think it is worthwhile to go with the Magi to find Him! Yet verse 10 tells us that the Magi did find Jesus – and that they worshipped Him.  The point is clear: Political rulers may hate the threat to their supposed sovereignty.  Religious leaders may prefer their status to actual service (contrast these scribes with John the Baptist).  Yet, Jesus is who He is.  He is Immanuel – God with us.  Come, let us worship Him. Read or sing Hymn 193 “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”. 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.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 20 December 2009 Saturday, Dec 12 2009

MVOPC 20 December 2009 – LORD’s Supper

Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

Prayer of Confession

Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep.  We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.  We have offended against Your holy laws.  We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.  And we have done those things which we ought not to have done;  and there is no health in us.  But You, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.  Spare those, O God, who confess their faults.  Restore those who are penitent;  According to Your promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.  And grant, O most merciful Father;  For His sake;  That we may hereby live a godly, righteous, and sober life;  To the glory of Your holy name.  Amen.

Hymn: 196 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”

Hymn of Preparation: 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Old Covenant Reading:  Isaiah 9:1-7

New Covenant Reading:  Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon Text:  Luke 2:1-20

Sermon:  Savior, Messiah, LORD

Hymn of Response:  195 “Joy to the World! The Lord is Come”

PM Worship: Isaiah 9:1-7

Adult Sunday School: Fellowship Lunch

Suggested Preparations

Monday (12/14) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20.  When we consider the plagues against Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, or raining manna from heaven, one thing becomes certain:  God knows how to provide dramatic signs. So when the heavenly host announces to shepherds that God is going to give them a sign about the birth of the Messiah – what sort of extraordinary sign might they have expected? Yet we read these startling words: “this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”. What sort of sign is that? Where are the fireworks? Well, it is a sign of the very different sort of King that Jesus would be.  The Messiah would be a meek King who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). In this light, Luke 2:1 does more than provide a chronological marker for the incarnation. It contrasts Jesus with the Emperor Augustus Caesar.  Augustus had been given the name Octavius at birth. When Julius Caesar died he adopted Octavius in his will making Octavius the most important person in Rome.  After military victories established Octavius’ position he took for himself the title Augustus.  With some prodding from Augustus, the Senate eventually voted to declare that Julius Caesar had become a god.  This provided Augustus with the politically useful claim that he was son of god. He also claimed for himself the titles of savior and lord.   Luke is therefore contrasting the self-aggrandizing Augustus, with the King of Kings who took on flesh to be born in a manger.  At this time of year we sing “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the Incarnate Deity”. Nevertheless, we should remember that the willingness of God to set aside his glorious prerogatives is itself a revelation of His character.  We should also remember that when we humble ourselves for the sake of others – we are actually becoming more like God! Read or sing Hymn 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. Prayer:  The Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles recently elected an avowed lesbian to be their Bishop.  Outside of North America and the United Kingdom, most Anglicans in the world are Bible believing Christians.  The unbiblical actions of the Episcopal Church will likely lead to the break up of the Anglican Communion.  Please pray for our brothers and sisters who are still in the Episcopal Church as they grieve over the collapse of their denomination.  Ask that Christ would bring them into biblically faithful church homes.  Pray also for those continuing churches who are seeking to create a faithful Anglican body in North America through the Anglican Church in North America.

Tuesday (12/15) Read and discuss Mark 6:30-44. Certainly the best known psalm, and perhaps the most beloved portion of all Scripture, is the 23^rd Psalm.  The comfort given to God’s people by the reminder that “The LORD is my Shepherd …” is beyond our ability to find out. But why should the fact that the LORD, i.e. Jesus, is the one who rules over and cares for me a source of such great comfort?  Quite simply this is because of Christ’s character.  The good news is that Jesus is a loving and gentle Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.  In a very real sense Jesus is the gospel. We need to be reminded of this and so did His disciples.  In verse 30 we are told that the Disciples, now rightly called Apostles, return from their mission and tell Jesus all that they had taught and done in His name.  Remember that Jesus had sent them out with authority, but without the human means of sustaining their work.  They needed to trust Jesus that God would provide for all they needed – which He did.  Yet, faced with the challenge of feeding a huge crowd that had turned out to hear Jesus teach, they turned back to merely human ways of meeting this genuine need.  We do exactly the same thing.  Often when we engage in Christian ministry, we focus most of our energy upon our plans and provision and pray only that God would bless what we have done. It is right that we would work hard at ministry, for Christ calls us to precisely such work. Yet we must learn to trust all the fruitfulness to God who gives the increase.  Jesus responds to the Apostle’s befuddlement by performing the spectacularly miracle of feeding a crowd of 5,000 men (plus women and children) with food that could scarcely feed a single family.  This miracle, pointing back to God providing manna for Israel in the wilderness, puts Jesus in the place of God.  While miracles are by definition rare, this miracle is intended to teach us to look trustingly to Jesus to provide everything we need to do everything that He wants us to accomplish. Prayer: Life in modern America can be quite isolating.  Instead of working, worshipping, and recreating with our neighbors we often drive long distances to do these things.  One regrettable result is that, unless we diligently seek close fellowship, we can easily end up scarcely knowing some of the members of our congregation.  Please pray that our congregation will grow more closely together as we invest in each other’s lives.

Wednesday (12/16) Read and discuss Isaiah 9:1-7.  King Uzziah was an exceptional ruler. This is something that should not be taken for granted either in ancient Israel or in the modern world. To be led by a wise and godly ruler is a great blessing.  Furthermore, Uzziah reigned for 40 years.  Most of the people living in Israel at the time of his death had never lived under another king. Now Uzziah was dead. Would Israel revert to wicked rulers or even to chaos? Would her next king try to fleece the sheep rather than protect them? Isaiah tells us that “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” When the earthly king was dead and gone, Isaiah saw the King of Kings who lives and reigns forever.  So what? What good does it do us if there is a perfect ruler way off in a distance while we have to live with wicked rulers down here on earth?  First of all the Biblical portrait of God is of a Sovereign who is actively involved in even the apparently smallest aspects of creation – so that He cares even for the sparrows and the hairs on your head (Luke 12:6).  Secondly, our passage declares the glorious news that the LORD Himself is coming down to be with us as Immanuel – which means “God with us”. Rather than history moving from bad to worse, or even in cycles, God is guiding history forward.  With the coming of Christ He has established a new visible reign on earth.  According to verse 7, will this righteous government be defeated by the kingdoms of this world? According to the end of verse 7, how committed is the LORD to bringing about His own righteous reign on earth? Looking around, we do not yet see everything under Christ’s righteous rule.  While the Kingdom of God has come there are still many who love the darkness more than the light. Let us give thanks that this is not the end of the story.  Read or sing Hymn: 196 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”. Prayer: Faith Alone is one of the most fundamental rallying cries of the Reformation. Nevertheless, we all tend to place part of our hope in people, things, and organizations rather than in Christ alone.  Take a few moments to consider what you are trusting in to make your life fruitful.  Pray that God would re-center your hopes that you would trust in Christ alone.

Thursday (12/17) Read and discuss Philippians 2:1-11. Wouldn’t it be great to be part of a church where everyone cared more about the needs of each other than about their own desires – where people were like minded in the truth and love for one another?  This is precisely what Paul calls the Philippians to in verses 2 and 3.  The natural question to ask is, “what will happen to me if I live like that and nobody else does?” Paul responds, by asking if we have fully considered the life of Jesus.  He specifically challenges us to imitate Jesus in this way:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but 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.

