Scripture Reading:
#1. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! (Psalm 57:9-11)
#2. You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19).
Prayer of Praise to God: Refer to the verses above and hymn below.
Hymn: Psalm 1
That man hath perfect blessedness,
who walketh not astray
In counsel of ungodly men,
nor stands in sinners’ way,
Nor sitteth in the scorner’s chair:
But placeth his delight
Upon God’s law, and meditates
on his law day and night.
He shall be like a tree that grows
near planted by a river,
Which in his season yields his fruit,
and his leaf fadeth never:
And all he doth shall prosper well
The wicked are not so;
But like they are unto the chaff,
which wind drives to and fro.
In judgment therefore shall not stand
such as ungodly are;
Nor in th’ assembly of the just
shall wicked men appear.
For why? the way of godly men
unto the Lord is known:
Whereas the way of wicked men
shall quite be overthrown.
Reading of the Law: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! (Psalm 119:1-5)
Silent Confession of Sin/Confession of Sin: Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you and to one another, that we have sinned against you by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not fully loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not always had in us the mind of Christ. You alone know how often we have grieved you by wasting your gifts, by wandering from your ways. Forgive us, we pray you, most merciful Father; and free us from our sin. Renew in us the grace and strength of your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.
Reading of the Gospel: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Rom. 8:31-34)
Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 35
Question #96
Q. What is God’s will for us in the second commandment?
A. That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than has been commanded in God’s Word.
Question #97
Q. How are these commandments divided?
A. God can not and may not be visibly portrayed in any way. Although creatures may be portrayed, yet God forbids making or having such images if one’s intention is to worship them or to serve God through them.
Question #98
Q. But may not images be permitted in churches in place of books for the unlearned?
A. No, we should not try to be wiser than God. God wants the Christian community instructed by the living preaching of his Word—not by idols that cannot even talk.
Prayer of Thanksgiving: Thanks and praise God for all the Spiritual blessings that he has given you and for the gifts he given to our church.
Prayer of Supplication: Pray for expecting mothers and their babies and for our women’s and men’s ministries.
Bible reading and commentary:
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Paul begins his letter with praise to God for the way he has turned trials into good use. Afflictions are a common occurrence in life (v. 4) for Christians and non-Christians. Paul uses the words ‘afflictions’ (vv. 4, 8), ‘sufferings’ (vv. 5, 7), ‘burdens beyond our strength’ (v. 8), ‘despair’ (v. 8), ‘the sentence of death’ (v. 9), and ‘deadly peril’ (v. 10) to remind us of the different difficulties we may face. We may not understand all the reasons for suffering but we can trust God’s purposes in them.
Purpose Number 1: God comforts us so that we may comfort others (vv 3-4). Paul teaches in these verses three aspects of God’s character. (1) God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3). There is but one God, and he is the God who sent his Son to be the Savior (John 3:16). Jesus is the Father’s only Son, the supreme object of his pleasure and delight. It is in the Son that the Father provides the perfect revelation of himself. Every view we have of the Father needs to be influenced by the understanding we have of God’s character in the self-revelation in his Son.
God is the Father of mercies (v. 3). (Mercy or compassion) is an essential part of God’s character and of his self-revelation in both the Old and the New Testament (Psa.116:5, James 5:11). It expresses God’s compassion to us in our troubles and grief. It was wonderfully displayed in the life and character of Jesus, and it always led to appropriate action (Matt. 9:36; 15:32). God’s compassion comes naturally from his fatherhood (Psa. 103:13). Any father or mother cares compassionately for his/her children, particularly when they go through pain and suffering. Our Father in heaven is the true Father, and that human parenthood at its best is a reflection of God’s perfect parenthood.
God is the God of all comfort (v. 3). Since God our Father is perfect he is able to send us the comfort we need no matter what our trouble is. Comfort comes our way in the form of strength, encouragement, and courage so we can face both the present and the future and learn to live one day at a time.
Comfort is something we receive from God (v. 4). It is God’s character to give us the best gifts. He makes sure help is on the way, even before we ask for it (Isaiah 65:24). God’s comfort is in the present tense. It is not that he comforted us in the past but he comforts us always.
The comfort we receive from God may be used by us to comfort others. Sometimes we can only help others because we have experienced the same type of trouble and God has comforted us. When that happens it is still God who comforts. All the glory goes to him. Nothing is ever wasted in God’s school of suffering.
Paul lifts our sufferings to the highest level by referring to our sharing the sufferings of Christ (v. 5). We can never share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ, since they are unique and cannot be repeated. When we care for others we realize how demanding the responsibility is. The sufferings of Jesus in this respect may flow over to our lives (v. 5), but this never happens without our comfort also overflowing. We may never be more aware of Jesus’ presence and help than when for his sake we engage in costly service of others.
Purpose Number Two: God allows us to come to an end of ourselves, so that we may not rely on ourselves but on him, the God who raises the dead (vv. 8-9). Some pressures of life and service seem beyond human capability to cope with. Paul and his companions came to a complete end of themselves, a sentence of death (v. 9). This may have been a physical or spiritual malady or both, but God gave them the strength to endure. God allowed it all to happen so that they would rely not themselves but on him, the God who raises the dead. This is not to say that we should have no confidence in God-given abilities, strengths and gifts or a past experience. But we need to remember that God works in our weaknesses. It is ultimately God who is our true strength and object of our praise. Christians should also meditate on the fact that all this has come about because of the resurrection of Jesus.
Purpose Number 3: God teaches us to trust him as our deliverer, so that praise is brought to him (vv. 10-11). After all of Paul’s hardships (v.10) he deliberately set his hope on God’s deliverance. Paul understood that in the end it is God who delivers and prayer is how God communicates with us. Our prayers for others in their time of need are part of our fellowship. In their trouble it may be hard for them to pray. Those for whom we pray experience God’s gracious favor; his blessing (v. 11). Answered prayers prompt thanksgiving to God (v. 11). And thanksgiving honors and glorifies him (Psa. 50:23). How poor our experience of God’s character as our Father would be without troubles.
Closing Hymn: The Doxology
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
Closing Scripture: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 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. (Rom. 8:15-17).
The Lord’s Prayer (together): 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 against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.