MVOPC 27 November 2011
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3
Opening Hymn: 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing”
Confession of Sin
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
Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 85:1-3
Old Covenant Reading: Zechariah 4:1-10
New Covenant Reading: Revelation 1:9-20
Hymn of Preparation: 84 “Under the Care of My God, the Almighty”
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Sermon: Resting in the Power of God
Hymn of Response: 92 “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”
Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed (p. 846)
Doxology (Hymn 732)
Closing Hymn: 642 “Be Thou My Vision”
PM Worship: Hosea 10:4-12 – Time to Seek the LORD
Adult Sunday School: Spirit Baptism – Part III
Suggested Preparations
Monday (11/21) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. How do we come to know God’s word better? For the most part it is by paying close attention to what each passage actually says and then simply asking – “So what?” In today’s passage, the word crucified in verse 2 is a perfect passive participle in Greek. So what? What difference does it make that Paul would put this in the perfect tense? The general force of the perfect tense in Greek is to describe a completed action that continues to have ongoing effects (at least at the time of speaking/writing). Important uses of the perfect tense in the New Testament include our Lord’s cry on the cross: “It is finished!” A simple past tense would merely indicate that the suffering of the cross was behind Christ historically. The perfect tense alerts us to the fact that the work of penal substitution has continuing consequences (Of the most important kind!). Another important example is the expression, “It is written.” A simple past tense would merely indicate that the passage had once been written down. The perfect tense draws our attention to the fact that what is written in Scripture continues to be God’s word for us today. So what does this have to do with the expression “Christ crucified”? Richard Hays writes:
Thus, when Paul summarizes the content of the gospel as “Christ crucified,” he is identifying Jesus Christ as the one whose identity remains stamped by the cross. The cross has not been canceled out by the resurrection; rather, to know even the risen Jesus is to know him precisely as the crucified one. Any other account of his identity is not the gospel.
We see this truth played out graphically in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 5:5 John is told by one of the Elders that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has overcome and can open the seals. But when John looks he sees “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain”. This truth should impact the way we live and do ministry. We must remember that we never move beyond the cross. Read or Sing Hymn: 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing” Prayer: Please pray for Woody and Laurie Lauer and the ministry of the OPC missionaries in Japan.
Tuesday (11/22) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. If you try to use a chain saw to carve your Thanksgiving Turkey this week, you are going to make a serious mess of things and risk getting hurt. That’s not what chainsaws are designed to do. If you try to use a sledge hammer to change your spark plugs you are not going to have a lot of success but you may cause a great deal of damage. That is not what spark plugs were designed to do. If you try to boast in who you are and glory in your own accomplishments you are also going to do a great deal of damage and become quite frustrated in the process, because that is not what you were designed and created to do. God designed and created the universe for a purpose. The way to live a truly fruitful life is to recognize God’s design for the universe and to align yourself for what He has designed everything to do. What is that purpose? You have been created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. It is important to recognize that those two truths go together. God has so designed the universe so that when you intentionally bring glory to God, rather than boasting in yourself, you get blessed in the process. Let me give you an example using the line that John Piper loves so much: “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.” What Piper, following Jonathan Edwards, is pointing out is that when you trust God and receive His blessings He is exalted for being a wonderful Father who deeply cares for His children. So you receive His blessing and He receives the glory. That seems like a pretty good deal. The flip side of this coin is to realize that all attempts to steal God’s glory and to glory in ourselves brings about horrible consequences for us. At least part of the reason why the LORD hates human pride is how destructive this is both to our communities (pride always sows division within the family of God) and to our fruitfulness and joy as individuals. As the Proverbs reminds us: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” So does God rule out all boasting? Absolutely not! We were created to boast. We were created to have our personalities filled with joy as we exalt in that which is truly glorious. The problem with sinners like us is that we pervert glorying in the Creator and exchange it for glorying in the creature. So Paul, quoting Jeremiah, reminds us to let all our boasting be in the LORD. Read or Sing Hymn 84 “Under the Care of My God, the Almighty” Prayer: Please pray for Pastor Brad Hertzog and the work of Reformation OPC in Queens, NY. Reformation OPC asks that we would especially pray for the relationships they are trying to build with unbelievers.
Wednesday (11/23) Read and discuss Zechariah 4:1-10. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? That may seem like an odd question to ask. Doesn’t a person have to believe in the Holy Spirit to be a Christian at all? Don’t churches all over the world regularly confess “I believe in the Holy Spirit” when they recite the Apostles Creed? Well yes, but based on how people actually live – it is not clear that many professing Christians truly believe in the Holy Spirit. They believe that He exists but they are not trusting Him to act in their daily lives. What about you? In Zechariah chapter 4 we hear the LORD give a word of encouragement specifically for Zerrubabel who was serving as the Governor in Jerusalem. Zerrubabel was raised up to serve at this challenging time as a small number of Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity and set to rebuilding the Temple. The problems seemed so insurmountable that they are described as being like a great mountain. Yet, the LORD promised Zerrubabel that the project of rebuilding the Temple would come to completion on his watch. In fact, God was going to so dramatically work that, instead of appearing to be a mountain, all his problems would appear to be nothing but smooth level ground. The key to all of this is found in verse 6:
This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
This call to rely on the life-giving power of God is made to all Christians as well. This is not a blank check from God that promises He will accomplish whatever we set our minds to. Rather it is a promise that when we labor at carrying out His will – then the Holy Spirit will accomplish in that work far more than we would ask for or even imagine. Let’s make our belief in the Holy Spirit not only a word on our lips but the habit of our hearts as well. Prayer: Ask that the LORD would give you a greater reliance upon and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Thursday (11/24) Read and discuss Revelation 1:9-20. Is the Christian life about victory or about suffering? Yes! Today’s passage reveals one of the most important practical truths for Christians to grasp. As G.B. Caird wrote about today’s passage:
Nothing that John wrote gives us a clearer insight into the working of his mind than his description of the Christian calling which he shares with his friends: the ordeal and sovereignty and endurance which are ours in Jesus.
