Worship Next Sunday
August
5, 2012
Preaching:
Pastor Stephen Magee
Sermon
text: Acts 15:1-11
Sermon
title: Saved
through Grace
Music:
Opening
Hymn 17 Praise the Lord:Ye Heavens Adore Him
Preparation
Hymn 437 O God, to Us Show Mercy
Response
Hymn 342 Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
Closing
Hymn 460 Amazing Grace
Confession
of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism
Old
Testament Passage: Genesis
12:1-3
Preparation
Guide
Sunday:
Review morning sermon
(evening service @ 5pm)
Monday:
Acts 15:1-11
Tuesday:
2 Kings 19:1-19
Wednesday:
2 Kings 19:20-37
Thursday:
Genesis 12:1-3
Friday:
Exodus 20:8-11
Saturday:
Acts
15
Suggested Bible Study and Prayers
(Passages
that we will refer to in next Sunday's worship)
2
Kings 19
O God, we have
been humbled by our troubles. We were so proud of ourselves until a
day of distress came to us. You must help us, or we will not be able
to survive. You can send powers and principalities fleeing, despite
all of their proud boasts. Grant us courage today. Fill us with a
spirit of heartfelt prayer. Hear us when we cry out to You. You
hear and see those who mock You. Save us from the hands of enemies
that are too strong for us. You hear our prayers, and grant us the
gift of hope. We will stand with You. You are able to humble the
proudest foe. The years of our most powerful adversaries will come
to an end. Your plans are from of old, and You will do all Your holy
will. We will be amazed by Your wonderful deliverance. Surely You
are God, and we are Your people. The end of the story will be
different than the sorrow of the present moment.
Genesis 12
Lord
God, You grant us lives to be lived for Your glory. We have
opportunities for faithfulness that You give to us. You also grant
us resources of money and time for the use of Your kingdom. Will we
use these things for ourselves, and miss the opportunity to serve You
sacrificially? Help us to love Your house out of our deep regard for
You. Give us others with whom we may serve. Build up Your kingdom
for Your own glory. Protect us from vicious men who have no
intention of truly serving You.
Acts 15
Great
God, there was much dissension in the early church, and there are
important disagreements in the church today. Help us to distinguish
between those matters where love must cover a multitude of sins, and
those matters that must be more fully discussed for Your good
purposes. Give us the courage and discipline to call together
eminent and godly servants of the truth in order to gain greater
clarity by Your Word and Spirit. Make their deliberations a
productive and worthwhile use of Your resources. Thank You for the
wonderful truth that was displayed so powerfully in Your church in
days of old when the age changed from the time of the Law to the new
day of the gospel. Thank you for the way of life by grace through
the faith that remained the same in both ages. Yet thank You once
again for the clarity that the ceremonies of the Law have been
fulfilled in Christ. It is now clear that we do not need to be
Jewish before we can be Christians. The way of life for us in not
through circumcision, Passover, and the regulations of clean and
unclean. Nonetheless, we thank You for the record of these matters
in the Law, for they show us the wonders of Christ. He has become
our circumcision through His death on the cross. Through Him alone
we have been rescued from sure destruction, for He is our Passover.
By His blood sprinkled upon our hearts we have been cleansed by the
Holy Spirit from the guilt and stain of sin.
