Worship Next Sunday
July 31, 2011
Preaching: Pastor Magee
Sermon text: Acts 7:9-16
Sermon title: “Listening to Stephen Preach About Joseph”
Music:
Opening – 7 From All That Dwell below the Skies
Preparation – 145 The Spirit Breathes upon the Word
Response – 57 Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
Closing – 460 Amazing Grace
Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed
OT Reading: Psalm 105:16-22
Preparation Guide
Sunday: Review morning sermon (evening service @ 5pm)
Monday: Acts 7
Tuesday: 2 Samuel 14:1-17
Wednesday: 2 Samuel 14:18-33
Thursday: Psalm 105:16-22
Friday: Exodus 20:7
Saturday: Acts 7
Suggested Bible Study and Prayers
(Passages that we will refer to in next Sunday's worship)
2 Samuel 14
Lord Almighty, we mourn the depravity of our sons and daughters, and ask for Your help. We ask that the end result of Your grace in both our lives and theirs will be consistent with a great eternal heritage. We stand in the greatest need of Your help in our lives. Please assure us again that our children will live to serve You forever. We love our young ones, but we need more wisdom that we might raise them up with integrity. There are so many temptations and troubles ahead of them. Will they have the spiritual strength to resist the devil and the schemes of proud and vicious men? Give us the courage to do what is right according to Your Word, despite the pleas of those who would insist on foolish plans. May we have the discernment to distinguish between the good and the bad, and the courage of our convictions to follow Your Son in the pathway of true integrity. We would love peace, but we will not have any rest through evil pursuits. Will we murder and destroy the property of others and claim to be in the right? Will we follow evil, and still be followers of Your Son? Grant us wisdom.
Psalm 105
Glorious Lord of All, we worship You and give You thanks. It is wonderful to sing to You. We seek You and we remember what You have done. Your judgments are wise. You keep all Your promises. You made a covenant with us in Christ, and You are fulfilling that good plan in great ways. You have announced news of a future age through Your prophets. So much has already come to pass, and yet much more is still ahead of us. We marvel at Your works in gathering a people for the glory of Your Name. Even today You continue to rescue us from the sin that distracts and ensnares us. You bring us out of danger and cause us to trust again in Your Son. Be with us as we go through this life. We are looking forward to the coming age of glory. May we keep Your Son’s commandments as we wait for the day of His return.
Acts 7
Our Father, grant that we would rightly appreciate the privilege of suffering for the name of Jesus Christ. Without this true assessment of our trials, we will always shrink away from a forthright statement of Your Word in situations of danger. You have sent one Man who would truly keep Your perfect Law. Through His death and resurrection He became the cornerstone of a new spiritual temple, Your church throughout the world. All of the patriarchs and heroes of the faith in earlier days longed for this day of the Messiah. Now He has actually visited us. This Jesus did all things well. He has poured out Your Holy Spirit upon Your church. We love the Law of Christ. We rejoice in the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We long for the fulfillment of Your promise in the age to come, in the land of Resurrection. We love the Word of the Prophets which has now come in person in the great beauty of our Messiah. He is the perfect Son of David, and He has built a new house for His people in His own world-wide body. We will not resist the Holy Spirit. We will love and serve the Righteous One. Teach us the truth about our sin, that we might more fully and earnestly repent of it and be forgiven. Though men might work together to kill us, Your truth can never be stopped. Grant us such a beauty of holiness and love that we would be willing to forgive those who seek our destruction.
