SPPC 11th Jan 2026

(Sunday Morning, January 11: God Can Use You (Matthew 9:36–10:7)) SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 11

“Lord, Lay Some Soul upon My Heart,” McKinney

Welcome

Good morning, beloved family in Christ!

Welcome to this Sunday’s service, a time set apart to worship, to pray, and to be renewed in the presence of our Lord.

Today we gather not just as individuals, but as one body—united in faith, hope, and love. May this time together remind us of God’s goodness, strengthen us for the week ahead, and draw us closer to Jesus, who is the center of our joy.

Let us open our hearts to His Word, lift our voices in praise, and encourage one another in fellowship.

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Scripture opening and prayer

Heavenly Father,

We gather in Your presence this morning with grateful hearts. Thank You for the gift of this day, for the breath of life, and for the fellowship of Your people.

Lord, we invite You to be at the center of our worship. May every song we sing, every prayer we lift, and every word we hear bring glory to Your name. Open our hearts to receive Your truth, renew our spirits with Your peace, and strengthen us to walk faithfully in the week ahead.

Bless those who are here, and those who could not be with us today. May Your love surround us, Your Spirit guide us, and Your grace sustain us.

We dedicate this service to You, Lord, and we pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Amen.

Chorus and a hymn

♪ C He is Exalted - 1 Tb hard Drive - Hymns

♫ At the name of Jesus - 1 Tb hard Drive - Hymns

Connfession of sin

Most merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved You with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.

For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us,

that we may delight in Your will,

and walk in Your ways,

to the glory of Your name.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass ... glory,

Forever and ever. Amen.

Bible Readings

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we prepare to hear God’s Word, let us open our hearts and minds to the Scriptures appointed for today. These readings remind us of God’s faithfulness through history, His call to holiness in our lives, and the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

May the Spirit guide us as we listen, so that the Word may not only be heard with our ears but received with faith, shaping our thoughts, our actions, and our witness in the world.

Let us now attend to the reading of Holy Scripture.

John

Old Testament Reading

“Let us hear from the Old Testament, where God’s covenant faithfulness is revealed through His people. May these words remind us of His steadfast love and His call to obedience.” Isaiah 42:1–9

Psalm

“Our Psalm today is a song of praise and prayer. As we listen, may it lift our hearts in worship and teach us to trust in the Lord’s goodness.” Psalm 89:1-29

Carol

Epistle Reading: “Now we turn to the Epistles, letters written to the early church. These words encourage us to live faithfully, to walk in love, and to hold fast to the hope we have in Christ.” Acts 10:34-38

Gospel Reading - “Finally, we come to the Gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us listen with reverence, for here we hear the words and deeds of our Savior, who brings life and salvation.” Matthew 3:13-17

Hymnn before the sermon

He Leadeth Me Lyrics Christian Hymns with Lyrics - 1 Tb hard Drive - Hymns

Sermon

Title: God Can Use You

Text: “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 10:7). Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:36–10:7 “36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” 1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” Hymns: Introduction

Allegheny ants, a common species in the eastern United States, help enrich forest areas by carrying tons of soil from below ground to the surface. A three-year study by the University of Wisconsin revealed that one colony of ants moved fifteen tons of subsoil, building clusters of large mounds and burrowing five and a half feet below the surface. This “deep plowing” increases the nutrients, clay, and organic matter of the surface soil in the forest. No wonder the writer of Proverbs said, “Go to the ant … consider her ways, and be wise” (6:6).

If God can use Allegheny ants to move fifteen tons of subsoil to the surface, surely God can use you in 2026!

