Gospel Liturgy - Giving
Notes
Transcript
Pastoral Prayer:
Gratitude
Steve and Kirstin English: Rejoicing in a new grandbaby on the way. Health for mom and baby. Wisdom as parents and grandparents.
Illumination.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. 3 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. 4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 Before the Lord, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.
Intro
Last week we began our time thinking about the extraordinary gifts we’ve been given. How do we respond when we’ve been given a particularly precious gift? When we recognize all that we’ve been given in Christ, when we forget not the benefits which belong to us in our salvation, how do we respond? Firstly, we respond in gratitude! We give time to acknowledge the person of God who gave us such a glorious gift and we bring Him thanks in song. This morning I’d like to continue that conversation. How do we continue to respond to the gospel - the gift of our salvation and all that we have in Christ?
We’re in our last week of our gospel-liturgy series in which we’ve looked to the Psalms to help us rehearse the gospel in our worship, and this morning I’d like to focus on the conclusion to our weekly worship service. After we’ve rehearsed the gospel together in song, after we’ve heard the preaching of the Word, we have an opportunity to join with the Psalmist and respond in devotion to the glory of God. We respond with the ambition to give of ourselves, give all that we are to the furtherance of the kingdom of Christ. You might say, it’s that point where we look out at the rest of our week and the broken world we live in and consider how we can extend our worship and devotion beyond the gathering.
How do I share the beauty of this gospel with those who have not heard?
How do I grow in the likeness of Christ that I might worship him in greater holiness.
How do we display the reign of Christ in the church for the world to see?
It’s in that ambition for God’s glory in the ordinary and brokenness of the world that we sing together! Having tasted and seen the goodness of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ we sing of our desire for His greater glory.
In response to the gospel we worship with the ambition to give of ourselves toward the advancement of the glory of God.
In response to the gospel we worship with the ambition to give of ourselves toward the advancement of the glory of God.
In response to the gospel...
We give ourselves to gospel proclamation.
2. We give ourselves to God as a holy people.
3. We give ourselves to displaying the reign of Christ.
1. We give ourselves to gospel proclamation. (vs. 1-6)
1. We give ourselves to gospel proclamation. (vs. 1-6)
You may notice that many of the Psalms begin with a cry of desperation or need. Sometimes there’s an acknowledgement of sin or enemies that surround. Maybe there’s a recollection of trial which the LORD has delivered from. The Psalmist often works from the valley to the mountain top of God’s grace. Psalm 96 however just begins on the mountain top. From the very beginning there’s an understanding of the wonder of the salvation which God provides.
Much of this Psalm is taken from a song sung by Asaph in 1 Chronicles 16 as David brought the ark into Jerusalem. It’s a mountaintop moment in the history of Israel but it’s noteworthy that Asaph and the Psalmist who adapted his words to this Psalm doesn’t stay on the mountain top. He looks down in a way from the lofty heights of the grace he’s experienced from God and sees all who have not seen the glory of God. He sees all who have not yet tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and begins with this ambition for all to see and sing of the glory of God.
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. 3 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
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We may not naturally tend to join our work of worship and our work of proclamation and missions together. Worship is something we do when we sing, when we gather on Sunday. Missions is a different task for a different time and a different place. The two are certainly different tasks, but let’s not overlook the close relationship the two have with each other.
If we as individuals recognize that God is worthy of our praise and worship because of the glory of His grace and salvation, surely we would want our brother or sister to gather with us and sing His praises. And if it’s appropriate to invite a brother or sister to come and worship, why would we not gather worshippers from the ends of the earth knowing He is worthy and deserving of all the world can give?
Before we even get to verse two we have doxology (worship) fueling missiology (missions).
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
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Knowing who God is in all his glorious grace, we rightly conclude that we should worship him, and yet we do not gather on the mountain top and stay there. We make it our hearts ambition to go gather more worshippers for God who is worthy of the praises of all the nations.
As those who have been saved with His great salvation we can proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
As those who have personally experienced the glory of God in the person of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are qualified ambassadors to Tell of His glory among the nations.
Have we not come to know the wonderful deeds which Christ has accomplished in His death and resurrection? Why would we keep the news of such wonderful deeds to ourselves? As we sing in joy and adoration each Sunday of those wonderful deeds, might that worship fuel our ambition to tell others.
