March 5, 2017

Morning Meeting

• Hymn 84 - We hear the words of love
• Scripture: Luke 22:14 & 19 - “We hear the words of love.” He said those words of love: He had a desire to eat with His disciples. It is a privilege to meet this morning and remember how we have peace with God.
• Hymn 147, book 2 - This do, remember Me
• Prayer
• Hymn 149 - Lord Jesus! We remember
• Scripture: Exodus 12:24-27 - We saw the Lord and disciples having the passover; this is where it started. The passover was a remembrance of what the Lord did for them; we are here to remember His work as well.
• Prayer
• Breaking of Bread
• Hymn 224 - O that we never might forget
• Ministry: Song of Solomon 1:4
• Prayer

Ministry: Philip Burgess

We have been thinking of God’s love, and remembering His love for us in giving Himself at Calvary. That love held Him there for us.

Children’s Meeting: Philip Burgess

Hymn 215 - Happy they who trust in Jesus

Prayer

Today we’ll look at having a merry heart. That means to have a joyful, happy, or glad heart.

Let’s start in Proverbs 15:13. If we have a merry heart, then we will be cheerful and smiling. If we’re sad, we won’t be. Our eyes are the “window of the soul,” and what is in our hearts will be displayed on our faces. A smile is something that we can share with others throughout our day, and help them.

Proverbs 15:15. You host a feast when you’re celebrating something; when you’re having a time of joy. A merry heart has a continual feast; the celebration just goes on and on. A merry heart looks at life from a positive perspective. There was once a pair of twin boys: one was always grumpy and complaining, and the other was always cheerful and content. Their parents decided to see if they could get the complainer to be cheerful, and the cheerful to complain. So, they put the grumbler in a room with a lot of nice toys, and they put the content son in a room with a pile of manure! And nothing changed! The complaining son grumbled that his fire truck was red; he wanted a yellow one, and so on. He found something to complain about for each toy. The cheerful son, though, figured that if there was a pile of manure in his room, than there must be a horse nearby, and he hoped he would get a ride. Our hearts will determine our outlook on life. What is our view like?

Proverbs 17:22 tells us that a merry heart will help with our health. Depression can be a serious thing, but a merry heart will lift us above our difficulties, and help us like a medicine. James 5:13 tells us that if we are happy, then we should sing psalms. That will help us have joy in the first place, too.

What do we need to have in order to have a merry heart?

1. Salvation. Firstly, we need to know that we have our sins forgiven, and that we have peace with God. Luke 10:20 says that that is a reason to rejoice and be thankful. We can have our sins forgiven, a Lord and Saviour while here on Earth, and a home waiting for us in Heaven. Psalm 32:11. The righteous are glad in the Lord, because they are His people.
2. Trust in the Lord. Secondly, we must trust the Lord as our Leader and Shepherd; the One that gives us directions and provides for us. Proverbs 16:20. We must trust the Lord with what He allows in our lives. He wants what is best for us, and we can rejoice in that. Psalm 64:10. Elsewhere in Proverbs we are told to, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.” If we do that, He will lead us.
3. Be thankful. Finally, to be a happy people we must be thankful for, and content with, what the Lord gives us. If we aren’t thankful, then our merry heart will quickly disappear. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in everything. That can be hard, but if we are thankful, then the Lord will give us a merry and peaceful heart. Isaiah says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Sometimes we have a lot of schoolwork to do, and it’s long and hard; but we can be thankful for it because the Lord has allowed it. Philippians 2:14. We must be thankful in all things, so that we don’t lose our merry heart. It helps us be a light to others. A merry smile shows that we are thankful, and that we trust the Lord as our Saviour.

There used to be two men that we would pick up and take to meeting; one was always cheerful, and the other was always grumbling. You were happy to pick up the cheerful fellow, but were glad to see the other man go. A merry heart will help make us welcome to others.

There’s another story told about our outlook on situations. A shoe company sent a couple of salesmen to a part of Africa to sell shoes. The manager called them a few weeks later to see how things were going. The first fellow said, “It’s awful out here. Nobody even wears shoes! I don’t know why you sent me.” The second fellow said, “Things are great! Nobody has shoes out here, there’s a huge potential market!”

Reading Meeting

1 Thessalonians 2: 14-20

The Thessalonians were mostly Gentiles. They were originally heathen, serving idols, but after salvation they were seeking to model themselves after the Jews who were the first Christians. They were going on in grace by faith. They had a common portion, and it was bringing the two parties into fellowship. Their churches had different backgrounds, but they had joy in the same things. They both knew persecution having suffered the same things. The country men of both had been offended.

The big offence was grace. The Jews had the law, so it had all been works. The Gentiles had been idolaters so there was, all of a sudden, a God who was superior to them, and was offering them grace.

Some of us have known of better days than we are in. But we can’t really talk of persecution when we hear of the things happening in other countries. In the Lord’s time, the Jews were crying out for His life after all He had done for them because of envy. They didn’t please God at all. May God find pleasure in His own today.

Those that killed the Lord and His people didn’t want it themselves, and they didn’t want the Gentiles to have it either. You would think people would want the joy of the Gospel. Some translate “uttermost” as “forever”.

Paul couldn’t get to the Thessalonians. He was still traveling in Corinth, but he had a big heart open to them all. He would have loved to see their faces.

We probably don’t realize how much Satan hinders us, but there is an enemy who wants to hinder us. Satan brought a lot a hindrances on Job. Satan can’t do anything without God’s permission, though. We might not have the book of Thessalonians if Paul had been able to go to them. Someone once said, “One of the most difficult things to reckon with is when Satan comes to us with a Bible under his arm”. He did it to Jesus. James 4;7 tell us to resist the devil and he will flee. Satan can’t read our thoughts, so we must resist him out loud. There is a difference between resisting and rebuking. Even Michael the archangel wouldn’t rebuke Satan.

Hymn 163 - Guide us, O Thou gracious Saviour

Prayer