Deut 10_12-22 Undeserved love demands unreserved service
Undeserved love demands unreserved service
Communion Service
05-03-06pm
Announcements
Call to worship
Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. He is your praise; He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. (Deuteronomy 10:20-21)
Blessing
Grace to you from God our Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and also from the Holy Spirit.
Doxology Hymn no 14: “O praise the Lord”
Prayer Confession of sins
Declaration of pardoning
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; (Isaiah 1:18-19)
Hymn No 400: “And can it be that I should gain”
Prayer of Adoration and Invocation
Scripture Reading Romans 12:9-21
Offering and Dedication
All remaining seated sing:
Hymn No 476: “Jesus, Master, whose I am”
Prayer for others
Scripture Reading Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Sermon “Undeserved love demands unreserved service”
Introduction
Dear brother and sister in the Lord Jesus Christ,
We are forever servants of the Lord of heaven and earth. As soon as the Christian reaches a point where he forgets his relationship to the Lord who saved him, as soon as he forgets the salvation in the Lord given to him be grace and grace alone, he loses his purpose as a Christian. We need to constantly remember that God is not there for us, but we are there for Him. He, although his love for us is unlimited and beyond comprehension, calls us to his service; He is not our servant.
The Word of God tonight gives us a picture of who God is, how unmerited our salvation is, and how we should love Him who loves us according to his love in Jesus Christ.
; The underserved love of the unique and only God
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. (Deuteronomy 10:17)
And further:
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. (Deuteronomy 10:14)
; God and his creation
The heavens: the highest – ; He is Lord of the universe. It belongs to Him for He created it.
; Everything: Nothing escapes his sovereign care and providence.
Mighty: mighty warrior, possessing wisdom, might, counsel and understanding
; Awesome: the One that demands fair and awe and admiration
Who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes: He does not regard one’s face, and God is not deterred by anyone who thinks he should be reckoned with. There is a connection between this verse and 15: his election is not based on performance of the lost, but on his divine love.
Verse 21: He is the One we should rejoice in and show our constant thanks.
; God is mercifully at work to save
Yet the Lord set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 10:15)
; Affection: This word stems from the word used for a spoke of a wheel attaching the hub of a wheel and the outer rim with one another. A deep inward attachment (in a positive sense) is descriptive of God’s love of Israel.
; Unconditional election: He was bound to them of his own volition (love) and not because of anything good or desirable in them.
; His unconditional care for the helpless:
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10:18)
; Unreserved service as response to undeserved love
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. (Deuteronomy 10:16)
; A new mind
Circumcise: the external ritual of the symbol and seal of regeneration must be accompanied by a spiritual act of worship and obedience.
Stiff-necked: hardened of will to follow one’s own mind, doing your own thing.
; A new love and dedication to God
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deuteronomy 10:12)
Ask: what naturally flows from a relationship where the receiver does not deserve a gift.
Fear: Reverence and awe which inspires to acts of formal and informal worship.
Walk: follow in obedience
Ways: uprightness and truth; where God guides the righteous in straight paths.
Love: have a close relationship with God based on his expressed love for us.
Serve: to give the commands of God expression by doing what He commands.
Heart: inner man
Soul: breath, inclination, total being.
Observe: Keep, walk and act accordingly.
A new love and dedication to others
And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)
Aliens: sojourner, one with a permanent home
You yourselves: God made the homeless to have permanent home and destination. Therefore remember those who are now where you were.
Conclusion
Love makes obedience a thing of joy!
To do the will of one we like to please
Is never hardship, though it tax our strength;
Each privilege of service love will seize!
Love makes us loyal, glad to do or go,
And eager to defend a name or cause;
Love takes the drudgery from common work,
And asks no rich reward or great applause.
Love gives us satisfaction in our task,
And wealth in learning lessons of the heart;
Love sheds a light of glory on our toil
And makes us humbly glad to have a part.
Love makes us choose to do the will of God,
To run His errands and proclaim His truth;
It gives our hearts an eager, lilting song;
Our feet are shod with tireless wings of youth!
—Hazel Hartwell Simon
Prayer
Hymn: “I am the bread” (MP 260, 3 verses)
Communion
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Communion Table is the table of our Lord Jesus. On behalf of the Session of this congregation, I therefore invite those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and are members in good standing of this or another congregation to join in this celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28,29) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
1. Institution
Beloved in the Lord, listen to the words of the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are recorded by the Apostle Paul.
I received from the Lord what I passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself. (1 Corinthians 11: 23-29)
Let us lift up our hearts and give thanks to the Lord our God for it is right to give him thanks and praise.
Almighty and everlasting God, it is indeed our duty and delight always and everywhere to give you thanks and praise. In the beginning you created the heavens and the earth and everything in them: you made mankind in your own image and your tender mercies are over all your works.
Mighty God, heavenly King, we magnify and praise you. With all the company of heaven we worship and adore you, evermore praising you and saying:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Glory to you, O Lord most high.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Almighty and merciful God, you loved the world so much that you gave your only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We bless you for his holy incarnation, for his perfect life on earth, for his precious sufferings and death upon the cross, for his glorious resurrection from the dead, for his ascension to your right hand where he ever lives to plead our cause, for the promise of this coming again, and for his gift of the Holy Spirit. Remembering, therefore, the life and work of our Saviour Christ, and pleading his perfect sacrifice offered once and for all on the cross, we do this in obedience to his command. Amen.
And now as our Saviour Christ has taught us, we humbly pray:
2. Lord’s Prayer
3. Communion Tokens
4. The elements
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it (here the minister breaks the bread) and said:
This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.
Bread: Jesus said: "Take and eat: this is my body. Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.
Wine: Jesus said: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
5. Thanksgiving:
Christ has died;
Christ has risen;
Christ will come again.
Let us pray:
Great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bring you glory, thanks and praise, for all that we have seen and heard, tasted and handled of the Word of Life; for fellowship with you and with your Son, and with your people, too. We humbly ask you to accept us as we dedicate ourselves to you again. Help us with your daily grace, that we may continue in this fellowship, that our hearts may be filled with new courage and hope; that we may live to your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.