Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3

Opening Hymn: 25 “O Light That Knew No Dawn”

Confession of Sin

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: John 1:29-34

Old Covenant Reading:  Psalm 68

New Covenant Reading:  Luke 10:17-24

Hymn of Preparation: 656 “Jesus, Priceless Treasure”

Sermon Text: Col 2:6-15

Sermon: Triumphant Theophany

Hymn of Response:  115 “All Creatures of Our God and King”

Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 1

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 345 “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”

PM Worship: TBA – Elder Joe Jager teaching

Adult Sunday School: TBA – Elder Peter Bacon teaching

 Suggested Preparations

Monday (1/23) Read and discuss Col 2:6-15. The cross of Christ reveals an amazing paradox. At the very point when Jesus was being publicly shamed in His crucifixion, He was freeing His people and disarming and shaming the evil forces that are arrayed against us. How can this be? In the words of the beloved hymn, “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”, Jesus “breaks the power of cancelled sin”. We see in verse 14 that Jesus cancelled “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” This was the greatest weapon that Satan and the demons held against us. They could bring accusations against us of cosmic treason and demand the death penalty. This fear of death, and the judgment that would follow, is the fear that all tyrants exploit. Yet, by bearing the full penalty of our sin on the cross, this weapon of our enemies has been utterly taken away. Second, the LORD gives us new life by His Spirit. Notice that we are “made alive together with Him (v. 13).” Christ’s own life is a guarantee of our everlasting life with God. Not only that, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that we are no longer in bondage to the power of sin as we were before. We are now enabled by the Spirit to “more and more die unto sin and to live unto righteousness”.  Read or Sing Hymn: 25 “O Light That Knew No Dawn” Prayer: Ask that the Holy Spirit would cause you to “more and more die unto sin and to live unto righteousness”

Tuesday (1/24) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:18-23.  You are not your own and that is good news. You were created by God and purchased by Jesus Christ. You are not your own and that is really good news. The Church in Corinth was divided in very carnal ways. At the root of it all was the reality that individuals in the church were trying to exalt themselves. Regretfully, this is not a problem that has gone away. Thankfully, neither has the solution. In today’s passage Paul shows the Corinthians that they have everything backwards. They are boasting in those they have aligned themselves with as a way of saying that their group is better than the others. But this is like being invited to dine with the Queen in Buckingham Palace and going away saying, “I am of the person who served the water” or “I am of the person who served the rolls.” To think that way would reveal that we had missed the entire point. We are dining with the Queen! Why are we focusing on the servants? This has a very practical application for us as we benefit from the various servants that God has given to the church. It means that Presbyterians can learn from Mark Dever and John Piper while Baptists can learn from John Calvin or R.C. Sproul. Or, believe it or not, we can all learn from Augustine, Aquinas, and Martin Luther. After all these men are merely servants of the One who loved us and gave His life for us. The paradox is that those who seek their own glory end up pursuing a futile path while those who seek God’s glory end up being joint heirs with Christ … that is – heirs of everything. This is why we confess in the words of the Heidelberg Catechism:

Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;  who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,  and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

Prayer: Give thanks that you belong “body and soul, both in life and death” to Jesus Christ.

Wednesday (1/25) Read and discuss Psalm 68. Peace is an often longed for and rarely experienced reality for many people throughout the history of the world. Peace is so desirable that nations are often tempted to give up land or wealth to pursue it. This is not the way of our God. As Psalm 68 makes clear, the LORD does not achieve peace through appeasement but through absolute victory. “But there is more to it than God conquering the nations. The psalmist sees God converting the nations: ‘Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God’ (68:31), Egypt was Israel’s neighbor and Ethiopia a remote and distant nation known only by reputation. … (Both of these nations were hostile to the God of Israel). At the return of Christ, an end will be made to all that. Egypt and Ethiopia will hasten to submit to Christ and in sovereign grace the LORD will forgive and cleanse (John Phillips).” As today’s passage makes clear, every knee will bow before the Living God. It therefore calls on the nations to do so now. Picking up on the imagery of the original Exodus, Gerald Wilson writes:

The purpose of God’s coming in the Exodus event was to bring His people to a new place of covenant relationship, a land in which they would dwell as the holy nation of God in whose midst Yahweh Himself was pleased to dwell in the Temple. The theophanic approach to God in Psalm 68 traces the same steps but raises the experience to the exchatological extreme. This time, when Yahweh establishes His throne in the sanctuary, His kingdom will include the whole earth. The kings of he nations will submit to Him and bring Him gifts of submission and praise.

The path of God’s conquest in our lives ought to follow the same path: From the desert of our sin to the fruitful land of the Kingdom of God, from the battles of evil within and without to the destruction of the foes and submission to God’s sovereignty, from the isolation of self-concern to the communal gathering of praise in the sanctuary, God is leading his children along.

Read or Sing Hymn 656 “Jesus, Priceless Treasure” Prayer: Please pray for our brothers and sisters in norther Iraq who are suffering persecution.

Thursday (1/26) Read and discuss Luke 10:17-24. What you do is important to God. During the Middle Ages it became common to divide the world into those who fight (the knights), those who pray (the clergy), and those who work (everyone else). Not surprisingly, many in the clergy taught that what they were doing was most important to God. Yet, since those who fought included the royal family and the affluent, they also grabbed their share of the limelight. This led to portraying the work of the vast majority of people as relatively unimportant except to the degree that it supported those who fight and those who pray. Ironically, this wrong-headed idea keeps rearing its ugly head even in churches that are heirs of the Reformation. For example, Reformed Theological Seminary used to send out brochures that described pastoral ministry as “the highest calling”. That may make the clergy feel better, but it lacks Biblical support. What God calls each of us to do is to be faithful to whatever vocation or vocations that He has given to us. Our work will not be evaluated on the basis of how privileged our vocations were but on how faithful we are to Christ in carrying them out. Your vocation matters to God. Nevertheless, today’s passage puts our work into perspective. The Disciples had been sent out on a missionary task throughout Israel and returned astonished that God had granted them authority over the demons in Jesus’ name. This is, of course, great news. Yet, Jesus doesn’t want them to make ministerial success – even victory over the demons – the most important point of their self-identities. So He tells them:

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Your work does matter to God, but not merely as much as the fact that you are His son or daughter. Your relationship as part of Christ’s family is far more important than anything you will ever accomplish.  Read or sing Hymn: 115 “All Creatures of Our God and King” Prayer: As Americans we are prone to find our self-worth largely in terms of our work, our credentials, and our success in our careers.  Ask that the LORD would refocus your self-esteem so that your relationship with Christ would be at the center.

Friday (1/27) Read and discuss 1 John 1:5-8. Hebrews tells us that, “by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God (Hebrews 11:5)”. This remarkable passage has led to an avalanche of speculation about Enoch because he is one of only two men in Scripture (the other being Elijah) who seem to have been called up into heaven without first physically dying.  Most of us would be happy to get to heaven this way as well! Yet, the Bible doesn’t speculate about Enoch. It simple tells us the wonderful truth that “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him (Genesis 5:24).” What does it mean that “Enoch walked with God”? The most natural way to understand this expression is by way of analogy to human relationships: Enoch and God liked each other’s company and they were walking in the same direction. Now many people pretend that they like God’s company. But John warns us in today’s passage “that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” If anyone chooses to walk in the darkness that person is tangibly demonstrating that he or she is not walking with God.  In an age of nominal Christianity that may not sound like a big deal. Aren’t we all sinners saved by grace? So what if we walk in the darkness – at least we’re not hypocrites? Won’t God forgive us anyway? John jolts us back to reality with verse 7:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

It is important to get the relationship between these clauses right. John is decidedly not saying that if we score high enough on some morality exam that this will become a ground of or a reason for our salvation. Absolutely not! “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” Yet, notice carefully who it is that has their sins washed away.  It is those who are walking in the light. Put simply, Jesus saves disciples. When we look at the order of salvation (ordo salutis) we understand that we become disciples because Jesus first delivers us and not the other way around, but that doesn’t make John’s point unimportant. Throughout First John, God graciously gives tests to unmask those who think they are Christians but aren’t – before it is too late to do anything about it. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer: Give thanks that the LORD’s mercies are new every morning.

Saturday (1/28) 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 345 “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”. Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Opening Hymn: 39 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”

Confession of Sin

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Proverbs 28:13

Old Covenant Reading: Psalm 90:1-17

New Covenant Reading: Colossians 2:1-5

Hymn of Preparation: 309 “Rejoice, the LORD is King”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23

Sermon: Servants or Celebrities?

Hymn of Response: 44 “How Great Thou Art”

Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed, p. 846

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 679 “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

PM Worship: Hosea 13:14e-14:10 – Return and Be Healed

Adult Sunday School: The Faith We Confess – The Lord’s Supper – Part I

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (1/16) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:18-23. Unlike those who are “always searching but never coming to a knowledge of the truth”, Paul is quite willing to come to a conclusion. His comparison of worldly wisdom with the true wisdom from God is a call to personal commitment. As Richard Hays points out:

Paul, unlike Socrates, is not merely calling for epistemological humility and the cultivation of an inquiring mind. Instead, he is calling his readers to take upon themselves the obedience of faith. Paul’s particular application of the logic of the cross to wisdom and knowledge parallels the call of Jesus: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it (Mark 8:34-35).” In the same way, those who cling to the world’s wisdom will lose it, and those who surrender their “wisdom” for the sake of the Gospel will find God’s wisdom.

Read or Sing Hymn: 39 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would grant you a wise and discerning heart.

Tuesday (1/17) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.  No one stands in front of the Matterhorn in order to contemplate how big he or she is. No one wonders through the Metropolitan Museum of Art contemplating his or her own beauty.  And no one walks out of Edison Labs thinking: “Compared to Thomas Edison, I am rather clever.” Such experiences help us put life and ourselves in the proper perspective. That is part of what Paul is doing in today’s passage. Factionalism had arisen in the Corinthian congregation for the same reason it arises in any congregation: People have switched the price tags. They were imaging that they should be celebrated as individuals but that the gathered church was not a particularly big deal. With great incredulity Paul responds: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” None of the Corinthians would even dream of running up to the Temple in Jerusalem with a hammer and chisel and simply taking a few whacks at one of the golden cherubim – but that is precisely what they were doing to each other – the glorious Temple that is Christ’s Church. There is a second truth that Paul reveals in this passage in order to motivate the Corinthians (and us!) to take the gathered church more seriously. First, it may be helpful to see the five-fold structure of today’s passage:

1. You are God’s temple
2. God’s Spirit dwells in you.
3. If anyone destroys God’s temple, …
4. God will destroy him
5. You are that temple

Last week we looked at how God will reward those who faithfully build up Christ’s Church. This is the flip side of that story. God is jealous for the Temple where He dwells and He promises to vindicate that Temple by destroying those who would assault her. This should be a great encouragement to us as we live together in a world that is often quite hostile to the Church. It should also cause us to be more sober minded about how we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ. Prayer: Ask God would grant the members of our congregation a sense of the splendor of His Church.