I. God can use you when you see others compassionately Jesus remained consistently compassionate. From the time he sent his disciples on their first witnessing mission until his death, Jesus was “moved with compassion” (Matt. 9:36). A. Because of the power of Christian love, God can use you in 2026. This is a reason from within. The compassion of Matthew 9:36 and the love of 1 Corinthians 13:7 “7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” are inseparable. The latter reminds us that love “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Christian love enables us to accept and love people who are different from us. It reaches out in compassionate tenderness to people in need. B. Because of the desperate condition of the lost, God can use you in 2026. This is a reason from without. Some are moved to fear, some to contempt, and others to outright rejection by the desperate needs of people, but Christians should be moved to compassion. Billy Graham arrived at Sir Winston Churchill’s residence in 1954 to find the great statesman looking pale and frightened. As the evangelist entered, Churchill looked up and asked, “Young man, do you have any hope?” This is the question asked by every person in the face of desperation. The lost have no purpose in life. Jesus saw them “scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Nothing is as tragic as a soul who has no purpose in life. II. God can use you when you respond to a challenge enthusiastically (Matt. 9:37) Christ faced squarely the challenge of evangelizing his people—the task was overwhelming, and few were willing to become involved. Nevertheless, he responded to the challenge not with despair or defeatism but with enthusiasm. As long as your response to a challenge is that of doubt, fear, and despair—as long as you pose as an expert who knows all the reasons why the church must fail, the lost cannot be reached, and the cause of Christ must be content with mediocre accomplishments—you will never be anything but an obstacle to the progress of God’s work. Squarely face a challenge with enthusiasm. A. Because of the tremendous job to be done, you must face the challenge enthusiastically (Matt. 9:37). The passage is saying, “There is much to be done, many to be won. This is a real challenge!” Helping people who are trying to escape the boredom of life turn to Christ is a tremendous job indeed. Consider the ancient Roman society. A society that pours out money on pleasures is a decadent society. Suetonius tells us that Emperor Vitellius set on the table at one banquet two thousand fish and seven thousand birds. There is no doubt about what the Roman world was trying to do: it was trying to escape boredom. Extravagance is always a sign of the desire to escape. We are living in an age of decadence and escapism, and as Christians, there lies our challenge. Sir John Reith once said, “I do not like crises, but I like the opportunities they bring.” The church has the challenge today to lead people to life in Jesus Christ. You must respond to this challenge enthusiastically! B. Because so few are willing to become involved, you must face the challenge enthusiastically (Matt. 9:36). The church staff, a handful of Sunday school workers, and a few dedicated deacons are not enough in the face of the tremendous harvest of souls for which God holds the church responsible. The fact that so few are willing to get involved should move you to new heights of enthusiasm as you give this task your all. If only a few are willing to respond, there is no time to waste. III. God can use you when you come to him prayerfully (Matthew 9:38 “38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”” ) In the face of an overwhelming challenge, we are tempted to come to God mournfully, complaining about the heavy burden he has placed on us. But Christ says we should come to God prayerfully. A. Come to him prayerfully, acknowledging that this is his harvest. Verse 38 reminds us that Jesus is the “Lord” of the harvest—that is, he is the one to whom the harvest belongs. Therefore, God has more at stake and thus more interest in the success of this battle for souls than we do. We are only his reapers, but we must enter the fields if the harvest is to be gathered. B. Come prayerfully, believing that more people will get involved (Matthew 9:36 “36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” ). We must not wait until others get involved before we enter the fields—we must get involved, praying and believing that others will join us. IV. God can use you when you accept his power trustingly (Matthew 10:1 “1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” ) The Twelve responded to Christ’s call and in simple trust accepted the power required for their task of witnessing. A. Because of the source of that power, you can accept it trustingly. “He gave them power” (Matt. 10:1). Now that Christ is physically absent, the Holy Spirit serves as the source of our power. Acts 1:8 assures us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (NIV). But we must accept this power trustingly. Jesus did not save us until we recognized him as the Savior and put our trust in him for salvation. Just so, the Holy Spirit does not control us in the sense of permeating our will, reason, and emotions until we recognize him as the one who was sent by the Father to sanctify our lives and trust him to perform his ministry in and through us. B. Because of the purpose of that power, you can accept it trustingly (Matt. 10:1; Acts 1:8). God does not grant power without a purpose. But once we are sincere in our desire to be used by God, we can trust him to impart the power to accomplish his purpose.

V. God can use you when you share the gospel joyfully (Matt. 10:7) Wherever the disciples went, there was joy and excitement—the long-awaited Messiah had come, the kingdom of heaven was at hand! A. You can share the gospel joyfully because of the power of the gospel. Verse 6 says that these people were “lost,” yet the gospel has the power to save them. You can share the gospel with the same joy that Paul did when he said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16 NIV). Remember that there is never a person whom the gospel cannot change. B. You can share the gospel joyfully because of the availability of salvation (Matt. 10:7). You do not have to wait on the kingdom of heaven—it is at hand. You can enter it now!

Conclusion God can use you in 2026 when (1) you see others compassionately, (2) you respond to a challenge enthusiastically, (3) you come to him prayerfully, (4) you accept his power trustingly, (5) you share the gospel joyfully. If you are not yet a Christian, as you come to accept him, God can use you to influence others to know him in 2026.

Intimations

Danel in Hospital - broken rib punctured lung

Collection

Offertory Prayer: For life, for health, for family, for friends, and most of all for Jesus Christ, we thank you today, heavenly Father. As we commit our gifts to you, we also place ourselves and this hour of worship in your hands. May your will be done and your kingdom come into the life of every person gathered here today, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn - ♫ Build Your Kingdom Here with lyrics 1

Benediction

Now unto Him