Since our lives all had a beginning, we can wrongly think of Christmas as the beginning of Jesus’ life.  But the Son has eternally existed in perfect love with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  From the moment when God created the universe, there have been an innumerable host of angles praising God the Son.  Yet Jesus willingly laid all of that aside to come and redeem sinners like us.  Jesus didn’t lay aside anything of His Deity.  He always was, and ever remains, the Living God. What Christ laid aside was the prerogatives of being the center of the Creation.  In a similar manner, when we sacrificially love – we do not lay aside our dignity as Christ’s ambassadors; in fact, we reflect Christ most fully when we abandon ourselves to His service trusting that God the Father will use, protect, and vindicate our lives.  The humility of the incarnation is not the end for Jesus Christ. In verse 9-11 we read:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In a like manner, God will also exalt all those who humble themselves for Christ’s sake in this world. As the Apostle Peter commands us: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7).” How can you humble yourself for Christ’s sake today? Read or sing Hymn 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Prayer: The last few decades have produced a type of identity crisis among most Bible believing Reformed denominations. In some ways this reflects a challenge Christians will struggle with until Christ’s second coming: How can we be firmly orthodox (holding to right doctrine) without being unduly sectarian? Please pray that our congregation and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church would be both valiant for truth and generous of spirit.

Friday (12/18) Read and discuss Isaiah 9:1-7. Who is Jesus? This passage is one of the Old Testament prophesies that also points forward to the doctrine of the Trinity.  While we are blessed with a far fuller picture of the Triune God in the New Covenant, this prophesy should have caused faithful Jews to ask questions for which only the doctrine of the Trinity is the answer.  We are told in verse 6 that “unto us a Son is given” and we are also told that He will be called “mighty God”. While the first expression distinguishes the Messiah from God the Father, the second expression identifies Him as God. This distinction of persons and unity of being within God are the essence of the doctrine of the Trinity. Yet, we also read something that can be puzzling to us today.  Since Jesus was eternally the Son of God – how can Isaiah call Him the Everlasting Father? It is helpful for us to realize that fatherhood has three primary defining characteristics: (1) headship, (2) generation, and (3) care. Let us consider the first of these characteristics of fatherhood – headship. When an earthly father makes decisions, those choices impact his entire family.  If one man works hard and is faithful to God while another is an adulterous, drunken, gambler – there respective families will enjoy blessings or cursings based on the actions of the family’s covenant head.  Our culture tends to treat such consequences as accidental or even unfair – but they are the way God designed humanity.  Unlike angels, we live in a network of relationships where we represent each other and make decisions on each other’s behalf.  This is revealed even in our language. The biblical term for man/mankind is Adam. As the first man, Adam represented all mankind so when he rebelled against God – we all fell into sin and depravity with him. Western culture over the past 40 years has begun to rebel against this representative principle.  For example, it is becoming increasingly common for women to not take their husband’s names (in some countries the governments have actually put impediments up that hinder a woman from taking her husband’s name at the time of marriage).  A far better choice would be to tell women, “If you don’t like the idea of this man representing you – don’t marry him!” Nevertheless, being sinners we all like to shift the blame away from ourselves – as though we would have perfectly fulfilled all righteousness if we had been in Adam’s place. But before you start to protest about how unfair representative headship is, remember that this principle of representation (sometimes called “federal theology”) is the only basis for your salvation (See Romans 5:12-21)! As your federal head, on the cross God treated Jesus as though he had lived your life so that through all eternity he could treat you as though you had lived His life.  It is not surprising then that Christ would be described as the head of the Church (Eph 5:23; Col 1:18). Recite the Apostle’s Creed. Prayer:  Please pray for our missionaries Jonathan and Margaret Falk as they seek to spread the gospel in Uruguay.  Ask that the LORD would open fresh doors for the proclamation of Christ and also provide them with steadfast co-workers for the spread of the gospel.

Saturday (12/19) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20. When Jews looked back upon the golden era of their history, they always looked to King David.  While Israel had become far wealthier under Solomon’s rule, David was the man after God’s own heart – and the type of the Messiah who would come.  In telling the story of Jesus’ birth, Luke is subtly drawing our attention to the connections between Jesus and King David.  Verse 4 identifies Bethlehem as “the city of David”.  This would be striking to any first century Jew because Zion (and not Bethlehem) was consistently referred to as the city of David in both the Old Testament and in traditional Jewish literature. Luke is calling our attention to Micah 5:2:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

Yet, Luke is drawing our attention to Micah in a way that blends it with the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7 that He would raise up one of David’s descendents to reign forever.  This relates to the surprising fact that God would send a host of angels to announce the good news to lowly shepherds.  Commentators often point out that shepherds represented the outcasts of Jewish society.  While there may be some truth to this, we shouldn’t push this notion too far.  Or at least we should recognize that God delights to take the humble things of this world to shame the powerful who are wise in their own eyes. After all, the three great Jewish leaders, Abraham, Moses, and David were all shepherds. Since only David was a king it is natural for us to see a connection between God’s call of David and Christ’s birth.  When God sends Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king over Israel – even Samuel imagines that it will be the eldest son.  Indeed God passed over all seven of Jesse’s sons who were assembled before Samuel.  “Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.’” David the shepherd seemed so insignificant at that time that his father didn’t even bother to present him before Samuel.  Yet David was God’s choice to lead His people.  In a similar, but far greater way, baby Jesus lying in a manger could not have appeared any less significant – yet He was the King of Kings from all eternity. Read or sing Hymn 195 “Joy to the World! The Lord is Come”. Prayer:  Please pray that Christ would continue to bring visitors to our congregation and that they would embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 13 December 2009 Sunday, Dec 6 2009

MVOPC 13 December 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

Hymn of Praise: 2 “O Worship the King”

Responsive Reading 

Hymn: 189 “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know”

Hymn of Preparation: 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Old Covenant Reading:  Numbers 27:12-23

New Covenant Reading:  Revelation 2:12-17

Sermon Text:  Mark 6:30-44

Sermon:  The Bread of Heaven

Hymn of Response: 188 “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting”

PM Worship: Zechariah 12:10-14

Adult Sunday School: Calvin: Consolidating the Reformation

Suggested Preparations

 Monday (12/07) Read and discuss Mark 6:30-44.  We use the terms Disciples and Apostles so interchangeably that you could easily miss it.  Verse 30 is the only place in the Gospel According to Mark where the Disciples are called Apostles.  Having just returned from being sent out (apostle means “one who is sent out”) for the first time this title become entirely appropriate. Yet, given the lengthy treatment of their commissioning, we might find it surprisingly how little Mark tells us about their actual mission (although they told Jesus “all that they had done and taught”).  The only possible commentary on their mission is the size of the crowds.  Perhaps this points to the fruitfulness of their testifying to who Jesus is and what He was doing.  Upon reflection, Mark’s account makes complete sense.  The gospel is about Jesus and not about His ambassadors.  So Jesus, realizing the great strain His Disciples had been under, seeks to get them to a place where they can enjoy some physical and spiritual rest.  But that was not to be.  The crowds are so intent on finding Jesus that they run around the lake to the place where their boat touches shore.  How would you respond in such a situation?  Many of us would be sorely tempted to lash out “would you people please just leave us alone for a few days?  Can’t you see that we’re exhausted?” But as love seeks the good of others first, Jesus responded to the crowd with compassion.  Compassion in Latin (and sympathy in Greek) literally mean to suffer-with.  Instead of focusing on His needs, Jesus related to the desperate need of the crowd that they were like sheep without a shepherd.  According to verse 34, what did Jesus begin to do?  This is important for us to keep in mind.  Jesus didn’t begin by focusing the crowd’s physical needs for food and healing – and neither should we.  While physical diaconal ministries are important, knowing who God is, what He had done, and what He requires of us is essential.  It is common in our day to distinguish teaching the gospel from mercy ministries; but according to Jesus – teaching God’s word is the foundational mercy ministry. Read or sing Hymn 2 “O Worship the King”. Prayer:  Please pray for Al and Laurie Tricarico as they continue to labor among the Karamojong people in Nakaale, Uganda. Pray for the new missionary associates Jenny Baumgardner and Leah Hopp who have recently gone to assist in the Nakaale mission.

