Scripture Reading:
#1. As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2)
#2. We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:3-5).
Prayer of Praise to God: Refer to the verses above and hymn below.
Hymn: Like a River Glorious
1 Like a river glorious is God's perfect peace,
over all victorious in its bright increase:
perfect, yet still flowing fuller every day;
perfect, yet still growing deeper all the way.
Refrain:
Trusting in the Father,
hearts are fully blest,
finding, as he promised,
perfect peace and rest.
2 Hidden in the hollow of his mighty hand,
where no harm can follow, in his strength we stand.
We may trust him fully all for us to do;
those who trust him wholly find him wholly true.
Refrain:
Trusting in the Father,
hearts are fully blest,
finding, as he promised,
perfect peace and rest.
Reading of the Law: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32)
Silent Confession of Sin/Confession of Sin: O Lord, our great God, all holy, filled with awe, Father most gracious, filled with mercy and steadfast love, incline your ear to our troubles. Hear us as we pour out our sorrows to you. Forgive us, not because of our own righteousness, but because of your great mercy, because of your great mercy in the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. It is in his name that we pray, for he is our Savior, and the mediator of the covenant of grace. Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Reading of the Gospel: But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Eph.2:4-5).
Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 41
Question #103
Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment?
A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I diligently attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.
Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.
Prayer of Thanksgiving: Give thanks to God for your family and for his grace and mercy towards you.
Prayer of Supplication: Ask God to resolve any conflict in your family and to save those close to you that do not know Christ in a saving way.
.Bible reading and commentary:
Read: 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6
All Christians are to proclaim the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and this good news comes to us by way of a covenant. The new covenant (3:6), which was already announced in Jeremiah 31 was given to us by God and kept by his Son, Jesus. At the heart of the covenant is the atoning death of Jesus. At the Last Supper Jesus spoke of the cup of wine as representing the new covenant in his blood poured out for his people (Luke 22:20). Under this covenant relationship, God declares ‘I will be their God and they shall be my people’ (Heb. 8:10). This covenant can never be broken because it rests completely upon Jesus’ atoning sacrifice that sealed God’s eternal covenant with all who believe in his Son.
The new covenant is administered as the gospel of Christ is preached and Paul and his colleagues had the gospel at the center of their preaching. It is all about Jesus and the way in which God’s grace is freely available to us through his Son’s finished work on the cross. The ministry of the new covenant is synonymous with the preaching of the gospel of Christ. The gospel proclaims that God has kept his promises, made in the Old Testament, of a new covenant open to men and women of every nation who turn to him in repentance and put their trust in the Messiah and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. For anyone to enter into this new covenant, they have to have the gospel preached to them.
So it was that Paul ‘came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ’ (2:12). As God’s people are prepared to obey Jesus’ final commission to preach the gospel, so God prepares the way for them. When Paul arrived in Troas he found ‘a door was opened . . . in the Lord’ for him (2:12). As a way opened for Paul, we should expect God to open doors for us also.
As believers live in sacrificial submission to God, their speech and actions serve as the “fragrance” and “aroma” of Christ (vv. 14-15. To those looking for worldly evidences of power, the upside-down nature of the gospel feels like death. To those whom the Spirit of God is at work, however, the fragrance is one of life to life (v. 16). Since Christians are commissioned by God and follow the lead of Christ, our ministry should be modest, humble, and ordinary. Because of Christ, we define our success in terms of service and self-giving. Only Jesus, whose death has secured our life, can provide the resources for the drastic reversal of all of our values.
The rhetorical questions in 3:1 reveal Paul’s desire to challenge the false apostles’ tendency to try and show Paul up. He basically says, “I don’t need a letter of recommendation or reintroduction, because the internal work of the Spirit in your hearts is all the endorsement that is required.” Transformed lives authenticate the message and the messengers. This takes precedence over the external credentials.
To have such a ministry, our Lord Jesus Chris must be central to the message. Everywhere we look in this passage Jesus is central. He is the center at which God’s promises and our faith meet. The gospel is his (2:12). God leads us in triumphal procession in Christ (2:14). Through us, his people, God spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ (2:14). We are the aroma of Christ in the world (2:15). It is in Christ that we speak before God with sincerity (2:17). The proper consequences of our ministry are letters from Christ (3:3), that is to say, transformed lives that proclaim messages and truths about him. Our confidence for this whole ministry is through Christ (3:4).
Closing Hymn: The Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. Amen.
Closing Scripture: Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:10-11).
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.