Salvation is of the LORD!

Preparing Your Heart for Worship - August 27, 2017

As you think toward our time together this coming Sunday morning, here are some thoughts about what we'll be doing in our worship gathering to help you make the most of our time together.  

Scriptural Call to Worship

We’ll be starting our worship gathering a little differently this Sunday. While we typically begin with a few verses of a Psalm or another passage, then have a more lengthy Scripture reading later in the service, we’ll be opening our time with our “Meditation on God’s Word” this Sunday - it will certainly have a different “feel,” but how can you go wrong when you begin by turning your mind and heart to God’s Word?  

Amazing Grace

All I’m really going to say here is that there’s a reason this is universally considered to be the best loved hymn of all time.

Prayer of Praise

This element of our service is, in the big picture, still relatively new. The goal of this time is to turn our thought to praising God. This is a significant time of being very intentional to come in heartfelt adoration of our Lord. When preparing to lead the congregation in praise, it is absolutely honoring to the Lord to be prepared to lead the congregation in prayer and praise. Some of these prayers will be more “scripted” and some will be more “extemporaneous” (but no less prepared and thought out). As we are led in prayer, always remember that these men leading us are striving to facilitate our corporate exaltation of God by leading us to praise our Awesome God! 

Worship through Giving

We should always pause during this time to remember that every resource we have, whether it is finances, material possessions, or time, is a gift from God. This is a time to acknowledge that. Whether you give weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly, this is a time to meditate on worshiping God through giving back to Him.

At Calvary

As we prepare our hearts to study God’s mercy poured out to us on the cross, this song is a great reminder of God’s mercy, grace, pardon and the freedom we have at Calvary. 

Sermon: Our Merciful God, Romans 9:16

The best short paraphrase of this verse is: “salvation is of the Lord.” While verse 16 is self-contained and packed with rich, deep theological truth, it’s also a summary and conclusion of what Paul has been saying since 8:28. As you prepare to make the most of our time together this Sunday, read verses 14-16 and consider the following questions:

  • Why does Paul ask if there is injustice on God’s part?

  • What is his response to this question? 

  • What Old Testament story does he point us to in answering the “injustice” question?

  • What is the meaning of “mercy?”

  • What is meant by “compassion?”

  • What is the connection between the two words? 

  • Who is God saying He will have compassion on?

  • What does salvation not depend on?

  • What does salvation depend on?

  • How might we be relying on our own will or exertion?

  • What attribute of God is highlighted here? Why do you think that is?

As we did last week, we’ve moved the “bulk” of our singing to the end of the sermon so that we can sing in response to His Word. While this is certainly different than how we’ve structured our time together in recent years, the goal is to move from receiving God’s Word to exalting and praising Him in response to what He has said to us through Scripture. 

In Christ Alone

The opening phrase of this song is such a great truth - my hope is found only in Christ. 

Grace Greater than Our Sin

Any time we celebrate what Christ has done for us, we must see it in light of our extreme unworthiness. Not only was there nothing in me worthy of God looking on me with any favor, but my sin actually pushed me even farther down the “unworthy” path. I’m not just unworthy of His grace, I absolutely deserve eternal punishment in hell. But God’s grace has overwhelmed my sin. I’ll never be able to adequately express how thankful I am for HIs grace that is greater than my sin, but I’m certainly going to make every effort anyway. 

Trust and Obey

As we leave and head back out into our daily lives, this song is always a great reminder that we should walk in trusting obedience to what God has commanded us in the Bible. Believers are those who both trust in His inerrant Word, and obey it. 

As always, be in prayer for:

• Rex and all those who lead the music in our time together.

• Pray that we all come together on Sunday with hearts prepared to engage in intense, focused exaltation of God. 

• Pray that we demonstrate holiness, unity, and love in both our personal lives as well as together as the Body.

• Pray for me as I prepare to preach God’s inspired, inerrant, sufficient, authoritative Word.

Rob

A Celebration of Grace!

Preparing Your Heart for Worship - August 8, 2017

As we turn our thoughts to Romans 9, there will be many things that come out in our study of this great chapter. God’s continued faithfulness to His people, the trustworthiness of His Word, and the abundant overflow of His grace toward us are just a few things that stand out. As you think toward our time together this coming Sunday, be in prayer for those who will be leading as well as carefully thinking through the lyrics to the songs we’ll be singing. The songs are so rich and deep in directing our minds and hearts toward the Lord. As always, I’m really looking forward to our worship gathering this Sunday.  