Wednesday (1/18) Read and discuss Psalm 90:1-17. At first blush, this might not appear to be the most encouraging Psalm in the Bible. Moses speaks of how fleeting our life is, how the LORD sees all our sins, and that He will cause us to return to the dust. These are not the sentiments we normally hear at a High School graduation ceremony – but maybe they should be. For rather than being a cause for despair, grasping the transient nature of this life is a corner stone of having a truly meaningful life. At different points in our journey, we all recognize that all our dreams will not come true simply because we have them. The classic American mid-life crisis is simply the realization that we are not going to become astronauts, renowned scientists, or many of the other things we dreamed of in our youth. Most of us don’t have to wait until mid-life for this reality to set in. So we fight against it by placing our hopes in things that promise to make life meaningful or through “entertaining ourselves to death” in an effort to escape reality. Today’s psalm offers us a far more fruitful approach. Moses begins by claiming that the Eternal God is the dwelling place for His people and ends by calling out to the LORD to establish the work of our hands. We were created by and for God and our only hope for lasting significance lies in Him. As the poem by missionary C.T. Studd puts it: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” Read or Sing Hymn 309 “Rejoice, the LORD is King” Prayer: Ask the LORD that He would send renewal to His churches in New England and revival and reformation to our region.

Thursday (1/19) Read and discuss Colossians 2:1-5. Jesus isn’t simply the starting point of the Christian life. Because many evangelicals have focused on trying to get people to “make a decision for Christ”; and because Christ is then presented as the solution to the problem of being lost; Christians can easily be tempted to ask “Now that Jesus saved me, what’s next?” Satan is happy to answer that question with something, indeed anything, other than Jesus Himself. What Paul makes clear in today’s passage is that we never move beyond Jesus Christ “ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” As one New Testament scholar puts it:

Christianity, says the old slogan, is Christ. Put him in the middle of your picture of the world, and the world will stop spinning in incomprehensible circles and begin to make sense. Find him, and you’ve got the treasure. It may take you a while to get it all out of the treasure chest and inspect it, but when you do you’ll find – so Paul is saying in verse 3 – that all the wisdom and knowledge that ever there was finds its full meaning in Him. He is, quite simply, what it’s all about.

Read or sing Hymn: 44 “How Great Thou Art” Prayer: Pray that the young people in our congregation would grow up with Jesus Christ at the center of their worldview.

Friday (1/20) Hosea 13:14e-14:10. The book of Hosea is filled with promises of the imminent judgment of the northern tribes of Israel (frequently referred to as Ephraim). Yet, this clear note of judgment functions primarily as the dark background over which we can see the beauty of the good news. As James Montgomery Boice writes:

The greater message of the book is of an eventual restoration in which the death of the nation will be overcome. This is the meaning of the story of Hosea and Gomer with which the prophesy began. Though fallen, Gomer was eventually restored. It is also the message of the Word of God generally. Though ruined by sin, we (who believe on Christ) are to be completely restored in spirit, soul, and body that we might be new creations in which God alone is glorified.

One thing is certain. Restoration will not be apart from a genuine repentance, involving both a frank confession of sin and a radical return to God. Sin brings death. It is only the grace of God received through faith that brings blessing.

Recite the Apostles Creed. Prayer:  Prayer: Give thanks that Christ raises the Church from the ashes into an eternally glorious future.

Saturday (1/21) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:18-23. Paul’s whole line of argumentation began with a very real problem in Corinth: The Corinthians were dividing up into factions and attaching themselves to leaders. Using himself, Apollos, Peter, and the person of Christ to make his point, Paul has them say: “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, etc …” Why would people act like this? The answer is simple. People identify with celebrity in an effort to elevate themselves by association. It is interesting; therefore, that Paul doesn’t tell them that they are thinking too highly of themselves and what they possess. Instead Paul lets them know how dramatically they underestimate what is now theirs in Christ Jesus our Lord. So instead of boasting in mere men, the Corinthians (and all Christians) should make our boast in God:

For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

As Paul wrote to the Church in Rome: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Read or sing Hymn 679 “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”. Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Opening Hymn: 34 “The God of Abraham Praise”

Confession of Sin

Almighty God, Who are rich in mercy to all those who call upon You;  Hear us as we humbly come to You confessing our sins;  And imploring Your mercy and forgiveness.  We have broken Your holy laws by our deeds and by our words;  And by the sinful affections of our hearts.  We confess before You our disobedience and ingratitude, our pride and willfulness;  And all our failures and  shortcomings toward You and toward fellow men.  Have mercy upon us, Most merciful Father;  And of Your great goodness grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life;  Through the merit and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 103:11-13

Old Covenant Reading: Habakkuk 2:12-20

New Covenant Reading: Acts 9:1-9

Hymn of Preparation: 436 “Zion, Founded on the Mountains”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Sermon: God’s Sacred Temple

Hymn of Response: 355 “We Are God’s People”

Confession of Faith: Apostles’ Creed p. 845

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Diaconal Offering

Closing Hymn: 441 “Jesus Shall Reign”

PM Worship: Hosea 13:1-14d – Where is Thy Sting?

Adult Sunday School: Fellowship Lunch – No Sunday School

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (1/9) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. This passage has been frequently misunderstood by Christians who take the teaching from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 about individual Christians being filled with the Holy Spirit and force today’s passage into that mold. Both the context and grammar of today’s passage requires us to understand Paul’s Temple imagery in this passage as applying to the local church. As Gordon Fee notes, today’s passage is actually one of the most important texts in Scripture for understanding the local church in the economy of redemption. Fee writes:

One of the desperate needs of the church is to recapture this vision of what it is by grace, and therefore also what God intends it to be. In most Protestant circles one tends to take the local parish altogether too lightly. Seldom does one sense that it is, or can be, experienced as a community that is so powerfully indwelt by the Spirit that it functions as a genuine alternative to the pagan world in which it is found. It is perhaps not too strong to suggest that the recapturing of this vision of its being, both in terms of its being powerfully indwelt by the Spirit and of its thereby serving as a genuine alternative to the world, is its single greatest need.

Read or Sing Hymn: 34 “The God of Abraham Praise” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would grant the evangelical churches in North America a higher view of the Church and that He would make us into a genuine alternative to the world around us.

Tuesday (1/10) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.  Today’s passage talks about our participation in Christ’s work of building His Church. Paul reminds us that “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Interestingly, the word “other” doesn’t mean instead of it means alongside of. What Paul is arguing for here isn’t simply that Christ is essential but that Christ alone is the essential foundation for the Church. It is helpful to remember that Bible believing churches do not become liberal in the blink of an eye. What normally happens is that they make the identity of the local church Christ plus something else. Then, the leadership starts assuming that everyone knows about Christ and the gospel. They are not denied but they move out of the pulsating center of the congregation’s life. When this happens, the other thing that was laid next to Christ as an additional identity marker for the church becomes more and more prominent. Eventually the church includes those who are denying essential truths of the Christian faith because they are clinging to this alternative identity marker. This may seem like an abstract process that we don’t need to worry about, but churches are tempted to go down this route all the time. Consider the vision statement of one of the largest and most famous PCA churches in the United States:

To build a great city for all people through a gospel movement that brings personal conversion, community formation, social justice and cultural renewal to New York City and, through it, to the world.

There are at least four important things to observe about this vision statement:

1. First, the statement doesn’t even mention Jesus Christ.
2. Second, the list of things that they want this church to accomplish is actually a list of great things for Christians to be involved in. Generally speaking, good things (at least at first) are more likely to supplant Christ alone in a church’s identity than bad things.
3. Third, this vision statement makes God a means to an end other than Himself. To put it bluntly – it is idolatrous.
4. Fourth, virtually any vision statement you will ever see adopted by a local church is an expression of a theology of glory rather than a theology of the cross. Where is Paul’s desire to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and Him crucified? The dominant modern Western identity for the Church flows from our boast about what we will do. Paul’s vision for the Church flows out of a boast concerning what Christ has done.

Prayer: Please pray for the Session as it meets this evening.

Wednesday (1/11) Read and discuss Habakkuk 2:12-20. The world’s values are distorted. It is easier to destroy than to build and easier to conquer than to truly liberate. Nevertheless, we tend to celebrate those who wage war (i.e. Alexander the Great) rather than those who make peace. This is true in the United States where virtually all of the national monuments and memorials are dedicated to wartime Presidents (Jefferson is an exception. Even though Jefferson engaged in the First Barbary War – that is not what he is celebrated for).  Likewise, we tend to celebrate those who became rich even if they became such by exploiting the poor. Yet, while we say “wow” the LORD God Omnipotent says “woe!”

            “Woe to him who builds a town with blood

                        and founds a city on iniquity!

            Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts

                        that peoples labor merely for fire,

                        and nations weary themselves for nothing?

            For the earth will be filled

                        with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD

                        as the waters cover the sea.

There are two great truths that we should take from this: (1) First, we should re-align our idea of greatness with God’s idea of greatness; and (2) Second, we should take great comfort in the fact that the days in which oppressors rule is numbered. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”Read or Sing Hymn 436 “Zion, Founded on the Mountains” Prayer: Ask that our Father would cause His name to be hallowed and that a renewed knowledge of His holiness would fill our land.

Thursday (1/12) Read and discuss Acts 9:1-9. There are at least three great truths in this passage:

1. First, the King of Kings has so intimately identified with His Church that He treats attacks against His people as though they were attacks upon Him. We might have expected Jesus to say: “Why are you living such an angry and violent life? That’s no way for a good Jew to behave.” Or, we might have expected Christ to say: “Why are you persecuting My Church?” But what Jesus asks is: “Why are you persecuting Me?” Take comfort from the fact that whatever the world may through at you – Jesus has identified that closely with all who belong to Him.
2. God humbled Paul before he used him so dramatically in the spread of the early Church. Let’s face it; known of us likes to be humbled. Yet, we should realize that humility is one of the absolute prerequisites for being truly useful in Christ’s Kingdom. There is only one King, and you and I are not Him!
3. Jesus is able to turn His fiercest enemies into His most loyal subjects. Sometimes Christians wrongly imagine that the spread of the Kingdom of God in history is about a struggle between good and bad people. In fact, it is the story of the Good Shepherd who is overcoming the evil that each of His subjects brings. To paraphrase Martin Luther, each of us contributes something absolutely essential to salvation – we contribute the sin. Getting this truth down will dramatically reshape how we view the world. On the first view, we will naturally think of non-Christians as bad people while Christians are the “good” people. If we come to think Biblically, we will learn to see non-Christians as fellow sinners in need of grace.

Read or sing Hymn: 355 “We Are God’s People” Prayer: Give thanks that the LORD Himself is our shield and our exceedingly great reward.