In truth there is nothing that can fuel our ambition to give of ourselves to the advancement of the gospel like a worshipping satisfaction in who God is. (x2)
There are numerous reasons and motivations we should give ourselves to gospel proclamation that I’d like to identify. They’re not wrong, but at the end of the day they fall short of the motivation that’s found in this worshipping satisfaction in who God is.
Firstly, there’s the
I should...
Often when we talk about being witnesses or doing evangelism we begin with duty. “I should be doing evangelism. I should do missions.” It’s true! We should be salt and light in the world. We should be a city set upon a hill declaring to all the good news of Christ, but “I should” isn’t going to fuel a life of giving ourselves to the proclamation of the gospel.
There’s another common reason that comes up.
They need...
There are millions of people in the world who have not heard the gospel. They need to hear the good news so that they can be saved. It’s absolutely true!!! Our hearts should break for those who have not believed. Paul himself longs for the Jews to come to faith with a radical ambition. We should pray diligently for the gospel to go forth, but even the needs of people fall short of this greater motivation found in our Psalm:
God is..
No amount of “I should” or “They need” can measure up to the drive that comes from “God is.”
If we were to ask the question, “Why?” of the text.
Why should we proclaim good tidings of His salvation?
Why tell of His glory among the nations?
Why tell of His wonderful deeds among all the peoples?
We get a very clear answer.
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
The “Why” - the motivation for our gospel proclamation among the nations is in who God is.
As Christians we are a people motivated by the sufficiency of God not the deficiency of man. “I should” and “they need” are motivations rooted in the deficiencies of men. “I should” recognizes I am lacking in good deeds. “they need” recognizes they are lacking. The truth is we are all deficient. We will forever be deficient in good deeds and the world will forever be falling short of the glory of God. We must look to the sufficiency of who God is as the motivation to give of ourselves to the furtherance of the gospel.
It’s out of His greatness and our worship of His greatness that we go and tell.
As the Psalmist looks out on the world he diagnosis the problem and it all comes back to worship.
4 He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
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John Piper put it so well. “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”
It’s such a simple explanation, but it gets to the heart of the matter. The Psalmist in His worship of God recognizes there are others who are not worshipping. They’re worshipping their false gods and their idols, so let’s go and tell them of the Glory of the LORD that they too would come and worship the one true God.
Piper comes to this conclusion: “Worship therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions.”
That’s what the Psalmist has come to here.
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
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Behold the glory of God in worship! Look at His majesty and splendor. As we gather in His sanctuary we sing of His strength and beauty.
In contrast look at all those who do not. Look at all those who simply gaze upon on the idols of there own making - who bow down before the figure which they carved from a chunk of firewood.
From a place of worship do we look out on the world and make it our ambition to give of ourselves to the proclamation of the gospel, that more worshippers would come.
You might say, worship reaps a harvest of more worshippers by means of missions and proclamation.
So what exactly does that look like?
Firstly, it begins with beholding the splendor and majesty of God in worship. We’ve been covering that for the past four weeks. In rehearsing the gospel every week we gaze upon the beauty and glory of Christ for us. We know His salvation and have experienced His glory!
It’s from that worshipping satisfaction that we can turn our eyes outward and ask, “How can the glory of Christ go out? Where is the worship of God not yet established?”
You may notice after the sermon we do just that in prayer. I make a point to pray for our devotion that we would respond to the gospel in giving of ourselves to God’s great glory, but we also pray for the ministries of those around us. We look out and pray for fellow churches in our community who seek to gather worshippers like we do. We pray for churches around the world many of whom gather to worship as the persecuted minority in their country.
In truth the advancement of the glory of God to the farthest reaches of the world is begun and sustained by prayer. The glory of God will not be advanced by the strength or means which man can provide. We look to the work of the Spirit and power of God by His Word to accomplish those ends and so we pray, looking to God to assist us, His people, in the advancement of His glory.
As we look upon His glory and sing of His power, let’s turn our eyes in prayer that fellow churches near and far would see His glory. That they too would be satisfied worshippers and from that satisfaction in the glory of God proclaim the gospel to all who will hear. Pray that those who hear that gospel would respond in faith and be gathered to worship in the church. We pray that worshippers would gather worshippers.
