September 18, 2011

September 11, 2011

Morning Meeting

• Hymn 4 - Ere God had built the mountains - This hymn is speaking of the Lord Jesus when He created all things. Man continues to see more stars when they look through more powerful telescopes. The Lord inhabits all of space, yet He became a human. When He came to the creatures He made, they spitefully used Him. We must remember not only what He did, but also who He is.

• Scripture: Ephesians 1:3 - 9

  • v. 3 & 4a - Before anything was created, we were chosen in Christ.
  • v.4b & 5 - We are adopted as children in Jesus Christ.
  • v.6 & 7 - Before the world was created He knew there would be sin and they would need to be redeemed.
  • V.8 & 9 - It was all for a purpose. We are here to remember how the Lord made this all.
• Hymn 150 - Thou art the everlasting Word

• Scripture:

  • John 1:1 - 5 & 14b

    • v. 1-2 - ‘with God’ unique personality. ‘Was God’ His divinity.
    • v.3 - His Omnipotence
    • v.4 - He is the source of life.
    • v.5b & 14 -The incarnation of the Lord Jesus
  • John 3:14 & 15
  • Hebrews 1:1 - 3 - I am thinking of the glory of that person. He was the One that accomplished our salvation.
• Hymn 179 - Brightness of th’ eternal glory
• Prayer
• Hymn 302 - O blessed Lord, what hast Thou done
• Breaking of Bread
• Hymn 246, boook 2 - Eternal Word, eternal Son

• Prayer

  Children’s Meeting: Norman Burgess

Hymn 310- Come to Jesus, come to Jesus

Prayer

Before we start I would like to make one thing clear for the older ones. When reading a passage of scripture, it is important to remember that its interpretation is singular, but its application may be multiple. In the story of Joseph, the interpretation is that the Lord receiving repentant people. But there is more than one application: one is that the brothers represent Israel after the tribulation, returning to the Lord. A second application (and the one that we will be using today) is that this is a picture of salvation.

Our chapter begins with Joseph sending out all of his servants, so that he and his brothers were alone. When we go to the Lord there can be no one between us, no priest or minister: just the Lord and ourselves. Joseph then revealed himself to his brothers. This was a really low time for the brothers; they thought that Judah would be put in prison and that they would have had to go home without him. So they were probably very amazed, to say the least, when Joseph made himself known. One whom they thought was dead a long time ago was alive and standing in front of them. They were fearful: they probably wondered if Joseph would try to get back at them for what they had done to him.

If the brothers had any fear, what Jospeh said next should have calmed them. Joseph asked his brothers to come near unto him. And the Lord wants the same: He wants us to draw near to him. For those who are saved, do you enjoy spending time with the Lord? We should.

Joseph didn’t let the brothers forget what they had done, but he said, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” That the same way the Lord Jesus looks at it: “God let it happen so that I could come and die on the cross for you.” Also, the Lord has been exalted and has been given a name above every name. When we take the Lord as our Saviour, he tells us to go and tell all men, just as Joseph told his brothers to return and tell his father. We live in a world where there is a famine, but we can go to the Lord and He will feed us.

Reading Meeting

Luke 7:19 - 35

Up until the end of chapter 6, the gospel was confined to the Jewish people. Now, in chapter 7, that seems to be changing, at least for the first story. We had the centurion, who is a Gentile asking the Jews to entreat Jesus for his servant. It ends up that Jesus found that centurion’s faith greater than anyone in Israel. As we saw, this centurion had an insight on the Lord’s incredible power.

We know the Jews appreciated this centurion, and think about John the Baptist: he was Jewish through and through, and probably wouldn’t have anything to do with any Gentiles. But he heard about what Jesus was doing, and he probably wondered what it was all about. So, he sent a question to Jesus; actually, it was almost an insult as well.

John didn’t understand why the Lord was doing what He was doing. We’ve all probably felt similarly at times, and thought God was doing something wrong. John expected the Lord to come and uphold the law. But he saw the Lord fraternizing with Pharisees, Sadducees, Gentiles, and sinners: grace was flowing … it didn’t sound like Mount Sinai. John wondered, and so sent this question and insult.

The Lord realized this, and answered very graciously. He told the questioners to stand by and watch for a while. Then, He healed diseases and cast out devils. Finally, He sent them back to John, with the message given in v. 22 & 23. Compare this to Isaiah 61:1 & 2: John thought that what Jesus was doing conflicted with Judaism; Jesus was pointing out that it didn’t conflict with what was prophesied about Him. John was offended because the Lord was showing favour to those who deserved condemnation, but the Lord was showing him that He was here to bring grace. One writer said that John had faith, but not the patience of faith required to wait for the fulfillment of the prophesies. Compare this to Abraham, who had both faith and the patience of faith to wait for God’s timing for his child.

Hymn 333 - Come to the Saviour, make no delay

Prayer