May the Peoples Praise You

What amazing lyrics! This song is a wonderful expression of thankfulness “to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:12-13) As those who have been saved - we gather together to exalt Him for His glorious grace!  

Hallelujah for the Cross

As we continue to sing about what Christ has done for us, this song leads us to think about the gospel again. I love Verse 2: What good I've done could never save, my debt too great for deeds to pay. But God my Savior made a way, Hallelujah for the cross!

Prayer of Praise

Each week, someone is asked to lead us in a prayer of praise to God. We place this prayer right after a time of singing so that we can continue praising God together. As I’ve mentioned before - let this be a time where you’re very intentional to track with the person leading the prayer and when he’s finished praying, join with the congregation in saying “AMEN!”

Worship through Giving

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) This

Giving is an act of worship. The New Testament teaches that our giving should be sacrificial and joyous. When we give back to God, we are acknowledging that everything we have is because of His grace toward us. Whether you give weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or otherwise, use this time as an opportunity to meditate on your giving back to the Lord through Tithes & Offerings. 

Meditating on God’s Word

What a joy it is each week to hear someone reading directly from God’s Word. As the Scripture is read this morning, make effort to truly focus on hearing the Word. 

The Ligonier Statement on Christology

A couple of weeks ago, in the sermon, I presented four things that characterize a True Christian. First on that list is “Believes in Christ.” It is absolutely critical that when we speak of Christ, that we speak accurately. As we read this statement together, let this time 

Pastoral Prayer of Petition

As we turn our thoughts back to the Lord and prepare to praise Him, we tune our minds and hearts to His amazing grace and declare together our desire to hear from Him. 

Nothing But the Blood

This song, along with the next one, is what we would call a “classic hymn.” There’s a reason these songs have been sung by Christians for many years. The truth contained in these two songs is both deep and should drive us to passionately praise Him for what He has done for us. After declaring who He is through the Ligonier Statement, we turn to celebrate what He has done for us! It is through what Jesus did that our sins are forgiven, our brokenness made whole, and our lives are turned back to God. (P.S. - The version in the video is a little different than we'll be singing it)

The Solid Rock

As we have been talking about for several weeks, our hope is not built on anything we would do, anything we own, our own strength, or even a great Godly heritage. Our hope is built on the Righteousness of Christ that is “infused” into us in salvation.  

Sermon: God’s Grace in Salvation - Romans 9:10-13

As you prepare for our time together, read through Romans 9. It’s ideal to read from Romans 8:28 all the way through to the end of chapter 9, but if you only have a couple of minutes read Romans 9:6-13 a time or two. 

Our study tomorrow is primarily in verses 10-13 - as you think through these verses, consider the following questions:

1. What does the phrase “not only so, but also” point to?

2. List all the things that Jacob & Esau had in common. 

3. What was Rebecca told about her unborn twin sons?

4. When she was told this, what had Jacob & Esau done?

5. What was the purpose of the Lord telling Rebbeca this?

6. What does Paul mean by “loved” and “hated” in verse 13?

7. Which of the twins deserved God’s love more?
(yes, that last one is a trick question - for the answer, read Romans 3:10-18)

Grace Greater than Our Sins

We should be struck by “Jacob I loved,” for Jacob certainly wasn’t deserving of God’s love. When we think about God’s grace, it not only overwhelms our sinfulness, it comes in spite of our sinfulness. None of us deserve God’s love or His grace even in the slightest bit - but thanks be to God that though we were His enemies - HE. SAVED. US!

This Is Amazing Grace

This song will be our “Benediction.” The closing thought. As we prepare to head back to our daily lives, all the things that God’s amazing grace is to us should echo in our minds and hearts as we strive to live out the gospel in the details of how we live our lives. 

Sunday Evening: 1, 2, & 3 John.

We’ve got a different approach planned for our study of 1, 2, & 3 John this Sunday night. As always, we’ll be doing a zoomed-out big-picture summary of these three New Testament books, but as we survey the New Testament, looking at the books in a more summary fashion helps us to see some of the interconnectedness of the Bible as well as the recurring themes.  

As always, be in prayer for:

• Rex and all those who lead the music in our time together.

• Pray that we all come together on Sunday with hearts prepared to engage in intense, focused exaltation of God. 

• Pray that we demonstrate holiness, unity, and love in both our personal lives as well as together as the Body.

• Pray for me as I prepare to preach God’s inspired, inerrant, sufficient, authoritative Word.

Rob