November 23, 2009

November 22, 2009

Morning Meeting

• Hymn 119 - O head once full of bruises

• Scripture:

  • Isaiah 52:14 : We sang “O head once full of bruises.” When it says that his visage was marred, it means that his face was not recognisable. They pulled the hair off his face. His back had been whipped until it was a bleeding mass. He went through all this for you and for me.
• Hymn 137 - O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head

• Scripture:

  • John 19:1 - 3 & 30 
  • Hebrew 2:9
  • Revelation 1:13 - 18
• Hymn 98 - Gazing on the Lord in glory
• Prayer
• Hymn 53 - Alas and did my Saviour bleed
• Scripture: Leviticus 4:1-8
• Breaking of Bread
• Hymn 5 - Unto him who loved us gave us
• Ministry: Song of Solomon 15 :9 - 13 & 16 
• Prayer 

Ministry: Norman Burgess

I bring a brief thought by way of contrast. This morning we’ve seen the Lord on the cross. We’ve seen how John saw Him as a Judge. How different it is for the Bride! Song of Solomon 5:9-13. She goes on, talking about different aspects of her Beloved, but by verse sixteen she is back at the head. V16.

Children’s Meeting: Gordon Burgess

Hymn 342 - Jesus came from Heaven

Prayer

Today I want to tell you a story from the Bible. This is a story about a man who was thrown into a den of lions. His name is Daniel.

Daniel 6:1-2. King Darius set over his kingdom 120 princes. Over these, he put three presidents and Daniel was one of these three. But the king liked Daniel, and he thought about putting him in charge of the whole kingdom. Vv.3-4. Now the other men were jealous of this, and they tried to find fault with Daniel so they could get him into trouble. But they couldn’t find any fault with him, because Daniel was a faithful man. Vv.5-7. The presidents and princes decided to try to find fault with Daniel concerning his God. So they asked the king to pass a law that said that if any man prayed to any man or God, except the king, for the next thirty days, he would be thrown into the lions’ den. Now Daniel prayed to God.

The king didn’t realize that these men were trying to catch Daniel, so he signed the law. Vv. 8-9. Once the king signed the law, it couldn’t be changed. V.10. The new law doesn’t change Daniel’s ways. He still kneels at his window three times a day and thanks God, and I think that he was probably asking for protection from the lions, too. Vv.11-13. Seeing this, the princes and presidents came to the king and told him that Daniel didn’t obey the law. V.14. The king must have thought, “What have I done? Why did I sign that law?” He liked Daniel and didn’t want him to be eaten by the lions.

V.16 The law couldn’t be changed, however; so Daniel was lowered down with ropes into the den of lions. But he wasn’t afraid, he trusted in God and knew that God was with him. V.18. The king went back to the palace, but he wouldn’t eat and he couldn’t sleep that night; because he was worried about Daniel. Vv.19-20. The next morning he got up early, went to the den, had the stone removed and called, “Daniel, was your God able to save you?” And Daniel called back, “Oh king, live forever. My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths.” Vv.22-23. Then the king was glad and commanded Daniel to be taken out of the den.

V.24. Then the king had the men who made the law thrown into the den, and the lions ate them. V.25. Then the king made another decree. Vv.25-26.

So why is this story in the Bible? To teach us some very important lessons.

• Saved - Daniel trusted in God, and we can trust and believe in Jesus as our Saviour.
• Ask - Daniel as we’ve seen, was a man of prayer.
• Trust - We must believe that God will answer our prayers.
• Thank - After God has answered our prayers, then we can thank him. We need to remember this all through life. If there is a trial in our lives, then we can ask the Lord to help us, trust that He will, and thank Him when He does.

Reading Meeting: Nehemiah 8:13 - 18

To explain to our guests from Montreal what we have been looking at: we’ve been reading Ezra and Nehemiah, seeing how the Jews, who were in Babylon for several generations, now had the opportunity to return to Israel and rebuild the altar, the temple, and now finally the wall. We have seen how this is reflected in the history of the church. We have also seen how there are many important parallels for application in our personal lives. 

V. 10 in our chapter is especially nice: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” We can see this as His joy in us and our joy in Him. All of eternity will be about His joy in us. Read II Corinthians 11:1 & 2. Salvation goes further than just forgiveness. Think of the strongest of natural relationships: a husband and wife. That’s the relationship between us and Christ.

Now, the Jews have been reading the word of God. This affected their consciences, but they were told not to weep, but to rejoice. Then the elders read the word, and found that they should be celebrating the feast of tabernacles. This feast was the highest feast of the year, typical of the Millennium, when the Jews will all be back in their land. They should have been celebrating this feast yearly, but they had not done so for over 1000 years—since the days of Joshua! Church history shows a similar picture: many truths were forgotten for a long time, before faithful Christians resurrected them. 

The Jews had several important feasts throughout the year. We have one day and one feast: The Lord’s day and the Lord’s supper. The cross was the center of God’s purposes for earth. The Old Testament looks forward to it; the New Testament looks back to it. We still look forward to something, though. The Lord’s supper is only “till He come.” It should give us joy to remember Him, as it gave the Jews joy to read the law, v.

18. We should do as they did: drink in the water of the word, and give it out to the Lord and others. 

Hymn 380 - Standing by a purpose true

Prayer