Tuesday (12/08) Read and discuss Psalm 126. Sometimes the news is so good that we say “pinch me, I think I’m dreaming”.  That is the way Israel remembered their deliverance at the hand of Yahweh. “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.” They could hardly believe the surprising blessings that their God had showered upon them. And that deliverance would have drifted back into the misty parts of their collective consciousness except for one thing: they kept celebrating it in song.  When remarkable events first happen, we assume that we will never forget anything about it – but our assumptions are wrong.  Even events such as the assassination of a president eventually lose their traction in the public imagination.  Many of us grew up in the shadow of the assassination of President Kennedy.  For a while it looked like the entire country was going to be named after him.  We visited John F. Kennedy High Schools and libraries by driving on highways re-named after the fallen president.  Yet, no-one names anything new after President Kennedy today.  Someday, all of these buildings and roads will be either gone or re-named.  Don’t believe it? When is the last time you were in a building named after James Garfield or William McKinley?  Both of these presidents were assassinated but today they are almost entirely forgotten.  But there is one death that will never be forgotten.  In the Lord’s Supper, God has established an everlasting memorial to the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.  It is as though He said: “Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy you can forget; but the death of My Son you will never forget.” When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we, like the Jews singing the 126^th Psalm, look back to celebrate God’s provision in the past and are thereby strengthened to embrace the promises of God’s provision for our future (which all flow from the perfect life and substitutionary death of Christ). Prayer: Please pray for the Session of our congregation as it meets this evening.  Ask that all things would be done in accordance with God’s word and with a spirit of peace and gentleness. Pray that the Lord would grant wisdom to the Session as they work on plans for the coming year.

Wednesday (12/09) Read and discuss Numbers 27:12-23.  Because of his sin, Moses would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Yet this did not prevent Moses from being a true Servant of the LORD.  When told that he would not enter the land, Moses focused not on his own loss but upon Israel’s need.  Moses knew all too well how much the people needed guidance, correction, and leadership; so he plead with the LORD to appoint a replacement for himself “that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” This compassion is a type of Christ’s self-giving love, when He would serve as the true Shepherd who would finally give God’s people rest. It is true that God provided Joshua Moses’ immediate successor, and also that Joshua himself serves as a type of Christ (Joshua in Hebrew = Jesus in Greek). But only Jesus could finally give rest to the people of God.  As Hebrews 4:8-10 puts it:

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

When you think about it, being called sheep is not exactly the most flattering of titles.  As Americans we have particular difficulty with the idea that we need anyone else to keep us in line and tell us what we need to do (as well as care for us!). William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus could very well be the national poem of the American people:

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

These stirring words flatter the pride of fallen man and provide a roadmap on the way to destruction.  It is intentionally anti-Christian (“whatever gods”; “chance”; disregard for the “straight … gate”; and Scriptures warnings about the wages of sin “How charged with punishments the scroll”). Thank God (literally) that this is not our condition. Christ is the master (and Shepherd) of our fate, Christ is the captain of our souls. Read or sing Hymn: 189 “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know”. Prayer: Pray for the youth of Merrimack Valley Presbyterian Church that the LORD would strengthen them against the forces hostile to Christianity in our part of the world.  Ask that Christ would graciously grant a new heart to each of our children and that they would faithfully follow Him all the days of their lives.

Thursday (12/10) Read and discuss Revelation 2:12-17. What does God expect us to do when we are threatened with fierce persecution? Simply put, followers of Jesus are to follow Jesus.  As Jesus bore faithful witness to the truth and maintained faithfulness toward His Father to the end – so must we. This is easier said than done. According to Robert Mounce, “of all the seven cities (to which Christ sent letters), Pergamum was the one in which the church was most liable to clash with the imperial cult.” Roman citizens, particularly in the eastern half of the Empire had taken to worshipping the Emperor as both savior and lord.  This brought fierce opposition to the young Christian church which professed that Jesus alone was the true Lord and Savior. Pergamum was so given over to emperor worship that John describes it as the place where Satan dwells (v. 13). This expression most likely refers to the status of Pergamum as the center for emperor worship in Asia Minor.  “As Rome had become the center of Satan’s activity in the West, so Pergamum had become his ‘throne’ in the East (Robert H. Mounce).” Yet some of the Christians remained steadfast in the face of the persecution.  Of particular note is Antipas (v. 13), who sealed his testimony to Christ at the cost of his own life.  While few of us are likely to be called upon to maintain our commitment in this ultimate way, it noteworthy that Jesus describes the Christian in verse 17 as one who “overcomes”.  What makes overcoming all the more difficult is that there are always compromisers within the church.  Verse 14 speaks of those “who hold the teaching of Balaam” while v. 15 speaks of “the Nicolaitans”.  While the later term is unclear, the etymology means overcoming-the-laity or overcoming-the-people. Jesus is saying that Christians must be those who overcome their adversaries by trusting in Him no matter what. According to verse 17, what will the one who overcomes receive from Jesus? Manna symbolizes Christ’s provision (ultimately Himself – John 6:41) for His people. David Chilton suggests that Bdellium is a white stone associated with manna (Ex. 16:31) which is “connected with the Garden of Eden, and is intended to be a reminder of it (Gen. 2:12).” The one who overcomes will receive Christ’s provision of Himself and entrance into the New Eden.  The uniqueness of the name may suggest the intimate relationship that Christ has with each of His disciples. Looking back to Christ’s victory on the cross, and forward to the rewards our LORD graciously promises to those who overcome, let us press on to be faithful until He calls us home. Read or sing Hymn 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”. Prayer: Please pray for Pilgrim OPC in Dover, NH.  Pilgrim is in the process of beginning the very first distinctly Reformed student ministry at the University of New Hampshire.  Pray that the LORD would gather students to learn the truths of His word through this outreach.  Pray that this ministry would not be a destination for students but a bridge that leads them to embrace Jesus Christ and to unite with Bible believing local churches.

Friday (12/11) Read and discuss Zechariah 12:10-14. In verses 1-9 we saw the dramatic deliverance that God promised to bring in destroying renewed Israel’s physical enemies. Verses 10-14 tell of the perhaps more astounding deliverance that God will work by granting previously hard-hearted Jews the grace of genuine repentance. As verse 10 makes clear, this will be an entirely sovereign act of God’s grace wherein He pours out His spirit on those who had been His enemies. How does God describe who they will look at in verse 10? Zechariah’s original audience would have been familiar with Isaiah 53 and it is likely that some of them would have made the connection between Zechariah’s “on him whom they have pierced” and Isaiah 53:5:

But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.

Here is something you can share with your Jewish friends.  Jewish interpreters normally attempt to treat Isaiah 53 as referring to the nation of Israel.  But who is Zechariah talking about in Zechariah 12:10.  God is speaking and He says “when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced”. This passage conforms with Jesus’ repeated claims to deity. What has kept many Jewish people from seeing this is a type of hardness of heart.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). 

