April 27, 2008

Morning Meeting

• Hymn 246, Book 2 – Eternal Word, eternal Son
• Scripture – Colossians 1:9–20
• Hymn 251 – Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour Thou
• Scripture – Hebrews 1:1–3 — Throughout the Old Testament we see people like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel through whom God spoke . But now He speaks ‘by His Son’. It makes us think of the parable where the owner of the vineyard was sending servants and the husbandmen wouldn’t give them any fruit. Last of all he sent his son saying, “They will reverence my son.” But what did they do? They killed him, just like they crucified Jesus. This wondrous, gracious, spotless Person hung on the cross for you and me and now He is seated in glory. These things should cause our hearts to break forth in praise and and adoration.
• Prayer
• Hymn 179 – Brightness of th’ eternal glory
• Breaking of Bread
• Hymn 8 – O Lord, we adore Thee
• Ministry – John 1:16–18
• Prayer

Ministry—Norman Burgess

Turn to John 1:16: “And of his fulness have all we received.” We already read in Colossians, ‘in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead’ and ‘ye are complete in Him’. In v. 14 we find that He is “full of grace and truth,” Continuing v. 16, ”and grace for grace.” It’s sometimes read “grace upon grace”; they’re piled up. It takes us back to Hebrews 1, where we saw how He is the express image of God; we’re brought into the fullness of all this through Him.

Children’s Meeting—Norman Burgess

Hymn 369 – I claim for my own a King on a throne

Prayer

Ready for another day? Today we’ll look at day 5. So far, we’ve seen the light, firmament, land, plants, sun, moon, and stars. But up until now, if we had been there and wakened up in the morning, we wouldn’t have heard anything—there were no birds. The world was mostly silent; there were no animals at all. But read Genesis 1:20–23. So we find out here that God created fish, birds, and whales. It’s easy to read the verse, but think of what God actually did. If someone asked you to design as many different birds as you could, you might be able to make a few dozen, but soon you would be out of ideas. God made over 8,000 different bird species, and then all the fish and whales, all with so much variety. And each one works amazingly well; they are all structured perfectly. Each one has the instinct to lay eggs, hatch them, and feed its young. Each one knows how to fly or swim, find food, and stay away from danger. How do they know all this? It is all a token of God’s magnificent creativity. Amazing, isn’t it? Now, we have seen how the creation story parallels salvation. Day 5 shows how we should be like fish; fish have scales to keep the water out. We should keep the world out and “swim against the current” of the world. Then also, we should be like birds and set our minds on things above. That’s day 5.

Reading—I Peter 5:10–14

No matter how much we don’t like it, suffering is an integral part of the Christian walk. Although much of the suffering is self-inflicted—as in the time of the judges, before they turned to the Lord—there are sufferings that the Lord sends to help us, such as Paul’s thorn in the flesh. When you read Church history or missionary biographies, it is obvious that suffering is a big part. It is not always chastening, as in the time of the judges; but it always has a purpose, as we see from v.

10. We may wish there was another way, but this is God’s divine plan. Suffering can cause some to be bitter but we know what Romans 8:28 tells us; yet it can be a struggle to learn. But we know that the trials are just as important as the blessings. God has a purpose: suffering is His way of perfecting us, stablishing, settling, and strengthening us. To be perfect is to be complete, mature, and adjusted. It is always an ongoing process. Though we may feel Satan working against us, we can know that with God’s help we can overcome and use it for good, as the Lord did at Calvary. To be stablished is to be rooted and grounded, to be firmly planted in the truth, not blown about by every wind of doctrine. Those who are not grounded will drift around, or backslide. Strengthening often refers to faith, and it is usually done by testing. It is rarely pleasant, but it is very necessary.

V. 12 — Silvanus and Silas are thought to be the same person, and it seems that Peter did not know him well. But he says that he had written about the true grace of God, “wherein ye stand.” It is totally unmerited, yet we stand in his full divine favour.

V. 13 — We don’t know of any assembly in Babylon; Darby’s translation says “She that is elected with you in Babylon …" Perhaps this was a faithful sister.

V. 14 — Love and peace: very similar to the Lord’s message while He was here on earth. These qualities should be evident in all who know the Lord. The world doesn’t have divine peace; it belongs to Christians exclusively.

Hymn 367 – When He cometh, when He cometh,

Prayer