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The Psalmist has been calling worshippers to proclaim salvation to the nations, but now he calls upon the nations who have heard to come and worship.
2. We give ourselves to God as a holy people. (vs. 7-9)
2. We give ourselves to God as a holy people. (vs. 7-9)
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.
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We have two sets of three before us in these few verses. Three calls to the people and three pieces of instruction. Let’s start with Ascribe, what does Ascribe mean? Ascribe is a fancy was of saying give. Most of the uses of the Hebrew word are interpreted ‘give’ but in matters of worship to God it’s often interpreted ‘ascribe’.
We can properly read the verse with “give: in the place of ascribe for a simpler reading.
“Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Give to the LORD glory and strength
Give to the LORD the glory of His name;”
That last line “Give to the LORD the glory of His name;” lies directly at the center of our passage. There are fourteen lines before and fourteen lines after. This is the central emphasis of the whole Psalm. It’s the call to all the earth for all of time. You were created for Him! Come before Him and give Him the glory He is due!
Paul starts his letter to the Colossians in pointing to all that Christ is for us and he goes all the way back to Creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
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When the Psalmist calls upon the all the families of the peoples to give to the LORD the glory of His name, He’s calling them to fulfill their purpose as people created in the image of God. There is no other god deserving of our worship because there is no other god who created us. There is no other god, period!
When God meets with his people to give them law at Mt. Sinai, what is the matter of first importance if they are to keep God’s covenant.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
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There is One Creator who is the one God deserving of all we that we have to give. The big question that follows is, “How?” The Psalmist thankfully gives us some instructions there.
Bring an offering and come into His courts. 9 Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.
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Notice the wholistic nature of this worship.
Our material possessions are given for His glory.
Our own holiness in worship is given for His glory.
And the very posture of our hearts is given for His glory.
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There’s a good chance that when we think about giving in the context of worship we’re probably thinking about the material giving of offerings. It’s the most natural thought and there’s nothing wrong with that, but when the Psalmist calls upon the worshippers to “Give to the LORD, Give to the LORD, Give to the LORD, the material is only the surface of the matter. It’s not an insignificant part of our response to the glory of God and the gospel, but it’s only the beginning.
Nevertheless, let’s start at the beginning. What place does giving of our tithes and offerings - material giving - have in our worship?
Firstly, giving is worship. It’s an act of sacrifice and devotion from a place of acceptance to God.
We don’t give to gain a certain standing before God.
We don’t give to gain a particular standing within the church.
We give out of the overflow of all we’ve been given in Christ. It’s a response to the gospel that says, “Lord, I am yours, and you are worthy of all that I have. I have been given much in Christ, and I seek to honor My God in worship.”
Secondarily our giving furthers the praise and proclamation of the glory of God. In response to the gospel we seek to maintain the worship of Christ and so we give. In response to the gospel we hope to further the proclamation of the gospel and so we give.
You may recall when Paul speaks of the gifts of the Philippians to him he speaks of their giving in both senses. An act of worship before God and a work of furthering the proclamation of the gospel.
18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
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If you think about it, the ministry of the church is intended to be directly maintained and furthered through the explicit worship of God Himself. When we come into His courts as the Psalmist says, we’re there for Him. We gather for Him. We give to Him. In view of God and in response to the good news of the gospel we give to His glory and the furtherance of the ministry of the church.
To those of you who have so faithfully given week after week, month after month, thank you! It’s a privilege to be counted among a gathering characterized by such devoted worship.
...
As the Psalmist notes though we don’t come into His courts with only an offering we come with a particular character.
He says, “Worship the LORD in holy attire.” another translation says, “splendor of holiness.”
What’s he getting at here? Is there a particular way we’re supposed to dress when we come to church for worship? The emphasis here of course is holiness. The priests in the time of David would wear special robes that were holy and set apart from ordinary clothes, but these were always intended to point to the character with which we come before God. Jesus had some pretty direct words to the Pharisees about attending only to the outward appearance of things.
