Prayer & Preparation for December 22nd, 2023
This Lord's Day
Hey church,
Here are some details about this week's services:
Songs we'll sing: "My Soul Magnifies the Lord," "Across the Lands," and in the evening, "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," "The First Noel," "Joy to the World," and "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
Sermon theme: Christmas Joy
Texts referenced: Matthew 2:10; Luke 2:10; John 1:12, 3:1-8 & 16, 15:13; Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 John 3:1-2 & 5 & 8, 5:1; and in the evening, Isaiah 53:3-4; Matthew 2:10; Luke 2:10; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 4:13
These citations are on my mind in connection with our Christmas Eve services and meditations:
"Savior, since of Zion's city I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in Thy name.
Fading is the world's best pleasures, all its boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasures none by Zion's children know."
from the hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken"
"It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we can be born again."
from the song, "It's About the Cross"
"Because the authority of Scripture is supreme, we [preachers of those scriptures} desire the prayers of you all to God for us that his fear may fall upon our hearts, that seeing we are men full of error and evil, yet we may not bring any scripture to maintain any erroneous conceit of our own heads, nor any evil of our own hearts: this we know to be a dreadful evil.... Let us [preachers and hearers alike] have...a reverential demeanor and carriage in the hearing of the [scriptures], as it becomes those who are to deal with God.... To the interpretation of Scripture, a Scripture frame of heart is necessary [for the preacher and hearers], a heart holy and heavenly, suitable to the holiness and heavenliness which are in the word.... It may be said of the spirituality of Scripture, nothing but a heart filled with Scripture [spirituality] can set forth its excellencies.... And now the work we have to do is to open the difficulties and to show you the Divine truths contained in this portion of Scripture. May they spring up from the fountain of life itself, and be presented to your minds with freshness and power."
- from a Jeremiah Burroughs sermon, as quoted by Alistair Begg in The Word of God Is...
Love you, church!
Jeff Tague