The wonderful news of Zechariah 12 is that one day the LORD will graciously remove this veil for the mass of the Jewish people – and they will see Jesus as their Messiah. This seems to be the point behind the individualized mourning.  God is not merely going to convert some Jewish leaders nor is He going to provide a righteous religious veneer over Judaism.  The LORD is going to bring about the genuine conversion of numerous individual Jews and graft them back into the olive tree. Hallelujah! Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Pray that the LORD would graciously hasten the day in which He would renew the hearts of the Jewish people so that they would worship Jesus with us. Also, please pray for Providence OPC in Rockford, IL.  Providence is a mission work of the OPC where David and Heidi Greenwood have moved to.  Pray that they would be effective in reaching the surrounding community with the good news of Jesus Christ.  Pray that they would remain steadfast in proclaiming and living the whole counsel of God.

Saturday (12/12) Read and discuss Mark 6:30-44. When Mark tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd “because they were like sheep without a shepherd” we should think of two things.  First, we should connect this with the wilderness experience of Israel in Numbers 27.  We did this on Wednesday.  Second, we should ask who was supposed to be their shepherd.  In the immediate context a contrast is being made between King Herod and Jesus Christ.  “In spite of the tetrarch’s pretensions to royalty, the people are as leaderless as sheep who possess no shepherd. In contrast to the drunken debauchery of the Herodian feast, Mark exhibits the glory of God unveiled through the abundant provision of bread in the wilderness where Jesus is Israel’s faithful shepherd (William Lane).” Yet, for those of us living on this side of the cross, we realize that Jesus was more than a miracle working prophet who was providing food for God’s people.  Regretfully, many Jews were apparently to have an I-it relationship with Jesus and to have him serve solely as a miraculous source for the goods of this present life.  In John chapter 6 we are told that the next day the crowds followed Jesus around looking for more food.  Jesus plainly rebukes the crowds for focusing on the wrong thing:

Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal (John 6:26-27).

The dialog the follows is key to understanding the meaning of Christ’s feeding of the 5,000:

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:28-35).

Jesus didn’t come simply to supply us with provision. Jesus came in order to be our provision. Read or sing Hymn 188 “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting”. Prayer:  Give thanks for the visitors that the LORD has brought to MVOPC over the past year.  Ask that the Lord of the Harvest would continue to bring new visitors to our congregation and that some would find a church home with us.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 6 December 2009 Saturday, Nov 28 2009

MVOPC 6 December 2009 – Stephen Michaud preaching

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Hymn of Praise: 17 “Praise the Lord: Ye Heavens Adore Him”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 5 (p. 786)

Hymn: 614 “Now Israel May Say, and That in Truth”

Hymn of Preparation: 1 “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”

Old Covenant Reading:  Job 42:1-17

New Covenant Reading:  Hebrews 12:1-11

Sermon Text:  Psalm 126

Sermon:  Sowing in Tears; Reaping in Joy

Hymn of Response: 360 “When in His Might the Lord”

PM Worship: Isaiah 59

Adult Sunday School: Getting the Gospel Right

Suggested Preparations

Monday (11/30) Read and discuss Psalm 126.  How should Christians respond to tragedy and disaster?  Some Christians seem to think that we ought to wear Wal-Mart smiley faces no matter what; but this is not the Biblical testimony.  While we are not to grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), today’s psalm reminds us that everyone will suffer and weep from the anguish that fills our fallen world. According to verses 5 and 6, what does hoping in the midst of such anguish look like?  Significantly, we are not simply to grieve with hope.  In the midst of our grief we are to sow in hope.  The latter of these understands that something more than our own personal loss is involved when tragedy strikes.  Our personal pain testifies that creation itself has become disordered. Because of sin, we now experience futility, ruptured relationships, and the bitter last enemy – death.  So we grieve with anguish that is beyond words. All is not right with the world, but praise be to God, this is not the end of the story.  God loves His creation and has sent His Son to redeem it. As John the Baptist and Jesus both proclaimed, the Kingdom of God (the visible Reigning of God) is at hand.  God’s wonderful reign over the universe will one day be reflected in perfect harmony and righteousness.  We do not yet see everything under Christ’s feet, but this reign of God is to be manifested in and pursued by Christ’s people. As Christians, sowing is a metaphor for the work we do for the Kingdom of God. When tragedy strikes, it is right for us to grieve and to simply be ministered to by the LORD and by our brothers and sisters.  But, hoping in the LORD involves a confidence that His Kingdom cannot fail.  He will not simply someday wipe away our individual tears.  Christ is committed to one day putting an end not only to the wages of sin but to sin itself.  Therefore, we continue trusting in and working for the Kingdom of God even when its absence is most keenly felt.  Trusting in the promises of God that cannot be shaken, let us sow with tears knowing that one day we will reap with shouts of joy. Read or sing Hymn 17 “Praise the Lord: Ye Heavens Adore Him”. Prayer:  Please pray for Derek Baker (and his wife Brooke) as Derek completes his year long internship at First Presbyterian Church, Ipswich and seeks a call to the gospel ministry.

Tuesday (12/1) Read and discuss Mark 6:14-29. Christ made the mission of the Church crystal clear: As we go in the world, we are to disciple the nations (people groups) by baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and by teaching them to obey everything that Jesus taught. As Christians, each of us has a part in this mission.  How do you expect the world to treat you as you go about Christ’s business? Last week we looked at how Jesus commissioned the Disciples/Apostles with authority and power.  Mark juxtaposes today’s passage about John the Baptist to give us a fuller picture of what we can expect in the world.  While the Disciples/Apostles enjoy remarkable fruitfulness in their first mission, John literally loses his head out of faithfulness to his commission.  This teaches us quite clearly that our attempts to carry out the mission Christ gave to us will sometimes face brutal opposition.  Yet, it is equally important for us to see the utter futility of opposing God.  Herod literally silenced John the Baptist, but Jesus commission 12 new Apostles to take John’s place. This points forward to the most dramatic attempt to stop God’s mission – the crucifixion of Jesus Himself.  Yet, instead of stopping God’s plans the crucifixion fulfilled His plans and launched the universal outreach of the Church.  On a much smaller scale, we are all in the same boat as John the Baptist.  The world may kill me as an individual Christian, but this will not in any way hinder Christ from building His Church.  Each of us must chose whether we will cling to that which is passing away or to devote ourselves to the mission of God which will produce abundant fruit for all eternity. As Jim Elliot memorably put it, “A man is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would help you, and all the members of our congregation, to count the cost of Discipleship – and then to recommit ourselves to seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.

Wednesday (12/2) Read and discuss Job 42:1-17.  Is all well that ends well? Our sympathies are certainly with Job. A righteous man, he suffers nearly unimaginable torments which are detailed in one of the longest books of the Bible.  Finally, in the last chapter of the book, Job sees God.  Overwhelmed by the glory of the LORD, Job repents of ever questioning how God is running the universe.  Then, at the very end of the book we are told that “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before”.  Have you ever found that a bit unsatisfying?  Would any of us think that it was a good deal to suffer like Job, including the loss of all our children, if only at the end of our lives we have more children and greater wealth?  Here is the point: If Job had hoped in this life only, he should be pitied rather than admired. But Job had set his firm hope on the Living God.  In chapter 19 we hear Job say:

25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Job understood that sin, which had entered the world through Adam, brought death to all men. But rather than despairing, Job looked beyond this life to the One who would redeem him and bring him into God’s presence for all eternity. The multiplied material blessings that Job receives are merely the sign of God’s good pleasure – a pleasure that will endure forever.  We can only maintain a joy filled faithfulness as Christians if we keep eternity in view.  As Paul would later write to the Corinthians: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).” Read or sing Hymn: 614 “Now Israel May Say, and That in Truth”. Prayer: The Church in the United States has become increasingly and at times shockingly worldly.  Ask that the LORD would send reformation and revival to His churches in the U.S. that we would be awed by His holiness and caused to hope in Christ with a view to eternity.

