Worship Preparation

• Reading Job would be the very best heart prep.
  
• And, if there is any possible way that you can listen to John Piper read The Misery of God and the Mercy of Job (4 parts; total of about 50 min.) while you follow along in the text as he reads, I trust that your heart will be very ready for corporate Christ-exaltation on Sunday.

Worship Preparation: "Spread & Go" Offering This Sunday

Most churches call it a "love offering." That's a great name, because it implies that we love to give of the resources the Lord has given to us in order to aid the work of advancing the kingdom of Christ in the world.

Our vision at Grace is to glorify God by treasuring Jesus Christ and spreading His eternal joy. Our mission is to guide people to faith in Jesus Christ; grow together in biblical maturity; and go to our neighbors and the nations.

So the "love" offerings taken at Grace are intricately tied to our vision and mission of spreading eternal joy by going to the whole world with the gospel of Christ.

This Sunday, we will have the special privilege of hearing briefly from Rev. Daniel Seidu, from Ghana, West Africa. Daniel is the pastor of God's Glory Baptist Church (great name!), and is passionate about reaching his people--The Wala people--with the gospel.

Come prepared to give towards the ministry of reaching the Wala people for Christ!

October, 21 - Worship Preparation

Meditate on Hebrews 12.

Bad news: "God is a consuming fire!"
Good news: "Our God is a consuming fire!"

John 17 - Effects Of Christ's Obedience On His Own

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Notice the effect (Highlighted in gold) that the obedience of Christ to the Father has on those who are His own.

Is Christ's obedience having this effect in your life?

John 17 - Christ's Obedience To The Father

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Throughout His prayer, Christ acknowledges that He has obediently accomplished "all that the Father has given Him to do."

The highlights in this image show specifically what Christ obediently accomplished.

"...even so through the obedience of One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)

John 17 - The Father's Love for Christ, And For Those Whom He has given to Christ

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It is because of statements like the ones highlighted in this image that the Bible is an inexhaustible storehouse of God's rich blessing to us His Son.

Heaven itself will not suffice to unfold to us the depth of the blessings contained in these few highlighted statements!

Loved by the Father JUST AS He loves His only begotten Son--Jesus Christ!?!!!?

(Appropriate response = profound humility, and gospel-inspired, glad-hearted praise!)

John 17 - Christ's Emphasis on Knowing Him as The One "Sent" by the Father

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Multiple Choice:

Eternal life is...

A: Knowing the only true God

B: Knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ

C: Knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

John 17 - Gifts To Christ From The Father

This image shows the various blessings that Christ acknowledged in John 17 as being gifts to Him from the Father. Worship!

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John 17 - Christ's Ten Specific Requests

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* Note: I have updated this image. After looking at it again (and again), I see ten specific requests made by Christ. The former image showed only eight.

This image shows the ten specific requests for which Christ prayed in John 17. Staggering!

Repetitions In John 17 - Worship Preparation

This image shows some of the major repeated phrases in John 17 (ESV). I highlighted these repetitions about a year ago, and have been looking at them again this week in preparation for Sunday's sermon.

For Grace-goers, I commend this document to you as a means of preparing your heart for worship this weekend.

The petitions Christ makes in this chapter are utterly Amazing!

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Worship Preparation | Our Living GOD

Exodus 3, is our sermon text for Sunday, and as you know, is the "burning bush" or "calling of Moses" chapter. And, as you also know, it is about so much more than that--namely the God-initiated revealation of the Name and Character of God (as YHWH).

As you ready your heart for Sunday at Grace, consider the remainder of the Exodus account (all the way through Joshua!), and that the God who reveals Himself, and makes covenant promises to deliver His people from bondage, is the God who sovereignly accomplishes all that He said He would do! Consider most of all our Passover Lamb!

Was He Tired? Worship Preparation

Take time this week to read and meditate through the creation account in Genesis 1-2. Focus specifically on the first three verses of chapter two.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Gen 2:1-3 ESV)

The "rest" of God will be one of our main questions this Sunday at Grace. More importantly, we will ask, "So, what was He doing while He rested?" And, "He was doing what? And He was doing it to whom?" Ultimately we want to worship Him because He has said to us, "I will give you rest."


See you Sunday, Lord willing...

Fall & Winter 2007 Church Card

Earlier on the GC blog we mentioned the theme of our next sermon series. Below is our church card that details the text for the prayer meeting, the sermon, as well as sermon titles. Pray with us this Fall as we seek to encounter and enjoy GOD: The Greatest of All!

Worship Preparation

For those coming to Grace this Sunday, here are a few suggestions for how to prepare your soul. As always, these are "suggestions" not "law." I look forward to "boasting" in the cross of the Lord Jesus with you this Sunday!

1. Read, and pray through (meditate), Galatians 6:11-18 in as many translations as you can track down.
2. Thank God for Jesus, and glory in His cross!
3. Sing something to God (preferably that you are making up on the spot) as you think of the contents of the sermon text. (Joyful noise!)
   
4. Thank God for the 16th century Reformation (and for the life of Martin Luther in particular, which, in God's kind providence was an instrumental event in history that contributed to our access to believing the contents of Galatians!).
5. Listen to, or read, Piper (preaching in Memphis in 2000) on Boasting Only in the Cross.
6. Attend, and engage in, corporate prayer at 9a.

Carry Another's Load Because Everyone Must Carry His Own Load

This week's sermon text carries an apparent contradiction (But is no contradiction at all).

• “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2 ESV)
• “For each will have to bear his own load.” (Gal 6:5 ESV).

May the Lord be glorified as we worship Him in full obedience to His Word.

Note: Here's where I'm at so far (with help from others): Verse two is a command. Verse six is reproof.