Friday (1/13) Hosea 13:1-14d. What is the greatest risk that you face in the coming year? When we’re young we think: “Risk? What risk?” But as we get older we realize that we will need insurance for our health, our car, and if we buy one – our home. We recognize that life presents us with risks and the wise man or woman takes those risks into account. So, what do you think is the greatest risk you face this year? Hosea 13:5-6 might make you re-assess your answer. According to Hosea, it was when all of Israel’s circumstances were going great that she turned away from her LORD. Prosperity can be every bit as great a risk in our lives as depravation. This is why Proverbs 30 teaches us to ask:

            Two things I ask of you;

                        deny them not to me before I die:

            Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

                        give me neither poverty nor riches;

                        feed me with the food that is needful for me,

            lest I be full and deny you

                        and say, “Who is the LORD?”

            or lest I be poor and steal

                        and profane the name of my God.

This is wisdom worth mediating on and applying to our lives in the year ahead. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Prayer: Ask that Christ would grant you godliness with contentment.

Saturday (1/14) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Removed by almost twenty centuries from when it was written, we may take today’s passage too easily in stride. It might be helpful to remember when Jesus challenged the religious leaders in Jerusalem by saying, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it again.” Until you understand who Jesus was and is, such talk must have sounded like the ravings of a madman. Paul’s words in today’s passage follow in the same understanding of what constitutes the Temple of God and must have sounded nearly as shocking to the Corinthians when they read it. Richard Hays writes:

In order to grasp the full audacity of this claim, we must remember that when Paul wrote to the Corinthians the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing and active. For Jews like Paul, the Jerusalem temple had been understood as the central locus of the divine presence in the world. Thus, when Paul now transfers this claim to the community of predominantly Gentile Christians in Corinth, he is making a world-shattering hermeneutical move, de-centering the sacred space of Judaism. How can Paul possibly assert that the church has replaced the Temple? He believes that the Spirit of God is present in the community and that the community is now the place where praise and worship are rightly offered up to God. The Spirit of God no longer can be localized in a sacred building: it is to be found in the gathered community of God’s elect people in Christ.

Read or sing Hymn 441 “Jesus Shall Reign” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

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

Confession of Sin

Most holy and merciful Father;  We acknowledge and confess before You;  Our sinful nature prone to evil and slothful in good;  And all our shortcomings and offenses.  You alone know how often we have sinned;  In wandering from Your ways;  In wasting Your gifts;  In forgetting Your love.  But You, O Lord, have pity upon us;  Who are ashamed and sorry for all wherein we have displeased You.  Teach us to hate our errors;  Cleanse us from our secret faults;  And forgive our sins for the sake of Your dear Son.  And O most holy and loving Father;  Help us we beseech You;  To live in Your light and walk in Your ways;  According to the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  Assurance of Pardon: Romans 1:16-17

Old Covenant Reading: Malachi 3:1-5

New Covenant Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Hymn of Preparation:  347 “The Church’s One Foundation”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Sermon: Building for Eternity

Hymn of Response:  345 “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”

Confession of Faith:  Ten Commandments

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 358 “For All the Saints”

PM Worship: Hosea 12:7-14 -Woven Together: Judgment and Deliverance

Adult Sunday School: Covenant Baptism Part IV – Conclusion

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (1/2) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Living out the Christian life is stereotypically described in the negative in terms of the things that Christians don’t (or at least shouldn’t) do. In today’s passage we see Paul focusing on the positive building project that Christians ought to be engaged in. As God’s children we are granted the privilege of being a part of the most important project in the history of the world. Isn’t it odd then that some Christians would choose to engage in this task in a way that superficially looks good but that has no lasting value? Why would anyone do that? John Murray suggests one answer:

The snare here is that there are accepted patterns of behavior prevalent in business, in society, and in the professing church that are the violation of the commands of God. And because they are the accepted patterns they are not reckoned to be wrong and we do not come under reproach when we conform.

Faithfulness to Christ is not about fitting into a mold (either of the world or of other apparently well-meaning Christians). God uses John the Baptist and John the beloved disciple. He uses Deborah and He uses Martha. Building with gold and silver simply means seeking His pleasure and His glory in the things that we are doing. Read or Sing Hymn: 5 “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing” Prayer: Please lift up Joe and Jenny Jager as they travel home from Fenna’s (Jenny’s mom) funeral.

Tuesday (1/3) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:5-9.  As Roy Ciampa and Brian Rosner point out, “The thrust of this paragraph is evident in four parallel statements in which Paul attempts to shift the Corinthian’s focus from their leaders, to whom they claim to belong, to God to whom they really belong.” Undergirding Paul’s effort are two interlocking truths: (1) First, the laborers in God’s vineyard are interdependent; and (2) Second, any rivalry between either the servants or those who champion each servant is absurd. These are the kind of truths that we instinctively find ourselves responding “of course” to – but do we really believe them. What would our congregation look like if we focused on putting this paragraph into practice? The first thing we should say is that it would look a lot like it does now. It would be ungrateful of us not to recognize that the LORD is at work in our midst, weaving us together as a genuine church family that cares for each other and which seeks the praise of God rather than that of His servants. On the other hand, we can always grow into a deeper understanding of the gospel and greater faithfulness of putting the implications of the gospel into practice. One of the implications of the truth that God alone gives the increase is that we would become more devoted to living lives of prayer. As we are already a praying church, this might not look at lot different than what we are currently doing. Yet, we should not simply assume that our culture has had no impact on our prayer lives. Is it not the case that we often begin with our plans and then ask God to bless them? Such an approach assumes that what we are doing is fundamental and what God is doing is supplemental. If we truly grasp that nothing good ever happens apart from the work of God we will reverse this priority and make prayer fundamental and our labors supplemental. Outwardly, this two patterns may look identical. We still need to make plans, set agendas, send e-mails, and do all those things that we are able to do as faithful stewards of our time and the gifts God has equipped each of us with. Yet, the LORD is calling us to approach these tasks with a different attitude. Instead of asking God to bless our plans and labors, we are being called to ask the LORD to act and then to enter into His labors. Doing this has the practical benefit of taking the stress off of ourselves. It also means that God will receive all the glory. So how do we make this change? Perhaps it is best to simply keep being reminded of how great our God is and how everything depends on Him. Meditating on the psalms and then incorporating them into our prayers is also likely to help. Prayer: Ask the LORD to re-center your thinking to making trusting Him fundamental to everything you do. Also, please pray for the Women’s Retreat Planning Committee as it meets this evening.

Wednesday (1/4) Read and discuss Malachi 3:1-5. Most of the difficult things we are called to do are actually quite simple to understand. In fact, virtually the entirety of the Christian life can be summarized under the slogan Trust and Obey. For example, Christians sometimes become confused over the Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) as though it were simply the subject of erudite debates among pin-headed academics. While it is true that some applications of the RPW are difficult to pin down with certainty, the underlying principle is much simpler: The RPW simply takes obedience to God’s revealed will in Scripture and applies that principle to corporate worship.  Rather than relying on our own imaginations or the wisdom of this world, the RPW reminds us that we are called to trust and obey in our corporate worship just as we do in the rest of our lives. Of course, God commands some things with great specificity and in many areas He gives us a great deal of freedom to simply use our own best judgment. Once we recognize that the RPW is simply about obedience, we will understand why churches that abandon worshipping God the way He instructs us to will naturally also fail to obey the LORD when He demands that we treat our neighbors with righteousness and compassion. Both sins are about who is ultimately in charge. In today’s passage, Malachi tells us in verses 3-4 how the LORD was going to purify the Levites so that pure worship would be offered to Him. This is immediately followed by verse 6 where there is a promise of judgment “against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.” An obedient heart (like a rebellious spirit) permeates all of life. One other observation is worth making: We all recognize that the promised messenger of Malachi 1 is John the Baptist (cf. Matthew 11:10). What is sometimes missed is who the messenger goes before. Malachi 3:1 tells us that the messenger will come “before Me” – that is, before Yahweh. To put the matter directly: Malachi 3:1 teaches that Jesus is God and that He bears the covenant name of Yahweh. It also reminds us that Jesus didn’t come to make obedience optional but to bring about the obedience of faith.  Read or Sing Hymn 347 “The Church’s One Foundation” Prayer: Pray for revival and reformation in New England.

Thursday (1/5) Read and discuss 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! That’s easier to say than to do. Yet, we are not only called but commanded to be courageous. One suspects that many Christians are surprised the first time they read Revelation 21:8 to discover which sin heads the list of those whose destiny is the lake that burns with unquenchable fire:

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

So, where do we get the courage we need to remain faithful? Murray Harris helpfully summarizes the three sources of such courage that Paul reveals to us in this passage:

Paul mentions three sources of divine comfort: assurance that he would become a possessor of a superior form of habitation (v. 1), an awareness that in giving the Spirit as the pledge of transformation God had committed himself to complete the good work of renewal he had begun (v. 5), and knowledge that death involves departure to Christ and leads to ‘walking in the realm of sight (vv. 7-8). The tone of 5:1-10 is not one of cringing fear arising from human uncertainties but of buoyant assurance born of divine certainties.

All three of these sources of courage are important and belong together. What Paul is calling Christians to have is a truly eternal perspective on our present circumstances. As he had told the Corinthians in the previous chapter: “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.” Read or sing Hymn: 345 “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” Prayer: Lift up the young people of our congregation that the LORD would make them men and women of genuine courage.

Friday (1/6) Hosea 12:7-14. James Montgomery Boice writes:

There is a word in the Hebrew of verse 7 that is obscured in most of the English translations. It is the word “Canaan” or “Canaanite,” translated “merchant” in most instances, thought footnotes sometimes indicate the other possibility (see KJV). This word stands first and isolated in verse 7, so that we could read: “Canaanite! He uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud. Ephraim boasts, ‘I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin.’” (Canaanite also means merchant with an emphasis on being dishonest in trade, but by translating it “merchant” Hosea’s deliberate reference to the people of the land is obscured.)

The point is this. Before Israel settled in the land promised to them by God the land was called Canaan. It was an abominable place. Not only was it a center for all types of commercial dishonesty; it was also notorious for its sexual and religious depravity. Cultic prostitution was common. People worshipped symbols of the sexual organs. At ties children were sacrificed to Canaan’s gods. “Canaan” meant depravity. When Israel was sent into Canaan under Joshua, she was given the task of rooting out this corruption and establishing a culture marked by holiness instead. Israel’s task was to make Canaan Israel. What happened? Canaan made Israel Canaan!

Recite the Apostles Creed. Prayer:  Prayer: The past decade has seen numerous churches in North America rocked by all sorts of scandals. Let us pray that the LORD would sanctify His Church that we would be less worldly.

Saturday (1/7) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Richard Hays writes:

With the final words of verse 9, Paul shifts to a new metaphor. “You are God’s building.” This allows him to direct attention to a new focal concern: the urgency of constructing the church with integrity. In this new metaphor, Paul compares himself to a head building contractor who has carefully laid the foundation of a building and then let out the rest of the work to subcontractors. If their work Is not “up to code,” or if they fail to use suitable materials, there will be dire consequences.