It’s important to note again that this pursuit of holiness is in response to the gospel. It’s an act of worship. It comes from a place of acceptance having been declared righteous. We do not give of ourselves in the pursuit of holiness to try to prove to God that we’re worthy of our salvation. We’re not trying to maintain our position before God. That work in Christ is done. We pursue holiness precisely because we see all that we’ve been given in Christ. We revel in the character of Christ and gift of our salvation and in response seek to honor Him, praise Him, glorify Him with our character as a holy people.
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians he says,
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
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He identifies the church as the holy, beloved, and chosen people of God. It’s from a place of belonging that he exhorts them to holy living, and he uses that instruction “put on” as you would put on the holy garments of the priesthood. Because of who we are in Christ we seek to put on the holy character of Christ Himself that we would glorify him with the whole of ourselves, and it’s right for us to sing with that ambition in our worship.
Let’s make it our ambition in response to the gospel to be the holy priesthood that we are laying aside all worldliness and sin and putting on the character and image of Christ in holiness. If you notice, Paul’s call to the holy and beloved are almost entirely oriented toward the church. We are to be compassionate to one another, kind, gentle, patient, bearing with one another, and forgiving. The pursuit of holiness is from the church and for the church. We grow as a part of the body with brothers and sisters sharpening one another, spurring one another on, and pointing each other to Christ. In that growth and maturity of holiness we find humility that works itself out to serve the church.
To worship with an ambition for holiness is an ambition to be in the church and for the church. That’s how we grow and mature into the holy priesthood that we are.
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The Psalmist gives us one more charge, “Tremble before him, all the earth.”
In truth this is the root from which all true worship and holy ambition grows. What is the disposition of our heart before God? Is there a respect and reverence in our hearts for the Triune God? Is there a real love and affection for who Christ is for us? Do we have a taste of the joy of the Lord given us in the Holy Spirit as we look upon the love of Christ for us?
It’s when there’s a genuine love, and a genuine reverence, and awe in who God is that all other worship is encouraged. When we truly love and revere someone we will by nature give of ourselves completely to their honor and glory.
The wonderful news is that we are not expected to work up a fear or reverence or love from nothing. Again, this ambition to worship with our hearts is in response to everything that God is for us in Christ.
Because Christ has established Himself on the throne of heaven as our King and Savior, we fear Him in worship.
Because Christ has died on the cross bearing our sins and enduring the wrath of the Father, we revere Him as Lord.
Because Christ has loved us first in granting us such a glorious salvation, we love Him in our worship.
This morning after the sermon we will take the Lord’s Supper together. We will remember together all that Christ has done for us in His broken body and the shedding of His blood. In that time we’re reminded of the glorious gift of salvation and the glorious giver of our salvation. I pray we would see clearly the wonderful assurance we have in Christ and all He has accomplished. From that assurance let’s give thanks together as we eat and drink together, but let’s also respond in worship. As we sing the doxology together, I’d encourage us all to consider the doxology as more than a song that we sing after the Lord’s Supper, but a characterization of our Christian lives.
The song bids every creature and every heavenly angel to worship because He is worthy of that worship!
Praise God, from whom all blessing flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
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If God is worthy of the worship of the whole of creation, let’s make it our ambition to worship him with the whole of ourselves:
Might our hearts answer the call to praise in a fear of the LORD.
Might our very lives answer the call to praise in holiness.
Might all we own answer the call to praise in service of the kingdom.
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The nations have heard the good tidings of the LORD’s salvation.
They’ve been invited to come giving all that they are to worship Him.
The Psalmist has one more invitation for us - the nations who’ve been gathered together in holy worship.
3. We give ourselves to displaying the reign of Christ. (vs. 10-13)
3. We give ourselves to displaying the reign of Christ. (vs. 10-13)
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”
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The emphasis of the remainder of the Psalm is that God is not far off somewhere in all His glory. This salvation we declare does not immediately remove us from the world that we’re in. Our worship is not a work of removing ourselves from the world we live in to ascend to the distant glory of God. No, God in all His glory will establish his dominion here on the earth.
There’s extraordinary gravity in those simple words, “The LORD reigns.” He is in control! He is sovereign. He is not intimidated or outdone by the godlessness of the world and the idolatry of the nations. He’s not threatened by the most powerful of men and the rising of great nations no matter how evil they are. Is the God who created the earth and actively holds it together intimidated or hindered by the striving of men? No.