Thursday (12/3) Read and discuss Hebrews 12:1-11. When the going gets tough it is easier to give up when you are isolated. People who take up jogging, or any type of exercise, in groups tend to stick with it.  If you are going to make a “New Year’s resolution” to lose weight – try finding a few other people to do it with.  The support and encouragement will help as will the desire to not let the group down.  The author of Hebrews reminds us that the Christian life is like this. We are not running in splendid isolation. Indeed, according to Hebrews 11 and 12:1, a great cloud of faithful witnesses has gone before us inspiring us to press on. According to Hebrews 12:1, what do we need to do in order to run the race of the Christian life more fruitfully? It is regretful that the chapter division (which is not in the original!) has been made at the end of chapter 11 rather than at the end of 12:2 – because Hebrews 12:2 is the climax of the argument.  We are to be inspired by all the faithful who have run the race before us, or are running it with us right now, but we are not to fix our hope on any of them. The danger of role models is that we might think we can become like them by working really, really hard in our own strength. Yet, the entire company of faithful is to run the course fixing our “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Our ultimate victory is in and from Jesus from beginning to end. As Jesus despised the shameful treatment He received in this world it is entirely right for us to despise the injustices we face as well. But Jesus didn’t allow anything to derail Him from pleasing His heavenly Father by doing His will and neither should we. Furthermore, when we feel oppressed by the world it is good to remember verse 4.  Few of us are likely to have our faithfulness to Christ cost us our lives. Let us therefore look to Christ and follow the path of righteousness which He blazed.  And let us consider the witness that we are leaving to our children and grandchildren.  As Steve Green put it:

We’re pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who’ve gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Read or sing Hymn 1 “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”.  Prayer: Ask that the LORD would cause us individually and collectively to seek first the Kingdom of God with such sincerity that our children and grandchildren would be inspired to follow in our footsteps.

Friday (12/4) Read and discuss Isaiah 59. Theme: Who is on the Lord’s side? Verse 1 (“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear”) is probably a response the grumbling of Israel.  “Why can’t God deliver us from this mess?  Doesn’t He see and hear how terrible things have become?” Isaiah declares that God’s power and omniscience are not the problem.  The predicament Israel finds her self in is the consequence of the sins that she is heaping up. It is difficult to read the first 15 verses without wondering – is this the behavior of God’s chosen people. Will anyone stand on the Lord’s side against this iniquity?  After the idolatry of the Exodus generation with the golden calf, Moses cried out: “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me (Exodus 32:16).” After the tribe of Levi came to him, Moses had them strap on their swords and kill those who were engaged in idolatry.  Because of their zeal for the Lord’s holiness, God made the Levites to be His priests.  Centuries later, after God’s numerous acts of provision and deliverance, even the remnant seems unwilling to act on God’s behalf to put an end to unrighteousness (Isaiah 59:6).  So, the LORD Himself chooses to act and bring about salvation.  This is why we hold to the Reformation slogan – Sola Deo Gloria – for the LORD alone deserves all the glory. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Please pray for our sister congregation in Jaffrey, NH where several families (and therefore the church as a whole) have been struggling with financial hardships from the recession. Ask that Christ would keep them from losing heart from their trials.  Pray that they would be bold in proclaiming Christ in Jaffrey and the surrounding communities.

Saturday (12/5) Read and discuss Psalm 126. How can we grow in faith? We see some Christians who are astonishingly faithful in the midst of great loss or persecution while we see others whose faith seems to crumple in the face of apparently minor persecutions. We want to be those who have the faith to sow in hope but how do we strengthen that faith right now? It might be helpful to realize that Psalm 126 was part of a group of 15 psalms known as psalms of ascent. Three times a year large groups of Jews from each town would ascend up to Jerusalem for appointed annual feasts.  As they ascended up to Jerusalem they would sing these psalms together as a type of worship. According to verses 1-3a, what were the Israelites singing about as they ascended together toward Jerusalem?  Here is the key: In order to build our confidence in the LORD’s provision for the future, we need to celebrate the provisions He has made for us in the past.  Verses 1-3a celebrate the LORD’s gracious act of returning the people from the Babylonian exile as a prelude to their asking Him for current and future blessings.  There is something uniquely faith-building about celebrating God’s past displays of grace through the corporate singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs – and we have far more to sing about than the Exodus or God returning His people from the Babylonian exile.  As the Apostle Paul would put it: “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how we He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  Let us praise the LORD with great joy.  Offering such praise is the delightful expression of a living faith.  It is also the food that causes our faith to grow. Read or sing Hymn 360 “When in His Might the Lord”. Prayer:  Please pray for Roberto Laranjo as he labors in our Portuguese speaking mission in Lowell, MA (Igreja Presbiteriana Brasileira). The congregation has been blessed with the addition of several new members this Fall. Ask that the Lord would strengthen Roberto as he continues to diligently acquire better skills in English.  Pray that the congregation would come to grasp the whole counsel of God as revealed in His word.

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 29 November 2009 Saturday, Nov 21 2009

MVOPC 29 November 2009

Call to Worship: Psalm 106:1

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

Responsive Reading: Psalm 45 (p. 802)

Hymn: 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”

Hymn of Preparation: 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”

Old Covenant Reading:  Malachi 4:1-6

New Covenant Reading:  Luke 1:57-80

Sermon Text:  Mark 6:14-29

Sermon:  He Must Increase

Hymn of Response: 585 “Take My Life, and Let It Be”

PM Worship: Zechariah 12:1-9

Adult Sunday School: Luther the Reformer Part II

Suggested Preparations

Monday (11/23) Read and discuss Mark 6:14-29.  Last week we looked at Christ commissioning His Disciples to go out and bear witness to who He was and what He was doing.  Next week we will examine what happens when the Disciples return from this mission. Between these two passages, Mark tells us about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. Why? The first reason is quite straightforward (we will look at the second reason on Saturday): God is warning us about the cost of true discipleship.  There has always been a yearning for a polite comfortable religion – that is for a religion that says: “God loves you just the way you are” and makes no radical demands on anyone. Yet, intrinsic to the Biblical call for repentance (turning from sin to God) is the assertion that we are not o.k. the way that we are.  Indeed, the call to repentance reminds us that, left to ourselves, we are utterly ruined.  Thankfully God loves His creation too much to simply let us all comfortably drift into hell without giving us any warning. So he sends messengers who urge us to turn back from our destructive ways to the only path that leads to life.  This was John the Baptist’s calling, and by Christ’s own testimony, John was remarkably faithful to the purposes for which God sent him. According to today’s passage, where did it get him?  The moral recklessness in the beheading of John is almost difficult to imagine. The thought of being the recipients of such brutal persecution is enough to make the most steadfast among us flinch – but what is the alternative?  A polite religion that calls no-one to repentance may not offend your neighbor but it is a stench in the nostrils of God.  Whose pleasure should we seek with all of our hearts?  Furthermore, a religion without repentance is a religion without salvation.  Such a religion isn’t worth getting out of bed to tell anyone about.  Our choice is simple.  We can seek the praise of unrepentant sinners or we can seek the praise of God.  We cannot do both.   Which will you chose today? Read or sing Hymn 12 “Exalt the Lord, His Praise Proclaim”. Prayer:  Ask that the LORD would cause you, your family, and our congregation to face persecution with faithfulness.  Pray that whether in peace or in hardship that we would be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ.

