:: Download the 5.29.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 5.29.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 5.29.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: Balaam’s Ass, Rembrandt van Rijn (1626, Dutch)
Preparation for Worship :: False & True
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
“Christ alone makes all other [false teachings] suddenly vanish. There is nothing that Satan so much endeavors to accomplish as to bring on mists with the view of obscuring Christ, because he knows, that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood. This, therefore, is the only means of retaining, as well as restoring pure doctrine: to place Christ before the view such as He is with all His blessings, that His excellence may be truly perceived.” (John Calvin)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday May 29 include ::
:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson, 1758) CHART [bandcamp track=4015998502 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2002) CHART [bandcamp track=676321818 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: From Depths of Woe / Psalm 130 (Martin Luther, 1524) CHART [bandcamp track=762862813 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Good, Good Father (Barrett & Brown, 2015) CHART >>> AUDIO
:: Lord I Need You (Matt Maher, 2013) CHART >>> AUDIO
Call to Worship :: Psalm 86:9-12
All the nations You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.
Old Testament Reading :: Numbers 22:21-31
So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.
Confession of Sin
Gracious Lord, we confess that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, words and deeds. Depending on our own strength, we stumble. Glorying in our own righteousness, we mock You. Turning our faces from You, we desire the things of this world to satisfy us. We repent of our self-pity and pride, our cowardice and sloth, our anger and envy. We pray now, Lord, for You to forgive us; Let us hear Your voice saying: “His blood is your peace, His death is your freedom, His Spirit is your power.” We pray these things in the name of Your most precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: I Peter 2:22-24
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.
Sermon :: II Peter 2:11-22
11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”