He establishes his dominion among His people and will judge and rule among them in righteousness and equity. This dominion is one that cannot be shaken in the same way that the world is firmly established and unmoved. Both are held together by the same God and King.
We see that word, “judge” and may immediately think of a final judgement. That’s not inappropriate to jump straight to the end, but judgement isn’t only a facet of God’s absolute and final reign. Judgement is a word used to describe the activity of all kings throughout Scripture not just a point in time where all men will be judged as much as that is coming.
In one sense we can join with the Psalmist and look ahead to a day when God will come and exercise the fullness of his dominion. We can say boldly, the Lord reigns and He is coming to judge the living and the dead. At the same time, I think we need to recognize that the Psalmist looks ahead to our day. The day in which Christ has ascended to the throne and exercises dominion over His church this very day.
The writer of Hebrews encourages the church with words very similar to the words of our Psalm, and ultimately calls them to worship.
28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
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We need not wait, to declare to the world, “The Lord reigns!” We are citizens in a kingdom this very day which cannot be shaken. Christ exercises His dominion in the church, today.
Have we not been bought with the blood of Christ?
Are we not ambassadors of an eternal kingdom given authority to proclaim and defend the gospel.
Haven’t we been given the authority to makes disciples of all the nations?
Have not our hearts been forever changed in the salvation we’ve been given.
Hasn’t God Himself in the Spirit come to make His dwelling among us?
The dominion of Christ is present right here among us!
And because of this active reign of Christ which the writer of Hebrews reminds us of, what are we to do? Show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. He calls us to worship! To give of ourselves in active service and from the depths of our hearts in fear and awe of the Lord.
You’ll notice the Psalmist comes to the very same conclusion.
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; 12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 Before the Lord, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.
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If the Psalmist rejoices for the coming of the Lord which he cannot see. How much more should we rejoice with all creation for Christ who has come declaring the good news of the kingdom - a kingdom and rule in which we now worship as His citizens.
As much as we may wait for a future judgement to come and a heavenly kingdom in all its perfection let’s not overlook the judgement which has already been made and the glory of the kingdom in which we now live. When we come to the table in just a moment let’s look back to the cross and remember, a judgement has been made.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
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He bore the wrath reserved for us, so that we need not fear the judgement or condemnation of God upon us. Christ has taken that upon Himself. But that was not the only judgement made.
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
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We have been declared righteous. By the authority of almighty God a judgement has been made. It was not of our own merits that this judgement was made. It was all of Christ’s merits attributed to us through faith. It was in that work of Christ that a judgement was made such that we can now declare in the kingdom of Christ that is the Church, “The LORD reigns.”
We do that in our worship every Sunday! They may not realize it, but when people drive by every Sunday morning, and the parking lot is full of cars, they see a people gathering to praise the name of a king who reigns on heavens throne. This morning in our gathering we show to the world a glimpse of a kingdom which cannot be shaken. A glimpse of that eternal heavenly kingdom in which we will sing His praises for all eternity.
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In conclusion,
As Christians we are redeemed by the blood of Christ. We are adopted sons and daughters of God. Christ has made us His own in His death and resurrection. We take comfort in the good news of the gospel and from that place of comfort and assurance do we make it our ambition to advance His glory.
Let’s make it our ambition in worship to give ourselves to the proclamation of the gospel. Keep praying for those who seek to advance the gospel in dark places, but let’s also pray for opportunities right before us. Pray that our worship here in this gathering would overflow to a bold witness in our workplaces and in our communities.
Let’s make it our ambition in worship to give ourselves to God as a holy people wholly devoted to His glory - a devotion that extends to the very posture of our heart towards God.
Let’s make it our ambition to display the reign of Christ as His church. Let’s be ambitious to be worshippers of the one true God in the midst of a dark world, declaring the reign of Christ every Sunday when we worship.
Let’s Pray.
Devotion:
Local Ministry: The Ridge Church - Rollie Rench
Their worship would overflow into a bold witness.
The Church in Haiti
In spite of the hardship, the church would gather with the hope of heaven and the assurance of Christ.
Unity and a mutual care of one another both materially and spiritually.
