March 6, 2011

Morning Meeting

• Hymn 215 - O solemn hour! O hour alone

• Scripture:

  • Luke 22:14 - This was not the solemn hour, but a precious hour. He was not alone. Here he instigated what we are doing this morning.
  • Matthew 27: 45-46 - The Lord is on the cross. The solemn hour, the hour alone. Oh, how alone.
• Hymn 80 - On earth the song begins,

• Scripture:

  • Psalm 22:1 - We’ve be singing that He was alone on the cross. Even God had forsaken him. v.1b - 6a - Imagine the creator of all things. v. 6b - 11. Alone he bare the cross. v. 12 - 15. Remember Adam was formed out of dust. V. 16 - 21a. Alone He bore the cross.
  • John 12:24
• Prayer
• Hymn 257 - Himself He could not save,
• Breaking of Bread
• Hymn 202 - What will it be to dwell above,
• Ministry: John 5:24-25
• Prayer

Ministry: Norman Burgess

In John’s gospel, let’s read ch. 5:24 & 25: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” We live in that hour.

Children’s Meeting: Norman Burgess

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

Prayer

As we go through the book of Genesis, there are six prominent men. As we can see in the chart below, Each man was a picture of a new Testament truth.

We have gone through the first five men; today, we are going to start the story of Joseph.

Read Genesis 37:1 - 4.

V.2: This verse tell the generations of Jacob. Usually when you read the generations of someone it say something like, “He was the son of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so …” Instead of the normal genealogy, this verse focuses on Joseph. Joseph watched his father’s sheep with his step-brothers. As shepherds, they would have to go out with the sheep to feed them; then, they would come back home. One time while they were at home, Joseph told Jacob that his brothers weren’t being very good shepherds.

V.3: the first two verses refer to Jacob as Jacob. But in this verse, he is called Israel. Joseph was Jacob’s favourite child, because he was born in Jacob’s old age. To show his love for Joseph, he made him a coat of many colours.

V.4: Even though his father loved him, Joseph’s brothers hated him. Let’s put this into a chart:

Remember that Joseph is a type of the Lord; actually, he is the most perfect type of the Lord in the Bible! So we can replace Joseph with the Lord in this chart. Then, however, what if we were to put your name in place of “Father” or “Brothers”? Which place would your name go in? Can you say that you love the Lord? We certainly know that the Lord loves us.

We will see how the brother’s hatred for Joseph plays out in the story as we continue, Lord willing. For today, remember that it is important to love the Lord Jesus.

Reading Meeting: Luke 3:1-22

Our last chapter gave us a glimpse of the Lord at age twelve; and now it’s time for Him to be presented to the people, at about age thirty. The beginning of this chapter gives us the names of the political and religious leaders of the day. Later in this chapter we hear of some marital problems concerning Herod and his brother; and here we are told that there are two high priests, when there should only be one. You can see how bad conditions are; and yet, in the middle of it all, the voice of God came to John. And he wasn’t in the palace or the temple, but in the wilderness.

John preached a solemn message, like he was supposed to. He preached and baptized for the remission of sins, and Jesus called him a prophet. More than a prophet, even, in Matthew11:9-11. Moses was gone, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel - who all stood firm in the face of persecution - were gone; and yet John is counted among, and even above, these great men.

He preached repentance even though Christ hadn’t died yet. That was possible, because God looked forward to the cross. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, because God saw what was going to be accomplished at Calvary, and could forgive on that basis. These people weren’t Christians, but rather Old Testament saints. Hebrews 11 brings many of them before us; people that acted ‘by faith’, even in a time of works and law. We need faith to produce works. We can certainly find grace in the Old Testament (except for grace, none of the children of Israel would have gotten into the Promised Land), but it wasn’t the basis of their relationship with God; for that there was the law.

John preached repentance and baptism, not Jewish circumcision. God, at that time, accepted that (a picture of going into death) for remission of sins. It wasn’t as good as being able to look back to the cross - like we can - but at least they could look forward. Repentance can be defined like this: being sorry enough for your sin to quit.

After the cross, and when the Gospel was open to ‘whosoever’, things were different. Acts 20:21. That’s the salvation message. We need to be sorry enough for our sins to quit them, and then have faith in Jesus’ work to save us.

John didn’t preach to the Gentiles, but only to the Jews. He spoke of their sinful condition, and their need of repentance and baptism. Then, Jesus stands up and says (as it were), “I’m next”. He joined in, not because He needed it, but because it was the only right thing for godly people at that time to do. When He did that, heaven opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased”. This was the first person - a man - that the Holy Ghost descended on, and that the Father could be fully pleased in.

Hymn 312 - Jesus loves me

Prayer