We might think of what happens in California earthquakes. Some buildings that have been properly constructed to withstand the shocks remain standing, while others that have not been built according to sound principles of seismic engineering come tumbling down, with sometimes tragic results. Rather than earthquake, Paul uses the image of fire, a traditional Old Testament image for God’s judgment, but his point is the same. A cataclysm is coming that is going to test the structural integrity of our construction work, so we should build with great care. Our building should not be hasty, nor just for show: we must build our community solidly from the ground up in a way that is designed to endure.

Read or sing Hymn 358 “For All the Saints” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3

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

Confession of Sin

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: 2 Chronicles 7:14

Old Covenant Reading:  Isaiah 54:1-17

New Covenant Reading:  John 4:19-42

Hymn of Preparation: 598 “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

Sermon: God’s Fellow-Workers

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

Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 1

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 670 “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee”

PM Worship: Hosea 11:12-12:6 – Feeding on the Wind

Adult Sunday School: Covenant Baptism Part III

Suggested Preparations

Monday (12/26) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. Beginning with today’s passages there is somewhat of a shift in Paul’s line of argumentation. Previously the basis for correcting the Corinthians was through a clear proclamation of the consequences of the cross. Paul doesn’t leave the cross behind (How could he?), but he now draws attention to the fact that Church belongs to God. He brought it into being; He sustains it; and He will judge it. This section of the argument is structured using three metaphors: (1) The Church is God’s field (vv. 5-9); (2) The Church is God’s building (vv. 10-15); and (3) The Church is God’s Temple (vv. 16-17). Richard Hays helpfully writes:

Throughout this chapter, two fundamental points must be kept clearly in view. First, Paul thinks of the church not as an institution with a hierarchy and a certain formal structure but as a concrete community of people in a particular locality. … Thus, when he says, for example, ‘you are God’s temple,” he is referring not to a building but to the gathered people of God. Second, Paul’s metaphors all refer to the community viewed corporately: the building that is built by the apostles and tested by fire is not the spiritual life of the individual believer, but the church community as a whole. The later point may be especially hard for some Protestant congregations to keep in focus, because the tradition of individualistic reading is so entrenched. But if this point is not grasped firmly, Paul’s whole meaning will be missed.

Read or Sing Hymn: 1 “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” Prayer: Please pray for our bother Pastor Youcef in Iran. The presiding judge has ordered that he be kept in jail for another year and that all available means be used to bring about his conversion to Islam.

Tuesday (12/27) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12.  People react to Jesus in many different ways. It is easy for us when we read today’s passage to think how crazy Herod’s response to the news of Jesus’ birth was. We easily imagine that if we could only have 15 minutes to explain to Herod about the nature of Jesus’ kingship that he might have behaved radically differently. Yet, if we think this way, we demonstrate that Herod had a better grasp on one aspect of our Lord’s birth than we do. Herod understood this: If Jesus is King, than Caesar isn’t in charge; If Jesus is King, than Herod isn’t in charge; If Jesus is King (and He is!), then you and I are not in charge either. This time of year a multitude of people exchange Christmas cards and Christmas greetings.  Yet, many of those same people go about their lives as though Jesus had never come.  If we stop to think about who the baby in the manger was, and what He would grow up to do, we would realize that this child was the most dangerous baby in history.  A thousand years before His birth, the Psalm 2 had this to say about our response to Jesus:

            Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

                        be warned, O rulers of the earth.

            Serve the LORD with fear,

                        and rejoice with trembling.

            Kiss the Son,

                        lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

                        for his wrath is quickly kindled.

            Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

We will either take refuge in Him, and discover that Jesus is a merciful Savior and wonderful Lord, or we will oppose Him to our own destruction. There is no middle path. Prayer: Offer up everything you have and everything you are to the One who is everything you need.

Wednesday (12/28) Read and discuss Isaiah 54:1-17. When we meditate upon the life of Sarah and Abraham we can deeply feel their anxiety as they grew old not having received the child of promise.  They were people of faith, but they also struggled to believe what seemed absolutely impossible from a human standpoint: Could an old man and a woman far past childbearing years really still give birth?  It is easier for us to confess that “nothing is impossible for God” in the abstract – when we are not having to trust his promises against everything we can see and touch.  Why would the LORD make Abraham and Sarah wait so long?  There are at least three answers to that question.  First, the LORD was using these circumstances to grow Abraham and Sarah in their faith. Second, God wanted to make it abundantly clear that the blessing would come through His power and not through the efforts of human flesh.  Third, God was creating an image of His gracious and faithful fulfillment that would serve as a sign for His people until the end of time.  It is the third use that is being picked up in Isaiah 54.  Israel may have made shipwreck of her vocation to serve as a light to the nations; but through Christ’s substitutionary death (see Isaiah 53) God was going to wipe away her guilt and restore the fortunes of His people.  They may look barren, just as Sarah did in her old age, but God was going to multiply her children beyond the wildest imagination of anyone living in Isaiah’s day. But who are the children that Isaiah 54 is talking about?  In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul develops the very same theme from the life of Abraham and Sarah that Isaiah 54 is dealing with.  He writes: “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” It is important to remember this.  God is making His promise to those He has chosen and who manifest this by their faith in Jesus Christ.  If we miss this, we may wonder about those churches that are destroyed by God Himself.  But the even greater wonder is the depth of God’s commitment to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  Take a moment to meditate on verse 10 and know for certain that nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Read or Sing Hymn 598 “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” Prayer: Please pray for Courtney as she has surgery today.

Thursday (12/29) Read and discuss John 4:19-42. Bringing in the harvest is a time of great joy for farmers. It is a time of great joy for Christians too … if we will only get past the obstacles that the world, the flesh, and the devil put in our way. Sometimes we are put off by racial and social bigotry. The truth is that we tend to value the experiences of those who are most like us and to discount the struggles and joys of those who are most culturally different. The Jews in Jesus’ day certainly didn’t seem too concerned about how the mass of Samaritans would face the final judgment – but Jesus cared. He used this as an object lesson to His disciples about how they show engage in spreading the good news to disciple all the people groups. Perhaps the more common barrier to our engagement in our Lord’s harvest is that we are consumed with the business of life and then are lulled into inaction by the promise of tomorrow. But the promised “some-day” never seems to come. Chuck Swindoll offers this insightful observation:

I notice that people actively engaged in evangelism lack many of the attitudes that destroy churches. The joy of their call keeps them from arguing over the worth of people. The priority of their call inspires them to handle the details of life quickly and to move on to more pressing matters, such as the ingathering of souls. The urgency of their call prods them to overcome procrastination and to make the most of their opportunities. …

If you will allow me to switch metaphors, people actively engaged in evangelism are like people on the front lines of battle. One of my Marine Corps friends, who had seen more than his share of combat, once remarked, “The men on the front lines never complained about the food; it was the guys farthest from the battle who grumbled the most when standing in the chow line!” Life-and-death struggle has a way of keeping things in perspective.

Admittedly, evangelism isn’t war. Nevertheless, the principle remains the same. If we wait until prejudice, pettiness, or procrastination is no longer an issue, we will never enter the harvest. We are called to reap; therefore, we must obey. Once we have moved into the front lines, nagging hindrances quickly fade away.

Read or sing Hymn: 585 “Take My Life, and Let It Be” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would lead people to our congregation who would be blessed by becoming a part of our Church family.

Friday (12/30) Hosea 11:12-12:6. Beginning with verse 2 of chapter 12, Hosea looks at Israel through the lens of how their Patriarch first received the name Jacob. James Montgomery Boice writes:

Jacob was a twin, born to Isaac and Rebekah. His brother was Esau. Genesis tells us that the two babies were struggling with each other in Rebekah’s womb before the birth and that when they were born, although Jacob was born second and was therefore technically the younger brother, he emerged grasping Esau’s heel (Jacob’s name means “heel grasper”).

“To grasp the heel” also meant to go behind one’s back in order to deceive or trick him, and this became the dominant characteristic of the man. Jacob was always second – second in his birth, in strength, in the favor of his father. But he was always trying to use his wits to trick and thus get ahead of the one before him. Although Hosea does not mention it specifically, every Jewish reader would be aware of Jacob’s cheating his brother Esau of his birthright and of the all-important deathbed blessing of their father.

What Hosea does say is that Jacob “struggled with God”. He thought he could handle God the same way he was always trying to handle other people. He thought he could trick God or at least manipulate Him to do what he wanted.

This is the point at which the story comes him. For what better describes the religion of Israel and Judah (at at times unfortunately even ourselves) than the attempt to use God. Israel and Judah thought that if they went through the prescribed religious rituals – prayer, sacrifice, feast days – this would inevitably bind God to them and oblige Him to prosper and protect them, regardless of what their true spiritual or moral sate should be. People think like this today. They think that if they go through the forms of religion, God will be obliged to prosper them. Thus, although they do not really love or faithfully obey Him, they are always shocked when disciplines of any sort come back on them.

Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Prayer: Please lift up those who are facing the new year without jobs that they would hope in the LORD and that he would provide them with opportunities for meaningful work.

Saturday (12/31) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. It is amazing how easily the Church becomes like the world. In theory, everyone should be serving one another simply out of a desire to be a blessing and to glorify Christ who called us into His family. Nevertheless, it is very easy for us to start wanting to receive the credit for what we do or to become jealous over the appreciation that is given to one of our brothers or sisters because we aren’t receiving “our fair share.”  Furthermore, the contemporary evangelical situation in North America is one where we have turned some of God’s servants into celebrities. We don’t say, “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos”; but there are many who virtually say: “I am of Piper” or “I am of Sproul”.  Paul’s point isn’t that we shouldn’t e grateful for such gifted teaches but it is that we should remember that all of us are simply farm hands working in the LORD’s field. Furthermore, by saying “He who plants and he who waters are one” – Paul is making the organic unity of all God’s farm hands absolutely clear. We should also be careful to rightly understand Paul’s expression: “For we are God’s fellow workers.” As Richard Hays reminds us:

This does not mean here (in contrast to 2 Corinthians 6:1) that he and Apollos are coworkers with God; rather, as the whole burden of the passage would suggest, they are fellow workers together under the authority of God, belonging to God. And the church, to complete the metaphor, is God’s field. What matters is the fruitful cultivation of the harvest.