Tuesday (11/24) Read and discuss Mark 6:6b-13. Last week we looked at this passage from the point of view of what Jesus was teaching His Disciples/Apostles.  Today let’s consider what the sending out of His Disciples meant for ethnic Israel. It is important to remember how radical it was for Jesus to select and appoint 12 Disciples.  By this act Jesus was symbolically demonstrating His plan to re-gather the people of God around His own person (The 12 Apostles would replace the 12 Patriarchs. See Revelation 12:9-14 for the interesting way in which the 12 Patriarchs and the 12 Apostles are related together to represent the one people of God). By commissioning and sending out His Disciples, Jesus was giving the nation of Israel one final opportunity to repent.  He was symbolically making clear to Israel that history had come to a great crisis point.  They needed to repent because the Kingdom of God had come with the King personally visiting His chosen people.  If a town in Israel received the King’s messengers, they would receive the blessings of hearing His truth proclaimed, having diseases healed, and even having unclean spirits cast out.  On the other hand, if they rejected Christ’s messengers, those Disciples were to literally kick the dust off their feet against unrepentant Israel as a sign against them. What did this symbolic act mean? In ancient Israel pious Jews who traveled outside of Israel would traditionally shake the dust off of their feet when returning to Israel so as not to bring the unclean soil into the holy land.  By commanding His Disciples to kick the dust off their feet in towns that wouldn’t welcome and listen to them, Jesus was declaring that those towns would be treated like Gentiles – their unbelief would cause them to receive God’s judgment rather than the blessings of the covenant.  This applies fairly directly to those of us who are in the Church.  If we refuse to trust in Jesus Christ, our Church membership will not spare us from judgment, indeed it will testify against us that our unbelief was not due to ignorance.  May every member of our congregation respond to this passage by recommitting ourselves to receiving every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Prayer: Please pray for the students and family members who will be traveling over this coming Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday (11/25) Read and discuss Malachi 4:1-6.  The Temple had been rebuilt, but it was nowhere near as glorious as the former (i.e. Solomon’s) Temple.  More importantly, instead of the people worshipping God wholeheartedly, they treated the worship of Yahweh as though He were simply a peripheral aspect of their lives. As Andrew Hill puts it, “Temple worship was in a sorry state. The apathetic priests actually led people into sin instead of out of it”. We could easily imagine that the LORD would simply wipe out such a rebellious people, but instead God sends a surprising message through His prophet Malachi.  He tells His people “I have always loved you (Malachi 1:2)”.  The response of the people to this declaration is “Really? How have you loved us?”  The book of Malachi is organized as an answer to this question. The tension is obvious.  How can a perfectly holy God love a rebellious people? The book resolves this tension in at least four ways.  First, God loves His people sovereignty.  He is not at the mercy of our actions, but acts according to His own good pleasure.  This is the heart of the Biblical doctrine of Election (Malachi 1:2-3).  Second, God loves His people by conquering His and our enemies (Malachi 1:4-5; 4:1-3).  Notice that, in Malachi, the LORD regularly refers to Himself as the LORD of Hosts (or “the LORD of Heaven’s Armies). Third, God loves His people by calling us back to holiness (Malachi 4:4). The way Malachi prosecutes the covenant lawsuit against Israel is intended to leave God’s people speechless.  By revealing our own spiritual bankruptcy, God is calling us to return to Him with all of our hearts.  As the author of Hebrews puts it: “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives (Hebrews 12:6).”  Fourth, God loves His people by concretely acting on their behalf.  The LORD does not simply stay far off having warm thoughts toward us.  God acts in history to bring about the blessings He desires for His people (Malachi 4:5-6). Significantly, the LORD not only warns of the coming judgment in 4:1, He promises to send His own messenger (in the spirit and power of Elijah) to proclaim repentance prior to the actual sending of this judgment. This flatly contradicts the idea that God is someone capricious in His judgments and reveals how much the LORD loves mercy.  We know that John the Baptist is the one who came before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah.  According to Malachi 3:1, who is the messenger sent before?  Who does this make Jesus? Read or sing Hymn 170 “Fairest Lord Jesus”. Prayer: Daniel Lascaze (a Deacon at Amoskeag Presbyterian Church in Manchester, NH) is traveling to his native Haiti today.  Daniel is hoping to lead a group from Amoskeag OPC, and possibly other churches, on a short term mission trip to Haiti next summer to assist our denominational work there.  Please pray for Daniel’s safety in travel and that this trip would used to glorify God by contributing to the spread of the gospel in this land darkened by superstition.

Thursday (11/26) Read and discuss Luke 1:57-80. An extraordinary amount of detail is given to us about the events that surrounded John’s birth.  The LORD, in His kindness, had promised to send a messenger before the coming Day of the LORD – and here he was. Yet, as God commonly works, His grand design was being carried out in the very personal reality of individual disciples.  Elizabeth and Zachariah were a godly couple who had grown old longing for their own child as well as the coming Child who would be King.  According to verse 58, how did Elizabeth’s neighbors respond to the birth of John? As Romans 12:15 reminds us, it is important that we learn to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”  Perhaps the neighbors were part of the believing remnant which helped them share more fully in Elizabeth’s joy.  Verses 58-64 show us that Zechariah had rightly responded to the chastisement he received for doubting God’s messenger.  As soon as Zechariah faithfully gives his son the name John – his lips are loosed, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and gives a beautiful prophesy.  Since Mary had gone to see Elizabeth when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and then remained with her for three months, it is reasonable to conclude that she saw the birth of John and heard this prophesy (what niece would depart the day before her Aunt gave birth?). The following words must have been challenging to Mary, but also a comforting reminder that she was not crazy – that the child she was carrying was the King of Kings. According to verses 74-75, why was God redeeming His people from their enemies? As we approach the Christmas season it is good for us to remember that ultimately God did not come to redeem us from our political rulers or even from hell.  Jesus came to save His people from sin “so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live”. Read or sing Hymn 181 “We Come, O Christ, to You”. Prayer: It is wonderful to be living in a country that has a day set aside to give thanks to God for the blessings He has poured out upon us.  As Christians, we understand what this really means.  Let us give thanks to God for His steadfast love in redeeming and sustaining us. Please pray also for those families which are separated today because of missionary work or service in the armed forces.