This may sound simple, but many Christians in modern North America tend to pit struggling and victory against one another. So, the “health and wealth” teachers tell us that God wants us to always be prosperous and happy. This is an over-realized eschatology where the fullness of blessings that we will enjoy in the new heavens and the new earth are expected right now. To say the least, such teaching sets us up for massive disappointment in the world in which we actually live. Furthermore, since the “health and wealth” preachers teach that this prosperity is available to anyone if they just have enough faith, those in this movement are prone toward pretending that things are much better than they really are as well as being prone to spiritual depression (“not only am I suffering tribulation but this very fact demonstrates how little faith I have”). Oddly, a watered down version of the health and wealth teaching has gone fairly mainstream in the evangelical movement. Many churches act as though the Wal-Mart smiley face rather than the cross is the chief symbol of Christianity. Yet, if such evangelicals are in a doctrinal ditch, those of us in Confessionally Reformed churches should be careful not to fall into the ditch on the other side of the road. Regrettably, some Reformed Christians seem to think of this life as all suffering and no victory. Verse 9 of today’s passage reminds us of how wrong both views are. The Apostle John is in the tribulation (Aside: This creates problems for those eschatologies which believe that the tribulation only occurs immediately prior to Christ’s Second Coming) and in the kingdom at the same time. Rather than being in the tribulation because of a lack of faith, John was being persecuted precisely because of his faithful testimony to who Jesus is and what He had accomplished. On the other hand, John is confident that Jesus had already brought in the Kingdom of God and that history was not merely a story of conflict between this world and the Kingdom of God it was a story of how – in some of the most surprising ways – the Kingdom of God was overcoming this world. This gives us a short guide for understanding the book of Revelation as a whole. Christ, through the Apostle John, is sending Revelation to His persecuted Church to encourage them (and us!) to greater faithfulness in the midst of the tribulation because of a simple truth: Jesus has conquered, Jesus is conquering, and Jesus will certainly be absolutely victorious in the end. As Christ’s disciples, we have the great privilege of entering into this battle knowing in advance that we will certainly prevail. Read or Sing Hymn 92 “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” Prayer: What a wonderful blessing to live in a country that has a national holiday set aside for giving thanks. Let’s do just that!
Friday (11/25) Read and discuss Hosea 10:4-12. G. Herbert Livingston writes:
Hosea predicts that for the first time his people will know shame (10:6-8). The removal of the prized idol to Assyria will shatter their faith in its power to protect them. They are proud of it but its humiliation to the level of a tax payment will make their religion look foolish. The arrogant king will be taken into exile from his costly palace in Samaria and will be as helpless as a twig in a river.
Other shrines scattered throughout the country will be torn apart and their treasures taken away. The sex worship practiced in them will be exposed as wickedness, and the gardens about them will be replaced by thistles that will even cover their altars whose fires will flare up no more. Utter despair will be mixed with shame, but their choke-filled prayers will not be to the Lord. They will plead that the mountains and hills on which they worshipped Baal might cover them.
The Lord supports the message of Hosea by restating the penalty of sin (10:9-12). Israel’s long history of immoral activity since the incident at Gibeah (Judges 19). Will produce the same result: war. It has not occurred yet, but it will soon, for the Lord has made his judicial decision to punish. It remains only for him to decide on the moment to activate that punishment. What is ahead for Israel is exile and the reason for it is Ephraim’s double sin. This expression seems to be a play on meanings, for the name Ephraim means doubly fruitful (Gen 41:52).
Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer: Please pray for those in our congregation who are looking for work at this challenging time in our economy.
Saturday (11/26) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Paul’s life and message focused on the cross. What would it look like if the Church in North America were to be as genuinely gospel centered as Paul was? Richard Hays offers us one very practical application:
The word of the cross creates a counter-cultural world for those who are called. Because God has confounded the wisdom of this world and shown it to be foolish, Christians must see the world differently and live in light of the wisdom of God. (This should not be confused with Thoreau’s “marching to the beat of a different drummer”, which implies merely individualistic and idiosyncratic behavior.) When people tell us that we must be ‘responsible’ or ‘realistic’ or act in ways that will be ‘effective’, we should be wary and ask whose wisdom, whose rationality is being urged upon us. Is it God’s? To whose power are we deferring in the choices we are making day in and day out?
Read or sing Hymn 642 “Be Thou My Vision” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.