”Read or sing Hymn 670 “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-3

Opening Hymn: 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

Confession of Sin

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Romans 5:1-2

Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 52:1-10

New Covenant Reading: Luke 2:1-20

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

Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon: Kings Great and Small

Hymn of Response: 230 “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor”

Confession of Faith: Nicene Creed, p. 846

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 195 “Joy to the World”

PM Worship: No Evening Worship Tonight

Adult Sunday School: No Sunday School Today

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (12/19) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. This passage introduces four major themes in the Gospel according to Matthew: (1) First, Jesus will be a Royal Messiah; (2) Second, God is controlling all the events through His providential hand; (3) Third, the Gentiles are going to be included among the Messiah’s people; and (4) Fourth, Jesus is the fulfillment of much Old Testament prophesy. Today we will look at the contrast between the Magi and the rulers of Israel. It is striking that the LORD led the Magi to travel over long distances on very incomplete information to pay homage to the new born King. This points forward to the fact that the whole world will one day worship Him (cf. Rev. 21:24, 26). Magi, in the ancient world, were a priestly cast of magicians and astrologers who were supposed to be the “wise men” of the country. They were therefore consulted by civil rulers and often used for diplomatic missions. They may have been familiar with some of the Hebrew Bible, but they didn’t know about Micah 5:2 for they follow the natural surmise that a king would be born in a capital and head off to Jerusalem. It doesn’t surprise us that the paranoid Herod would be deeply disturbed by the news of a newborn King; but we shouldn’t miss that all Jerusalem was troubled with him. So Herod gathers together the chief priests and the teachers of the law and inquires where the Messiah was to be born. They don’t miss a beat: “In Bethlehem of Judea” they reply, “for this is how it has been written by the prophet.” They all know the correct answer, but here is the amazing part: Although Bethlehem is only 6 miles from Jerusalem – not one of the chief priests or scribes bothers to go with the Magi to see where the Christ was to be born. The contrast is striking: Some traveled great distances and offered up gold and precious spices to worship Jesus while others wouldn’t even make the two hour walk to see Him. This antithesis carries through the gospel: the redemptive influence of Jesus will extend far beyond the confines of Jerusalem to the far corners of the earth, yet those closest to Jesus will reject him (Grant Osborne).” Read or Sing Hymn: 203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would maintain your excitement over the gospel story.

Tuesday (12/20) Read and discuss Matthew 1:18-25.  In order to understand the solution you have to understand the problem. What was it like to conceive of yourself as being part of the LORD’s chosen people when He hadn’t returned to Zion for more than four centuries? What was it like for a Jewish carpenter to live under the thumb of brutal Roman overlords (both Herod and his son Archelaus were unusually brutal compared to most Roman rulers)? What was it like to live in Judah when the majority of your fellow Jews had grown cold in the faith? C.S. Lewis beautifully captures this struggle when he describes Narnia without Asland (Jesus) as “always winter but never Christmas”. Yet, first century Judah wasn’t without some joys. There was still a remnant and Joseph was about to be married to a woman who by all accounts appeared to be a particularly godly woman. Then Joseph’s entire world came crashing down: She’s pregnant! How could that possibly be? All of his hopes and dreams had gone up in ashes. Nevertheless, Joseph seeks to be a man of God who does “justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God (Micah 6:8).” It would not be easy. Nearly everyone in his town would think that Joseph had been guilty of fornication. But Joseph chose to suffer the abuse of his fellow men in order to seek the praise of God. Because of the astonishing news that he would be the step-father to Immanuel – Joseph (and all of the rest of us) have reason to sing joy to a world in a world that often seems like it is always winter and never Christmas. This week, as you take time to celebrate the coming of our LORD, remember to rejoice with a grateful heart. And remember to look forward in hope to the day when it will never be winter but it will always be Christmas. For you will dwell in the immediate presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you will be like Him, for you will see Him as He is. Read or Sing Hymn 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would make you even more into a man or woman who does justice and who loves mercy.

Wednesday (12/21) Read and discuss Isaiah 52:1-10. On the Fourth of July Americans celebrate Independence Day to commemorate when our nation first declared itself to be a sovereign power. Yet, even a cursory familiarity with history makes it difficult to paint the British Empire as tyrannical oppressors. Israel could only have wished that they had been “oppressed” in this way. Isaiah had lived through the assaults of the Assyrians, who were among the most brutal people who had ever lived. Then he prophesied of Judah being taken into the Babylonian captivity. While the Babylonians were more civilized than the Assyrians, they did force the majority of the Jewish people to move more than five hundred miles away to a strange land where they would have to do whatever the king of Babylon told them to do. Yet, Isaiah 52 is promising a freedom from this bondage. More than mere freedom, Israel would be lifted up and exalted. Isaiah was promising a second Exodus where the people would be delivered not only to freedom and security but to being the LORD’s true people:

Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.

When would this glorious event take place? If we stopped reading here we could easily imagine that this might take place in the fifth century B.C. when the LORD would bring Israel back into their land. But if we keep reading through Isaiah 52 and 53 we see that this freedom, security, and joy is intimately tied up with the substitutionary death of the Suffering Servant. It is only with Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death that the Second Exodus is truly accomplished. Living on this side of redemption accomplished, let us lift our voices to sing of Christ’s victory and let us rejoice in the Good News that He brings. Read or sing Hymn: 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Prayer: Please pray for friend or loved one who does not know the LORD that they would be brought to Christ this Christmas season.

Thursday (12/22) Read and discuss Luke 2:1-20. David Garland writes:

The sentimental Christmas may be popular as a religious holiday for some because it can come off as celebrating the birth of a helpless baby. Jesus lies in a manger to be gazed upon and adored, but not to be heard and heeded. A speechless babe wrapped tightly in swaddling cloths seems more obliging in allowing people to tailor their religious beliefs however they see fit. …

True, many hear only the Christmas bells of cash registers ringing, accompanied by mawkish seasonal, secular music. Churches do not always help by competing for the entertainment spotlight. One church I know of boasts of their Christmas program’s “pageantry, marvel, magic, and awe,” and emphasizes that they have been “entertaining and inspiring audiences … for more than 25 years.”

The story of Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of God’s promises and the incarnation of God in human flesh. That meaning is memorably captured by John 3:16. God loves, and God gives in order to save. Luke’s birth narrative portrays the nature of divine power that gives itself to save. God does not appear as an all-powerful despot but as a vulnerable child. Paul blazons this profound paradox in Phil 2:6-8. For Christ, equality with God meant emptying himself, taking the form of a slave, who had no rights and owed obedience, humbling himself and dying a slave’s death on the cross. It meant giving rather than getting, and Christ gave until he was empty; but his obedience led to an empty tomb and ultimate vindication that will culminate when throngs in heaven and on earth and under the earth, not just a host of angels, will bow down and sing glory in the highest to the One whose name is above every name.

Read or Sing Hymn 230 “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would grant you contentment and that you and your family would rest more and more in who He is and what He has done.

Friday (12/23) Matthew 2:13-23. Today’s passage is structured around three Old Testament passages and how they relate to Jesus. Because we know who Jesus is, we tend to not be surprised by these passages – but they are written in such a way that the attention is cast upon the baby (e.g. “take the child and his mother”). The most surprising of the Old Testament passages which Matthew uses is the first one taken from Hosea 11:1:

                        When Israel was a child, I loved him,

                                    and out of Egypt I called my son.

At first it may seem puzzling why the LORD would apply this passage to the baby Jesus. Yet, in this puzzle we discover a profound bit of theology. The remnant of Israel would ultimately come down to just one righteous person – Jesus so that He could be and do precisely what the nation had failed to be or accomplish. Israel was to be the servant of the LORD and a light to the gentiles – but they failed. Now the true Servant of the LORD (cf: Isaiah 53) would bring about true redemption and be the light of the world. God chose to reveal this truth by having Jesus recapitulate a portion of Israel’s history. Read or sing Hymn: 30 “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  Prayer: As the story of Christmas fills our nation, pray that the LORD would open many hearts to receive the King for the first time.

Saturday (12/24) Read and discuss Matthew 2:1-12. On Monday we looked at the contrast between Israel’s earthly rulers and the Magi. Today we will look at the contrast between God/Jesus and Herod the Great. Herod was a paranoid and power hungry leader. Caesar Augustus once quipped that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son. For, although Herod wouldn’t eat pork, he had put both his wife and his two sons to death out of fear that they were plotting against him. Herod’s entire approach to life was to cling to everything he could while destroying anything he imagined could be a threat. His approach to the Magi was neither to bless them nor to dismiss them but to use them. Herod treated other people as though they were things. By contrast, Jesus chose to leave the courts of heaven to be born in a humble family. Herod was focused on what he could get. Jesus was focused on what He could give. Nevertheless, the passage leaves us with absolutely no doubt about who is in charge. God had planned this moment from before the foundations of the world. He had predicted it through His prophet Micah. He was supernaturally guiding these gentile Magi to His Son through a special star, and He would warn them in a dream to not return to Herod. The paranoid Herod may have thought that he was in charge, but the unfolding events demonstrated that all the details of history are securely in the hands of the King of Kings. The passage also has clear echoes of Ezekiel 34:11-16. The false shepherds have scattered God’s people. But the Messiah has come at last to shepherd the nation back to God and to bring the gentiles into God’s one flock. Or to shift to the imagery from Daniel, in Christ, God had set up the stone that would grow into a great mountain that would ultimately fill all the earth. Read or sing Hymn: 195 “Joy to the World”. Read or sing Hymn 196 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 100:1-5

Opening Hymn: 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render”

Confession of Sin

Almighty God, Who are rich in mercy to all those who call upon You;  Hear us as we humbly come to You confessing our sins;  And imploring Your mercy and forgiveness.  We have broken Your holy laws by our deeds and by our words;  And by the sinful affections of our hearts.  We confess before You our disobedience and ingratitude, our pride and willfulness;  And all our failures and  shortcomings toward You and toward fellow men.  Have mercy upon us, Most merciful Father;  And of Your great goodness grant that we may hereafter serve and please You in newness of life;  Through the merit and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Titus 2:11-14

Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 7:1-14

New Covenant Reading: Luke 1:26-38

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

Sermon Text: Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon: You Shall Call His Name Jesus

Hymn of Response: 30 “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”

Confession of Faith: Apostles’ Creed p. 845

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Diaconal Offering

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

PM Worship: Isaiah 9:1-7 – On His Shoulders

Adult Sunday School: Fellowship Lunch – No Sunday School

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (12/12) Read and discuss Matthew 1:18-25. One of the most moving contemporary songs about Christmas is called “Joseph’s Song” by Michael Card. This song looks at the extraordinary reality of Jesus growing up as a little boy through the eyes of his adoptive father. At one point the song has Joseph sing:

Father show me where I fit
into this plan of yours
How can a man be father

to the Son of God
Lord for all my life I’ve
been a simple carpenter
How can I raise a king, How
can I raise a king

As overwhelming as this may have seemed to Joseph, it pales in comparison to the decision he had to make when he received the astonishing news: Mary was pregnant! Legally, Joseph and Mary were already married. Normally marriages were arranged so that the man would be between 18 and 20 and the woman in her early teens. Joseph was in the process of trying to establish himself financially for his soon to be family. He would almost certainly have been in the process of physically building the home (perhaps a room on his parents’ house) for where he could take Mary and start their life together. As he fitted the stones together and erected the beams he must have constantly been dreaming about what their new life as a couple would be like. Now it was over before it ever really began. Mary was pregnant and not by him. This crisis dramatically reveals what sort of man Joseph was in three key decisions:

1. First, Joseph, because he was a righteous man sought to divorce Mary quietly. Whatever plans and dreams Joseph had needed to put aside in order for him to live consistently with the law of God. Please notice that Scripture does not pit being righteous against being compassionate. Joseph did not seek to torment Mary for her supposed sin by making her a public disgrace. He chose to do the right thing in a compassionate way.
2. Second, God chose to override Joseph’s decision. The Angel of the LORD appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that, in spite of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph was to marry her anyway. We will look at what the Angel of the LORD told Joseph on Saturday.
3. Third, Joseph chose to obey God’s word. There is a beautiful touch in how Joseph does this. In verse 25 we are told that “he called his name Jesus.” In naming Jesus, Joseph claimed him as his own son. We are prone to pass over this fact too easily but we shouldn’t forget that the Angel of the LORD appeared only to Joseph in a dream. He did not appear to the whole town. Taking Mary to be his wife would open Joseph up to the scorn of all his neighbors. Undoubtedly, most of them would think that Jesus was Joseph’s son born under illicit circumstances. But Joseph chose to suffer the contempt of man for a time because he was committed to seeking His praise not from man but from God. Joseph was a righteous man. “Mary’s obedience in Luke 1 is the same, so we see what kind of pious, God-fearing parents Jesus had, who are models for us all (Grant Osborne).”