Friday (11/27) Read and discuss Zechariah 12:1-9. Is God finished with ethnic Israel? Some Christians have argued that the Jewish people, simply by being ethnically Jewish, receive the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12.  This is clearly contrary to Paul’s teaching that “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:26).” Those who trust the promises of the covenant receive the covenant blessings. Nevertheless, this does not mean that God has no plan to graft ethnic Israel back into the olive tree by giving them the grace of repentance and faith in Christ.  As Paul argues in Romans 11:12: “Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!” This coming inclusion of the mass of ethnic Jews into Christ’s Church seems to be in view in Zechariah 12 (The alternative is to understand references to Jerusalem and Judah as applying to the Church.  But this doesn’t seem to do justice to the details of the text.  For example, verse 10 says “when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced”.  This most naturally refers to ethnic Jews who have come to recognize that Jesus, whom they pierced, is Yahweh).  If this reading is correct, then Zechariah is predicting that prior to the second coming large numbers of Jews will be converted to Christ and this will attract the hostility of other nations.  These other nations will look at converted national Israel as easy pickings, but God will empower Israel to destroy her enemies as God’s judgment against the nations (Zechariah 12:9).  According to Zechariah 12:5, who will the clans of Judah attribute the victory to?  This is a sign of their conversion because natural man always seeks to take credit for military victories.  One question we always need to ask when we interpret the Bible is “how certain are we that this interpretation is the correct one?”  It turns out that one of the benefits of being a historian is that it is much easier to predict the past than to predict the future.  We should therefore be cautious about becoming dogmatic about our interpretations of future prophesies.  Some themes such as Christ’s Second Coming, God’s judgment of the wicked, and the LORD’s vindication of His people are absolutely clear.  Nevertheless, many of the details may be fulfilled in ways that we can scarcely imagine today.  We are simply far too prone to see prophecies being fulfilled in light of today’s newspapers.  When we read and apply passages like Zechariah 12-14, let us be careful to lean upon the main and clear messages about God’s steadfast-love, grace, and salvation and not imagine that we can draw detailed maps of the future.  Rather than encouraging our imaginations to run wild, the LORD gave us this passage to encourage our faithfulness in the present. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Give thanks for the visitors that the LORD has brought to worship with us over the past few months.  Ask that, by the work of the Holy Spirit, they would be moved to join a local Bible believing church where they can grow and use their gifts for the building up of the body of Christ.  Ask that the LORD would continue to bring visitors to our congregation.

Saturday (11/28) Read and discuss Mark 6:14-29. On Monday we considered the persecution that Christians can expect if they faithfully witness to who Jesus is and what He has done.  Sinners hate God and oppose His plans. Yet, that is not the end of the story.  This passage also teaches us the futility of opposing God.  Undoubtedly Herod thought that he was in control of the situation when he through John into prison.  But John was merely the forerunner.  Jesus picked up where John had left off and on a scale that John himself could scarcely have imagined.  Now Jesus is sending out 12 new witnesses to continue John’s role of proclamation regarding the Kingdom of God and the King Who had come.  According to verses 14-15, who do the crowds speculate that Jesus might be? According to verse 16, who does Herod think that Jesus is?  This is a remarkable claim.  On the one hand it shows how tormented Herod must have been over killing John, whom he knew to be a righteous man.  On the other hand, it shows how important Herod and the crowds considered Jesus to be.  Herod thought Jesus was not merely the greatest of Israel’s prophets – but the greatest of Israel’s prophets after He had been raised by God from the dead (we will see later that even this was not a sufficiently exalted view of Jesus). The futility of opposing God by killing John the Baptist foreshadows the futility of opposing God by killing Jesus.  Death itself, the great terror used by tyrants to oppress people, holds no power for those who trust in the God who raises the dead.  Let us learn to entrust ourselves more fully to the LORD.  The opposition of Christ’s enemies may result in our suffering and even in our deaths – but it cannot hinder the purposes for which God has created and redeemed us.  Those opposing Christ are engaging in the most hopeless battle of all time. While those trusting in Christ are guaranteed that they will be vindicated. Read or sing Hymn 585 “Take My Life, and Let It Be”. Prayer:  Pray for unbelieving friends and family members that the LORD would mercifully bring them into His family.  Pray that God would bless the reading and preaching of His word tomorrow to renew our hearts and minds that we would seek His kingdom

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Guide for the Preparation for Worship on 22 November 2009 Sunday, Nov 15 2009

MVOPC 22 November 2009 – LORD’s Supper

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

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

Prayer of Confession

O great and everlasting God, Who dwells in unapproachable light, Who searches and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart; We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, nor with all our soul, nor with all our mind, nor with all our strength;  Nor our neighbors as ourselves.  We have loved what we ought not to have loved;  We have coveted what is not ours;  We have not been content with Your provisions for us.  We have complained in our hearts about our family, about our friends, about our health, about our occupations, about Your church, and about our trials.  We have sought our security in those things which perish, rather than in You, the Everlasting God.  Chasten, cleanse, and forgive us, through Jesus Christ, who is able for all time to save us who approach You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for us.  Amen

Hymn: 559 “Father, I Know That All My Life”

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

Old Covenant Reading:  1 Kings 17:1-16

New Covenant Reading:  Acts 2:22-41

Sermon Text:  Mark 6b-13

Sermon:  Basic Training

Hymn of Response: 580 “Lead On, O King Eternal”

PM Worship: Zechariah 11:15-17 – When Shepherds are Hirelings

Adult Sunday School: Luther: Doctrine and Life Part I

Suggested Preparations

Monday (11/16) Read and discuss Mark 6b-13.  Jesus had called His Disciples with the promise that He would make them fishers of men, but up to this point Jesus appeared to be the only one doing any fishing.  Now, following His rejection in Nazareth, Jesus begins to send His Disciples out to do some fishing themselves. It is interesting that Jesus sent them out two-by-two rather than as individuals.  Many commentators have drawn attention to the value of teams in ministry and suggest that Jesus is establishing this pattern from the very beginning of the Disciple’s outreach (it is worth noting that the Apostle Paul always traveled with a team of co-workers and even included them in the Apostolic letters that he wrote to various churches). While there is a great deal of Biblical support for the plurality of Elders, this is probably not the primary reason why Jesus sent them out two-by-two. Remember what the Disciples were going out to do.  They were calling people to repent (v. 12) precisely because the Messiah (the Christ) had come.  The call to repentance was not merely a call to have some sort of religious experience where the hearers would feel sorry for their sins.  It was a call for people to give up their way of being Israel to follow Jesus’ way of being Israel.  It was (and is) a radical call to reorient one’s entire life around Jesus.  This is why Jesus also gave the Disciples the authority to do the sign gifts of casting out demons and healing the sick.  As the call was radical, so was God’s empowerment. The Disciples were not sent to be originators of a clever outreach plan, but were to bear witness to what they had seen and heard Jesus do and teach.  According to the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 17:6; Numbers 35:30) there was a requirement for two witnesses to establish a case.  Therefore those who rejected the apostolic testimony would be held legally guilty for their unbelief. This is the meaning of shaking “the dust off your feet” in verse 11.  Ancient Rabbis encouraged the practice of shaking the dust off of one’s feet when leaving a Gentile area as a type of cleansing from defilement.  Jesus is saying that those who reject the Disciple’s testimony will be treated like Gentiles and even worse – because they were privileged to hear God’s word as members of His covenant people. Read or sing Hymn 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing”. Prayer:  Please pray for those who are struggling with financial hardships during this difficult time in the American economy. Ask that the LORD would meet the needs of His people by providing those who are able with meaningful work and also through the generosity of His children. Ask that the leadership of the OPC would be both wise and faithful in continuing to be engaged in the Great Commission during this period of constrained economic resources.

Tuesday (11/17) Read and discuss Zephaniah 3:8-20. More than any other book, Zephaniah develops the judgment of God in history known as the Day of the Lord. Interestingly, Zephaniah is the source of the medieval hymn Dies Irae (“the day of wrath”).  In the first chapter of Zephaniah, the prophet echoes the language of the Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenants.  You might notice that each one of those moves more narrowly from mankind as a whole to the people of Israel.  The nation of Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests and a light to the nations.  But they failed in this mission.  Zephaniah 3 reminds us that Israel’s failure was not God’s failure.  Nothing can hinder the Sovereign LORD from carrying out His plans.  Ingathering: So in Zephaniah chapter 3 we see the LORD reversing the impact of Israel’s failure. In Zephaniah 3:9-10, whose lips does the LORD purify (Cush = Ethiopia)? Purification: It is important to recognize that God is promising to purify the lips of the Gentiles.  This is not the unity sought by the United Nations, this is a unity being produced by the LORD changing wicked hearts so that believers would be united in the Messiah.  According to verses 3:11-12, how does God purify His own people Israel?  Rejoicing:  Why is Zion called to rejoice in verses 14-16? Here is the truly amazing part: When God is done redeeming His people, not only will we rejoice in Him – but He will rejoice over us (v. 17)! Prayer: Ask that the Lord would cause them to grow in the love for Him and for one another.  Ask that Christ would use this congregation to gather His elect into His Church.

