Prayer & Preparation for November 6th, 2022
This Lord's Day
Hey church,
This morning I was reading Begg's Truth for Life devotional thought for the day. It's a pretty good application for last week's sermon on Ezra 1-2. In case you don't have your own copy, here's what he says, in part:
"God's eternal plans unfold in the midst of the ordinary-ordinary people in ordinary places doing ordinary things. If you lead an ordinary life, this should encourage you! Very few of us will even be a footnote in history. Whether you are an ordinary mother raising ordinary kids doing ordinary things day in and day out, an ordinary grandpa telling the same old ordinary stories, or an ordinary student going about your ordinary routine homework and activities-whatever sort of ordinary you are-the glory of God can be found all around you. And your faithfulness in the midst of the ordinary may, by His grace, become the means of extraordinary impact for the sake of the gospel. When you are tempted to feel like you're not doing much-to believe the devil's lie that you cannot make a difference or are outside of God's purposes-remember this: long after human achievement, words, and wisdom fade, the faithfulness, kindness, integrity, love, and gentleness that God works in and through you will be seen to have had a more dramatic impact on the lives of men and women than you could ever imagine. This is the wonder of Naomi's story and the wonder of all history-that God's extraordinary glory is at work in the ordinary. That truth can change the way you feel about and go about your day."
Amen. Hope that encourages you and reminds you of where we've already been in Ezra. And now we can turn to where we're going next...
Here are some details for this week's service. They may inform your prayers and preparation.
Songs: "Behold Our God," "All Creatures of Our God and King," "O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer," "Be Thou My Vision (Oh God, Be My Everything)," "O Praise the Name (Anastasis)," and the Doxology
Sermon text: Ezra 3
Sermon title: "First Things First"
Relevant teaching:
"Most of us feel that the problem is outside us and that the solution must come from within ourselves. The Bible turns this around and says that the problem is within us and that the solution must come from outside us."
Derek Thomas
"...many Christians are just too positive! There need to be a few tears as well sometimes if we are to be in tune with what God is doing and has promised to do and what he has not done yet. Conversely, many Christians (probably the majority) are too negative. There are too many tears: there needs to be some joy in even the smallest things God is doing amongst us.... Christians need to cultivate a sense of joy in every building opportunity: every gospel moment, every teenager at a youth group (however draining and rowdy), every brief conversation with a neighbor, every small battle with sin won.... However, we also need to have appropriate sadness: this is not it. We can find too much glory in this world, forgetting that the full glory days are yet to come. Our sadness should reflect a sense of longing. The church of Christ is not as it should be now, but one day all our expectations will be fulfilled."
Reynolds
And here are some more details but for our communion service in the evening:
Songs: "Stronger," "Behold the Lamb," "Jesus Paid It All," and "Man of Sorrows"
Texts for the communion meditation: Ezra 3, Exodus 29 and Leviticus 1, Hebrews 10:1-10, and 2 Peter 1:3-11
By His Grace & For His Glory,
Jeff Tague