Read or Sing Hymn: 14 “New Songs of Celebration Render” Prayer: Please pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Iran.

Tuesday (12/13) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.  How do we pursue genuine spiritual maturity? In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul is unmasking the Corinthians for their spiritual immaturity and worldliness. But the goal isn’t that we become skilled at critiquing others but that we would grow into Christian maturity ourselves. So how do we do it? Three key aspects to this growth are learning and applying Scripture to our lives, the Holy Spirit, and learning from Good Role Models:

1. SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 3:16-17  “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Reading, hearing, and meditating upon God’s word is essential … but it isn’t sufficient. You could simply be puffing yourself up with factual knowledge. In fact, you could be using your newfound knowledge to sow divisions within the body of Christ. It is not enough to store up the word of God like bags of seed along the side of a field. You actually have to plow the field. That is, you need to put what you are learning into practice in your daily life.
2. CULTIVATING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Galatians 5:22-26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
3. IMITATING GOOD ROLE MODELS: Paul regularly encouraged other Christians to imitate him as he imitated Christ. For example, when he wrote to the Philippians he said: “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Paul, of course, is a great role model for all of us – but it is important to find role models that you can see and talk with. If you think that you are too spiritually mature to need role models … you are not!

Read or Sing Hymn 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would cause you to evidence more of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Wednesday (12/14) Read and discuss Isaiah 7:1-14. One time C.S. Lewis was talking with a colleague in his study at Oxford when a group of students began singing Christmas carols outside his window. His colleague condescendingly said something like, “These are Oxford University students. Don’t they realize that virgins don’t give birth?” To which Lewis dryly replied, “Don’t you think they already know that?” Odd, isn’t it, that, having heard the Christmas story so often, people sometimes forget what a spectacular miracle the virgin conception was? Indeed, it was nothing less than a new creation of the Second Adam. Over the past two centuries many have attempted to strip the miraculous from Scripture. One place where such “scholars” seem to have gained traction is with respect to Isaiah 7:14. At first this may seem odd. Since Matthew and Luke clearly and repeatedly declare that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived in her womb, what is the point of arguing that Isaiah 7:14 merely speaks of a young woman giving birth and not a virgin? The answer is that it is extremely embarrassing to liberals that God would promise the virgin concept seven centuries before it happened. Oddly, many conservatives have tended to take the liberals at their word and have become very tentative at suggesting that Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the virgin conception of Christ. Nevertheless, there are really strong (even compelling) reasons for holding to the traditional understanding:

1. Although liberals have repeatedly asserted that the Hebrew word ‘alma simply means “young woman” no one has ever produced a single example in either biblical or extra-biblical Hebrew where the person referred to was not a virgin. As the Old Testament scholar J. Alec Motyer observes: “Wherever the context allows a judgment, ‘alma is is not a general term meaning ‘young woman’ but a specific one meaning ‘virgin’.”
2. The Septuagint translation of the Old Testament into Greek (done in the two centuries prior to Christ) translates ‘alma with the Greek term parthenon which everyone recognizes means virgin. This is the same term used by Matthew and Luke in the New Testament to record Christ’s virgin conception.
3. Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14 as being about the birth of Jesus.
4. Consider how dramatic a sign the LORD promises to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” As Homer Hailey put it, what is in view is “a sign so momentous that only Jehovah could give it.” Then ask yourself this question: “How dramatic a sign is it that a young woman would bear a son?” The fact is, not only would a young woman bearing a son not be a particularly dramatic sign – it wouldn’t be a sign at all.  Young woman have children the natural way all the time.
5. If we keep reading from Isaiah 7 through chapter 9 we can trace some interesting details about the child that will be born to this woman: (1) He will be called Immanuel – meaning “God with us” (7:14); (2) In 8:8 he is called Immanuel again and the Land is described as His Land. (3) It is impossible to separate this child from the description in Isaiah 9:6-7 where the child is also described Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. There simply is no way that an ordinary child in Isaiah’s time could have fulfilled all of this – even as a type of the Christ who was to come.

“Following these pointers, we have a sign that lives up to its promise. Heaven and earth will be truly moved. Isaiah foresaw the birth of the divine son of David and also laid the foundation for understanding the unique nature of his birth (Motyer).” Read or sing Hymn: 194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. Prayer: Please pray for friend or loved one who does not know the LORD that they would be brought to Christ this Christmas season.

Thursday (12/15) Read and discuss Luke 1:26-38. This story is about Jesus. The Bible does give us a great deal of information about many people, but they are in the biblical narrative primary to help us see: (1) Who God is; and (2) How we should respond to and live in light of who God is. Today’s passage is no different. The Lutheran scholar Arthur Just, Jr. points out that “the brevity of the sketch of Mary as a person is arresting; the only significant piece of information is her status as a ‘virgin,’ which is referred to twice in 1:27. The weight of the text falls not on Mary herself, but upon her miraculous conception.” Just goes on to show that he literary structure of this passage forms a chiasm with the virgin conception at the center framed by the designations of the Messiah whom she would conceive:

A1. Mary is going to conceive.

B1. Designations of the Messiah

Jesus

The child will be great

Son of the Most High

King over the house of Jacob forever

C.  The virgin will conceive.

Mary’s question: “How will this be, since

I do not know a man?”

Gabriel’s answer: “The Holy Spirit will come

upon you, and the power of the Most

High will overshadow you.”

B2.  Designations of the Messiah

The child to be born will be holy.

He will be called the Son of God

A2. Elizabeth has conceived in her old age.

As this structure makes clear, even in the section on the virgin birth, the emphasis is on the involvement of the Holy Spirit in conceiving the Messiah and not upon Mary herself. Matthew is keeping Christ where He belongs – at the center. Read or Sing Hymn 30 “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” Prayer: Pray for the Roman Catholic Church that they would become centered on Jesus Christ and that they would come to embrace the Gospel in its purity and power.

Friday (12/16) 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: 30 “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past”. Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer:  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.

Saturday (12/17) Read and discuss Matthew 1:18-25. The story of Christ’s miraculous conception is beautiful and moving, but does it really make any difference in the way that we think? A surprising number of New Testament scholars treat the virgin conception as a nice story that we could very well get on without. But they are wrong. At the heart of today’s passage is the truth of Jesus’ title Immanuel – God with us. Consider the rich theology found in the Angel’s message to Joseph on why he should still take Mary to be his wife. We should remember that all his life Joseph had been called Joseph bar Jacob (which means Joseph the son of Jacob). Yet the Angel immediately introduces messianic overtones by calling him Joseph son of David. Then he says:

Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,

for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit,

and she will give birth to a son,

and you are to call his name Jesus

for he will save his people from their sins.

Furthermore, this was going to fulfill the word of God which was given through the prophet Isaiah:

Look, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.

And they will call his name ‘Immanuel,’

which means ‘God with us.’

This passage makes it clear that Jesus’ origins (the Greek word is “genesis”) come uniquely from God and that in Christ we will experience God’s saving presence. It is not without meaning that Matthew begins his account of the Gospel with the origins of the one called Immanuel. The very last words of Matthew come from our Lord when He tells His disciples: “Look, I am with you always, even until the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).” Read or sing Hymn: 230 “Thou Who Wast Rich beyond All Splendor”. Read or sing Hymn 196 “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-3

Opening Hymn: 32 “Great is Thy Faithfulness”

Confession of Sin

Most holy and merciful Father;  We acknowledge and confess before You;  Our sinful nature prone to evil and slothful in good;  And all our shortcomings and offenses.  You alone know how often we have sinned;  In wandering from Your ways;  In wasting Your gifts;  In forgetting Your love.  But You, O Lord, have pity upon us;  Who are ashamed and sorry for all wherein we have displeased You.  Teach us to hate our errors;  Cleanse us from our secret faults;  And forgive our sins for the sake of Your dear Son.  And O most holy and loving Father;  Help us we beseech You;  To live in Your light and walk in Your ways;  According to the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 2:1

Old Covenant Reading: Ruth 2:1-16

New Covenant Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-25

Hymn of Preparation:  100 “Holy! Holy! Holy!”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Sermon: Worldly Saints

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

Confession of Faith:  Ten Commandments

Doxology (Hymn 732)

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

PM Worship: Hosea 11:1-11 – The LORD’s Love for Israel

Adult Sunday School: Children of the Promise: Infant Baptism – Part II

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (12/5) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. In verses 2-3 Paul writes: “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh.” Obviously something has gone horribly wrong in Corinth, but what exactly does Paul mean by milk and meat and why is the Corinthian need to be fed with milk a problem? Americans can easily miss the force of Paul’s argument because we continue to drink milk throughout our lives. In much of the world, including in first century Palestine, milk was consumed almost entirely by infants and young children. Paul is sharply rebuking those Corinthians who have been Christians for some time but who haven’t made much progress in the faith.  This is a rebuke that we need to hear clearly in modern North America where many churches have decided that it is just fine for forty year old adults, who have been Christians for most of their lives, to think and act like seventh graders when it comes to Christian doctrine. Of course, there is nothing wrong with thinking and acting like a seventh grader when you are twelve. But if you act like a seventh grader when you are thirty or forty something has gone terribly wrong. Paul makes this case even stronger by telling the Corinthians that they are acting like infants.

