Prayer & Preparation for July 23rd, 2023
This Lord's Day
Hey church,
Here are some details about this week's service:
Songs: "All I Have Is Christ," "His Mercy Is More," "My Heart Has Found Its Rest in Christ," "Speak, O Lord," and "Be Thou My Vision"
Sermon text: Zechariah 1:1-6
Sermon title: Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel
Cross-references: Isa. 55; Acts 3:17-26; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Heb. 12:12-17; 1 Pet. 1:22-25; 2 Pet. 3:1-15
Favorite quotes from my study and preparation this week:
"[Zechariah's was a ministry of preaching] the hopes of the [earlier] prophets to a people who could have easily become cynical about their lack of fulfillment, assuring them of both the present degree to which they had been and were being fulfilled and the certainty of their ultimate triumph."
Rex Mason, The Books of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament)
The following three quotes come from Richard Owen Roberts' definitive work, Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel.
"Sinners who love both their sins and themselves find it very pleasant to be told that God loves them just the way they are."
"It is not without consequence that neither John the Baptist nor Christ preached, 'Repent, for the kingdom of hell is at hand.'"
"A change of affections is a mandatory part of repentance. Unrepentant people love themselves, their families, their friends, their money, their position, their power, their sins, their pleasures. Repentant people love God."
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Jeff Tague
