Prayer & Preparation for October 23rd, 2022
This Lord's Day
Hey church,
This week I was reading an Andrew Fuller sermon on Matthew 25:21. In it he said,
"The Gospel is a most sacred trust, and you must keep it. Not keep it back but keep it safe; hold it fast in your mind and your ministry. The best way to hold fast the truth as a minister is to live upon it as a Christian. Attempt to keep it anywhere but in your heart, and it will go. If it be merely in the memory, it is not safe. He that is reasoned into the truth may be reasoned out of it. It is living upon the truth as a Christian that will cause the heart to be established with grace."
Amen.
What's true for "a minister" is equally true for church members. And it may be helpful as we pray for our Lord's Day together this week. As our brother (and missionary) Steve Barnes preaches the Word this week, let's pray that we both hear and do what it says, so that we don't deceive ourselves (James 1:19-27).
Or in Fuller's words, let's pray we all keep safe (steward?), or hold fast, the Word given to us this week, not only in our memories or by our reason (intellect), but in our hearts and lives (inner man AND outward behavior, or will). Let's pray for our hearts to be established with grace because we're living on and living out the truth of God's Word.
Here are songs we're singing. They may inform your prayers and aid your preparation:
"Hallelujah! What a Savior," "Man of Sorrows," "Christ Our Hope in Life and Death," "O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer," and "Let Your Kingdom Come"
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Jeff Tague