How does the language of milk and solid food carry over into the Theology? Are there certain doctrines that shouldn’t be taught until someone has been a Christian for say five years? Absolutely not! As Calvin wisely observed, “Christ is milk for babes and strong meat for men.” The great Princeton Theologian Charles Hodge fleshes out this point for us:

Every doctrine which can be taught to theologians is taught to children. We teach a child that God is a Spirit, everywhere present and knowing all things; and he understands it. We tell him that Christ is God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever. This to the child is milk, but it contains food for the angels. The truth expressed in these propositions may be extended indefinitely, and furnish nourishment for the highest intellects to eternity. The difference between milk and strong meat, according to this view, is simply the difference between the more or less perfect development of the things taught. … Everything which God has revealed is to be taught to everyone just so fast and so far as he has the capacity to receive it.

The important thing isn’t to measure how far we have come but that we are pressing on to, by God’s grace, continue growing. Read or Sing Hymn: 32 “Great is Thy Faithfulness” Prayer: Please continue to lift up our brother Pastor Youcef who remains imprisoned in Iran. Give thanks that the LORD continues to add members to the church that Pastor Youcef shepherds even though people can so tangibly count the cost of following Jesus in Iran.

Tuesday (12/6) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.  “You can’t beat something with nothing.” This is one of the soundest truths about motivating groups of people to action. If they want to do something and you simply tell them why the way they are going about it is wrong – they will almost certainly end up carrying out their original plans. Consider this famous story from the life of Dwight Moody: One time a very proper lady told him: “Mr. Moody, I don’t like the way you do evangelism!” He naturally asked, “Ma’am, how do you do evangelism?” When she told him that she wasn’t engaged in evangelism Moody gave this classic response: “I think I like the way I do evangelism better than the way you don’t do it.” You can’t beat something with nothing. Paul has shown how many of the believers in Corinth had been bringing the worldly wisdom and ways into Christ’s Church. He has shown how foolish and fruitless that is, but he doesn’t stop there. When people pursue worldly approval through means of worldly wisdom they are actually trying to meet a genuine need in an illegitimate way. Every person who has ever lived was created both for significance, to understand the world, to understand God’s plan for history, and to be in a vital relationship with and to know the Living God. Paul doesn’t simply stop with showing the Corinthians what a miserable failure the world’s wisdom is at achieving this things, he makes it clear that what the world could not achieve God offers to His people as a gift. You can think of what Paul is doing using the image of a balance scale. On one side are all the best insights that autonomous man can muster on his own. Paul doesn’t stop simply by showing how light they are, he goes to the other side of the scale and says: “Let’s place God’s revelation on this side.” This picture is vitally important for Christians to remember. We do want and need genuine wisdom in our lives. The key question is, “How can we get it?” Paul’s unambiguous answer is that we don’t achieve this wisdom by ascending to God, we receive it as a gift through Christ and the Holy Spirit who have come down to us. As Thomas Aquinas points out:

Just as … it would be the height of folly for a simple person to assert that what a philosopher proposes is false on the ground that he himself cannot understand it, so (and even more so) it is the acme of stupidity for a man to suspect as false what is divinely revealed … simply because it cannot be investigated by reason.

Paul’s point in today’s passage is even more dramatic than this. God has not only given the revelation to us, He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of that revelation and to conform our hearts and minds to that truth. In a phrase that none of us would dare to use save that God Himself has given it to us, “We have the mind of Christ.”  Read or Sing Hymn 100 “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Prayer: Please pray for our congregation’s Session as it meets this evening.

Wednesday (12/7) Read and discuss Ruth 2:1-16. This beautiful passage has a great deal to teach us. One of its most important lessons is that you can be an exception to your generation and the surrounding culture. The story takes place during the time of the Judges. This was, to put it mildly, a wicked time in Israel’s history.  The LORD had sent judgment upon Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”) by sending a severe famine upon the land. One Jewish family found the famine so severe that they left the Promised Land to sojourn in Moab. The husband dies and the two sons marry Moabite women only to have these two men die as well. Finally, after ten years, Naomi returns with just her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth to the land of Bethlehem.  Although Ruth had become a worshiper of Yahweh, she could expect only hardship in Israel because the vast majority of the Jewish people continued to rebel against the Living God. Yet the LORD, in His great mercy, brought Ruth to the farm of Boaz.  In a sea of unfaithfulness, Boaz lived a counter-cultural life of devotion to Yahweh that was seen in everything that he did. We see this as soon as we meet Boaz in verse 4: Boaz greets his workers by crying out: “The LORD be with you!” They reply in kind, “The LORD bless you!” When we encounter a community like this, our hearts lift – but we also want to know if it is real or just a matter of pious words. As the book unfolds we discover that it is all true. Boaz cares for all his workers. He showers compassion on a Moabite outsider welcoming her into God’s family and into his own. He insists on doing the right thing in the right way without regard to how this will build up his own name. In short, he chose fidelity and left the results to God. How would the LORD respond? Though Boaz was content to make little of himself, the LORD would greatly exalt his name within the household of faith. From Boaz and Ruth would come the line of David and ultimately the Promised Seed – Jesus Christ our Lord. It all began with the grace of God in Boaz’s life, and Boaz’s commitment to follow the LORD and the walk in His ways no matter what his neighbors chose to do. This is a profound example for every generation and particularly for those who are living in places which are increasingly hostile to God. By His grace, you can be an exception to your generation and to the surrounding culture. Prayer: Ask that the LORD would increase your confidence in his revelation and decrease your desire to fit into this world’s mold.

Thursday (12/8) Read and discuss 1 Peter 1:13-25. This week we are looking at why Christians act in carnal/worldly ways and how we can grow toward spiritual maturity and reflect the wonder of the gospel in every aspect of our lives. If you are a Christian at all, you will be drawn to Peter’s words in verses 14-16:

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The problem isn’t that we want to live in our former ignorance or that we resist the idea of being Christ-like in or holiness. The problem is that we are rightly pursuing a quest for significance but that we are doing it in the wrong way. We have been trained by life in this world to seek significance and acclaim through exalting ourselves. We therefore hope in our own plans, our own skills, our own strength, and our own future achievements. It also means that we are responsible for making sure that we get the credit and everything else that is “rightly” ours. Whenever people live like this conflict and ruptured relationships naturally follow. This is a zero sum game in which if you get a bigger piece of the pie I must take a smaller piece. And while none of us would claim that we want the whole pie, we all feel compelled to struggle over getting our fair share. Isn’t it interesting that each of us tends to think that our slice of the pie should be a little bit bigger than whatever everyone else wants to give us? So we struggle and develop resentments. In a word, we become worldly. Today’s passage reminds us that God does not call us to lower our aspirations. In fact the worldly quest for significance is sharply limited both by our own abilities and the willingness of a sin drenched world to acknowledge your achievements even when that would be appropriate. How much better it is to hope in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is able to raise the dead and to grant us – as a gift – far more than we could ever hope for or even imagine. Peter calls us to this in verse 13:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This verse tells us two critical things about our quest for significance: (1) First, we are not to hope in ourselves or in what we can earn. Instead, we are to hope in grace. This requires us to contemplate the goodness of God in Christ Jesus for His people and to trust that He will give us far better than what we deserve. (2) Second, we need to recover the almost lost practice of embracing delayed gratification. The LORD doesn’t promise that He will lift you up tomorrow. As followers of a crucified Messiah we should not be surprised if the world hates us and that we have bumps in the road. Yet, fixing our hope on the grace which is ours in Jesus, we can know that He will lift us up in due time – and that our reward will last forever. Read or Sing Hymn 585 “Take My Life, and Let It Be” Prayer: Pray for the young people in our congregation that they would put down deep roots in the faith that has once and for all been delivered to the saints. Ask that the LORD would strengthen them, and all of us, that we would remember the sufferings of this world are but light and temporary afflictions in view of the exceedingly great weight of glory that is eternally being laid up for God’s people.

Friday (12/9) Read and discuss Hosea 11:1-11. At times the heaping of oracle of judgment upon oracle of judgment in the book of Hosea had become almost unbearable. “Beginning with this chapter and continuing to the end a new emphasis on the sovereign love and ultimately triumphant love of God can be found (James Montgomery Boice).” Hosea, indeed much of Scripture, can be understood as conveying three main themes: (1) God is holy, therefore we must be holy; (2) God is holy, therefore He will completely judge sin; and (3) God’s sovereign love is greater than our sin. While all three truths are important, the third truth receives the greatest emphasis. Boice continues:

In this (the last four chapters), the prophecy of Hosea comes full circle and parallels in its structure the story of the marriage on which it is built. The story of the marriage had three phases. There was an initial period of love and happiness. There was the period of Gomer’s unfaithfulness in which the course of her life was continually downward. During this phase Hosea continued to love his wife and provide for her, but her dissolute and promiscuous life led her into increasing poverty and eventually into slavery. The third phase is seen in Hosea’s act of redemption in which he purchased his wife in the slave market and thereby made her his forever. He said in that day, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you” (3:3). On the basis of that analysis we may say that the last four chapters of Hosea correspond to stage three. The love of God has been present all along, but from chapters 4 to 10 the notes of discipline and judgment predominate. Now, although judgment is still present, the emphasis falls on God’s prevailing and unquenchable love.

Recite the Apostles Creed. Prayer: Please continue to pray for the former members of Hope PCA in Portsmouth, NH that they would rapidly become part of other Bible believing congregations in the area.

Saturday (12/10) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.  On Monday we looked at how Paul considered many of the Christians in Corinth to be spiritually immature – even infants – as far as their Christian walk was concerned. Today we will look at the even sharper rebuke that Paul brings in calling the Corinthians “worldly” or more literally “fleshly” or “carnal”.  What exactly does this term mean? Richard Hays writes:

Being “of the flesh” does not mean, as the Corinthian wisdom enthusiasts supposed, lacking refined spiritual knowledge and experience. Nor does being “of the flesh”, mean, as much of the subsequent Christian tradition has supposed, living in lust and sexual sins. No, for Paul, being “of the flesh” means living in rivalry and disunity within the church. This breathtaking assertion shatters and reshapes the whole scale of values on which the Corinthians are asked to measure themselves. If the Corinthians accept this new scale that Paul has proposed, they cannot deny they fall at the immature end, for they have indeed aligned themselves with the party slogans that Paul quotes back at them: “I belong to Paul” or “I belong to Apollos.” Thus Paul artfully brings his long reflection on the cross, the Spirit, and wisdom back to the issue that launched the letter: the problem of divisions in the church.