Wednesday (11/18) Read and discuss 1 Kings 17:1-16.  Jesus taught us to pray “give us this day our daily bread”.  That seems simple enough.  Nevertheless, we are constantly tempted, in two distinct ways, to deny the plain meaning of this prayer.  First, because the LORD is so generous in providing for His people, we can easily take the provision of our daily needs for granted.  The second temptation is the one on display in Israel during the lifetime of Elijah.  The people of Israel had started looking to other gods to provide for some of their needs.  Even the king of Israel, the notorious King Ahab, had married a woman who worshipped foreign gods and began to worship them himself.  Why would anyone who has known God’s blessings do such a thing?  The attraction of idolatry is precisely that it is (supposedly) a quid pro quo relationship.  Rather than trusting in sovereign grace, pagan religions all promise that if you perform certain sacrifices or rites then the god would be virtually obligated to provide you with blessings. The primary god that Israel went after was known as Baal, whose “specialty” was the fertility of crops and, to a lesser degree, women. The modern phrase we use to describe this is “health and wealth” (which should remind us that this form of idolatry may have changed its form and style – but it is very much with us in modern America).  In the midst of this syncretistic environment, the LORD raises up Elijah whose name literally means “Yahweh is LORD”.  Then, in 1 Kings 17, God stops sending rain.  In effect He is telling Israel: “Since you have taken my blessings for granted, go cry out to Baal and see if He can send you rain”.  As the land withers from draught, God miraculously continues to provide for Elijah.  Finally, even the brook Elijah is drinking from runs dry so the LORD sends him to Zarephath in Sidon (Sidon was the land where Ahab’s idolatrous wife came from). If the Israelites are not willing to trust Yahweh, the LORD will provide for a gentile who does (cf: the repentance of Nineveh in Jonah’s day and the gospel going to the gentiles in the early church).  When Elijah shows up, Zarephath is also withering under the heavy burden of the famine.  Yet, a gentile widow believes the word of God from Elijah.  The LORD then shows His faithfulness by miraculously providing the daily bread of the widow and her son until the famine ends.  It is important for us to realize that Elijah doesn’t call this widow to have a generalized vague sense of awe regarding God.  He calls her to trust God in the concrete reality of giving up the last food that she has to feed herself and her son. Read or sing Hymn: 559 “Father, I Know That All My Life”.  Prayer: Let us not fool ourselves by imagining that we trust God in the abstract.  Consider specific areas in your life where you sense the greatest need.  Bring these concrete situations before your heavenly Father and ask that He would meet your needs.  Let us also ask that He would make us respond in greater gratitude for the marvelous ways in which He is already blessing us.

Thursday (11/19) Read and discuss Acts 2:22-41. People, including Christians, have often struggled with the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Many have asked: “If God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, how can we still be held responsible for our actions?”  The Biblical answer to this question is called the doctrine of concurrence.  This fancy word simply means that God and men can be working in the exact same circumstance but for entirely different reasons.  The classical text for this is in Genesis 50:20 where Joseph tells his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”  The most important application of the doctrine of concurrence is in understanding what took place on the cross.  On the cross, God was doing the good work of redeeming His people from sin.  Yet, according to Acts 2:23, how were those who contributed to Jesus death to be considered? Christ’s crucifixion was not a giant misunderstanding.  It was the deed of lawless men against the clear evidence that God had provided to testify that He was the Messiah (Acts 2:22).  Now Peter calls on three additional pieces of evidence.  In v. 24 Peter draws the crowd’s attention to the fact that God had raised Jesus from the dead (of which the Disciples are witnesses – v. 32).  Second, Peter draws their attention to the prophetic teaching through David that Jesus had fulfilled.  Third, Peter connects what the crowd is experiencing in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s enthronement in heaven (v. 33ff).  Notice that Peter ends this sermon in a less than flattering way.  Having demonstrated that Jesus is in fact both the LORD and the Messiah, he ends by reminding the crowd that they had crucified Him.  Cut to the heart, they cry out asking how they can escape the judgment that they so clearly deserve.  This is why grace is so amazing.  All they needed to do, all that we need to do, is to turn from our sins to Christ in faith.  When we do this we are promised not only the forgiveness of sins but the gift of the Holy Spirit whereby God comes to dwell not only with us – but in us. Read or sing Hymn 558 “That Man Is Blest Who, Fearing God”. Prayer: Give thanks for the visitors that Christ has brought to our congregation over the past several months.  Pray that they would be able to settle into a local congregation, whether with us or another Bible believing church, where they can use their gifts and receive the godly nurture of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Friday (11/20) Read and discuss Zechariah 11:15-17. Last week we saw that Zechariah predicted Israel’s rejection of her Good Shepherd.  The consequence for those who refused to trust in Christ would be devastating.  Since they did not want to commit themselves to the Good Shepherd, who would lay down His life for the sheep; God turned the people over to the evil shepherd (here described as a “foolish shepherd”) who saw the sheep not only as a source of wool but as a source of food.  When Pilate wanted to release Jesus, the crowd shouted all the more “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”  In the sham trial of Jesus, we saw what miserable shepherds the high priests were; but in calling for Christ’s crucifixion the people were aligning themselves with these wicked rulers.  In Luke 23, Jesus warns the crowds regarding the consequences of what they have done:

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And 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?”

Yet, the compliance of the crowd does not let the religious rulers off the hook.  They had been entrusted with the great privilege of shepherding God’s people.  “To whom much is given, much will be required (Luke 12:48).”  According to Zech 11:17, how severely will God judge those who fail to rightly shepherd His people? Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  The OPC has a Portuguese speaking mission in Lowell, MA for immigrants from Brazil. Pray for the unity and growth of Igreja Presbiteriana Brasileira em Lowell.

Saturday (11/21) Read and discuss Mark 6b-13. Why do you think that Jesus gave His Disciples the rather unusual instructions contained in verses 8 and 9?  Is this a blueprint for the way we should do ministry and send out missionaries today? One reason for these instructions is that Jesus was teaching them to rely entirely upon God for everything they needed in ministry.  The Disciples were not going forth to teach based upon their own credentials or their own cleverness.  They were commissioned with delegated authority.  It is at this point in the life of Christ where we can start thinking of the Disciples as Apostles (Apostle literally means someone sent out with authority.  A modern near-equivalent term would be Ambassador).  While the principle of trusting solely in God for the fruitfulness of ministry is abiding, the rest of Scripture makes clear that this was a unique commission that was not to be repeated in the Church.  Jesus, Himself, later commands the Disciples to take provisions with them in Luke 22:

And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

One of the truths of this passage that is hard for our culture to swallow is that the gospel divides.  Verse 11 makes it clear that there will be those who refuse to listen to the Disciples.  What in the passage marks out the response of those who are receptive?  Hint: How was God going to provide the Disciples with their provisions of food and shelter? Read or sing Hymn 580 “Lead On, O King Eternal”. Prayer:  Please pray for the teenagers of our congregation that our LORD would strengthen them in faith at this challenging time in their lives.  Ask that the LORD would reform the culture of North America that it would not be so hostile toward Christian young people.

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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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