Professor Hays’ comments should not be understood as suggesting that being “of the flesh” never manifests itself in terms of sexual sins. Of course it does. The problem with such a narrow definition of the flesh (in addition to simply not being Biblical) is that it misses the fact that we can be just as fleshly while maintaining the highest standards of outward morality. Yet, because being “of the flesh” involves puffing ourselves up – it always eventually manifests itself by sowing divisions in the body of Christ. Read or sing Hymn 708 “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3

Opening Hymn: 38 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”

Confession of Sin

O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love:  We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed;  We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength;   We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves.  Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone.  But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy;  there is forgiveness with You.  Restore to us the joy of Your salvation;  Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls.  Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:6-9

Old Covenant Reading:  Isaiah 63:15-64:4

New Covenant Reading:  Ephesians 3:1-13

Hymn of Preparation: 94 “How Firm a Foundation”

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon: The Mystery of God’s Wisdom

Hymn of Response:  246 “Man of Sorrows! What a Name”

Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 1

Doxology (Hymn 732)

Closing Hymn: 420 “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”

PM Worship: Hosea 10:13-15 – Collapsing from the Inside Out

Adult Sunday School: Children of the Promise: Infant Baptism

Suggested Preparations 

Monday (11/28) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Paul had demolished the pretenses of autonomous wisdom. Now, he suddenly proclaims that he does in fact impart wisdom to the mature. Is Paul switching tracks and suddenly becoming another worldly philosopher? Regrettably, today’s passage has frequently been wrenched out of its context to justify the proud assertions of Gnostics, enthusiasts, and other spiritual elitists that they have attained to a hidden level of insight that the rest of us run-of-the-mill Christians don’t have. That is, they twist today’s passage to make it sound as though Paul is now endorsing the very thing he was denouncing in up through verse 5. Richard Hays thoroughly dismantles these claims. Three of Professor Hays’ points are sufficient to demonstrate that this is not what Paul was doing:

1. Paul has already explicitly and unambiguously defined the content of true divine wisdom: “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1:22-24).” The content of the wisdom of God, which makes human wisdom look ridiculous, is precisely the cross.
2. The positive categories that Paul uses to explicate this “wisdom” are not philosophical but apocalyptic in character: “this age”, “hidden mystery”, “decreed before the ages”, “glory”, “revealed”, and so forth. Thus, the emphasis remains on God’s revelatory initiative rather than on human capacities of knowing.
3. The distinctions made in the passage between those who do and do not know the mystery are not distinctions between two kinds of Christians; rather, they are distinctions between Christians (who received the Spirit of God) and those who belong to the old age (who have not).

Read or Sing Hymn: 38 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” Prayer: Give thanks that the LORD has granted us a firm foundation in His word.

Tuesday (11/29) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.  It may seem like there are an extraordinary number of different theologies within the Church, but ultimately there are only two: A theology of glory and a theology of the cross. These two theologies are locked in mortal combat with one another. What is a theology of glory? Gerald O. Forde writes:

The most common overarching story we tell about ourselves is what we will call the glory story. We came from glory and are bound for glory. Of course, in between we seem somehow to have gotten derailed – whether by design or accident we don’t quite know – but that is only a temporary inconvenience to be fixed by proper religious effort. What we need is to get back on “the glory road.” The story is told in countless variations. Usually the subject of the story is “the soul.” Philosophers speak of the soul being trapped in the world of matter, decay, and death through some cosmic misadventure on the part of either the gods or mortals. The basic scheme is what Paul Ricoeur has called “the myth of the exiled soul.” The soul is exiled from its home. It is slumbering or has forgotten its way. Its true destiny is to return. He way of return is by knowledge, gnosis, he awakening of the soul to its immortal destiny, and consequently, behavior appropriate thereto – which usually means a purging or shucking off of the flesh and its lusts. But through all its variations, the scheme remains pretty much the same: the exile of the soul from the “one” and its return. …

The fateful amalgamation of the glory story with the cross story is the hidden presupposition for the deadly combat between the theology of glory and the theology of the cross. Indeed, one of the difficulties in the attempt to set the theology of the cross apart from the theology of glory is that the differences between the two are often very subtle. Obviously they use much the same language in Christian theological circles. … The theology of the cross arises out of the realization that it is simply disastrous to dissolve the cross in the story of glory. Jesus was crucified “outside the camp,” not in the temple, as the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us. The cross insists on being its own story. It does not allow us to stand by and watch. … Just as Jesus was crucified so we also are crucified with him. The cross makes us part of its story. The cross becomes our story. That is what it means to say, as Luther did, “The cross alone is our theology.”

While the theology of glory is quite content to acknowledge our weaknesses (less and less frequently actually called sins); the theology of the cross calls us to repent of those things we naturally consider to be our virtues. With Paul, we are to take those things that we counted as our greatest points of boasting and reckon them all as loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:8). How can we possibly proclaim such a theology as good news? Because it truly is! The problem with the theology of glory is not that it is too great but that it is far too weak. It is all rainbow and no pot of gold. The theology of glory offers sophistication but not genuine salvation from sin. The theology of glory titillates the senses, but is powerless to bring about sanctification. The word of the cross offers both salvation and sanctification. The reason we cling to the Old Perspective on Paul is not out of stubbornness or nostalgia. We cling to the word of the cross because it is true and therefore the power of God unto salvation. The challenge with becoming theologians of the cross is that we never arrive on this side of heaven. The dividing line in the battle between the theology of glory and the theology of the cross runs through every human heart. The only way to advance in this battle is to keep preaching both Law and Gospel to our own hearts, to attend to the means of grace, putting no confidence in the flesh but boasting only in the LORD. Read or Sing Hymn 94 “How Firm a Foundation” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would make the word of the cross more precious to each and every member of our congregation.

Wednesday (11/30) Read and discuss Isaiah 63:15-64:4. The world doesn’t know God nor does it grasp what He is like. Fallen human beings naturally tend to think in terms of quid-pro-quo. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Furthermore, fallen human beings tend to think that the most powerful person should get the better part of the deal. Therefore, whenever rebellious sinners invent an idol they imagine that the heart of religion is when human beings serve this so-called god. As Isaiah points out in today’s passage, non-Christians can’t even imagine a god who is as good as Yahweh is:

                        From of old no one has heard

                                    or perceived by the ear,

                        no eye has seen a God besides you,

                                    who acts for those who wait for him.

Isn’t God amazing? Instead of being a taskmaster who demands that we work for Him, the LORD has committed Himself to work for us – when we wait upon Him. But what does it mean to wait on the LORD? Waiting on the LORD means that we remain steadfast in trusting Him in the midst of our trials and tribulations. This can be more challenging than it sounds. Many people, when faced with adversity, will toss a prayer or two up to God. But if things don’t get better right away, they will say (either by word or deed), “I tried that religious thing and it didn’t work; now I need to take the matter into my own hands.” This is what Israel was doing in Isaiah’s day. As Assyria, and later Babylon, threatened Israel and Judah – the leaders were often willing to try religion and then turn to realpolitic by relying on alliances with Egypt. But God isn’t a good luck charm or a consumer product that you can merely try out to see if you like Him. God is the sovereign Lord of the universe. He acts on behalf of those who wait upon Him. That is, those who are steadfast in trusting Him to be a good Father to them in good times and in bad. God’s goodness is hidden to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved He is an ever present help in times of trouble. Prayer: Lift up those in our congregation who are struggling financially and ask that the LORD would provide them with meaningful work.

Thursday (12/1) Read and discuss Ephesians 3:1-13. Imagine that you were talking around the dinner table this evening and one member of your family said: “I now clearly understand things about God’s plan for the universe that no one in previous generations knew. They saw these truths only partially like a few pointers in a foggy night, but I see them like they are being displayed in the noon-day sun.” Wouldn’t you think that such a person had lost their mind or at the very least was on just an astounding ego-trip? Although Paul makes a similar claim in today’s passage, he goes out of his way to make clear that none of this understanding was his achievement. He was simply the steward of this revelation on behalf of God who had given it to Him. Something dramatically new was happening in history. Yet, we shouldn’t imagine that the LORD had come up with a new innovative plan. N.T. Wright puts it like this:

God, it seems, had drawn up the blueprint for His worldwide family from the beginning. He had hinted that there were developments yet to come – perhaps most strongly in the prophets, particularly Isaiah – but most of His people had thought that their present calling, to be His holy people and keep His law, would remain central. Now however, He is letting His people in on the secret, which had lain hidden for ages and generations; and Paul himself is to be the one to take the news of it around the world.

The secret plan is that God always intended to bring Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the world, into fellowship with Himself, on equal terms with His ancient people the Jews. And the good news – the ‘gospel’ – is that God has now accomplished this through Jesus the Jewish Messiah, Jesus who is also the world’s true Lord.

Paul uses eager, excited language in verse 6 to describe just how great are the privileges to which the Gentiles now attain. First, they are to share the inheritance. Fancy hearing the news that a family down the street has come into a large and wealthy inheritance – and then being told that you are to become full members of that family, with instant privileges identical to theirs! That’s the situation that Christian Gentiles now find themselves in. God has promised His people Israel that they will inherit the world (see Romans 4:13); when God renews the whole creation, His people will be kings and lords over it. Now Gentiles are to share in this inheritance.

Read or Sing Hymn 246 “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” Prayer: Please pray for the people of Hope PCA in Portsmouth that they would quickly become members of other biblically reformed congregations. Hope PCA held its final worship last Sunday.

Friday (12/2) Read and discuss Hosea 10:13-15. One of the great things about children is that they except gifts simply as gifts. Perhaps this is part of why Jesus has told us that, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Adults keep trying to figure out how to earn it or, once we have received it as a gift, we try to maintain it in our own might. That is what Israel was doing in terms of its national security. Think about how often the land of Palestine is called the Promised Land. The LORD simply promised the land to Israel and then gave it to them. If they had only remembered how they entered the land. They hadn’t conquered through their great military skill. It was the LORD who fought on their behalf (e.g. Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground and the LORD made the walls of Jericho simply fall down). Yet, although they had received the Promised Land as a gift, Israel had come to believe that its safety depended on their own ingenuity, military strength, and foreign alliances. They had become just like the world. As Christians we are tempted to do the very same thing. We need to keep reminding ourselves that it is the Father’s great pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). It would be good to mediate on Psalm 20:7-8 today:

            Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

                        but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

            They collapse and fall,

                        but we rise and stand upright.

Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer: Please lift up the young people in our congregation and pray that the LORD would grant them the grace to trust Him more and more.

Saturday (12/3) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.  Today’s passage makes a sharp distinction between the wisdom of those who have the Holy Spirit (i.e. Christians) and those who don’t. William Barclay’s definition of the person without the Spirit remains both timeless and timely. This kind of individual “lives as if there was nothing beyond the physical life and there were no needs other than material needs.” We have seen this sort of crass materialism spread in New England throughout our lifetimes. This really shouldn’t surprise us at all. Why would we expect those who have no eternal hope to live any differently? What is sad is when this attitude creeps into the Church as it did in first century Corinth and in many congregations today. The cure for such worldliness isn’t to work really hard at repressing these apparently good things. The true cure is to lift our eyes and to realize that God has given us, is giving us, and will certainly give us in the future so much more than the world could ever dream of. Acting like the world simply reveals how little of the gospel we have taken to heart. Read or sing Hymn 420 “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.

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.