:: Download the 6.4.2017 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 6.4.2017 Bulletin
:: Download the 6.4.2017 Sermon Audio
image :: Old Man In Sorrow (On The Threshold Of Eternity), Vincent van Gogh (1890, Dutch)
Preparation for Worship on June 4 2017 :: Godly Grief
“We do not grieve as those who have no hope.” I Thessalonians 4:13
“The repentance that accompanies salvation is a continued act, a repentance never to be repented of (II Corinthian 7:10). Repentance is a continual spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing… The work of repentance is not the work of an hour, a day, a year, but the work of this life. A sincere penitent makes as much conscience of repenting daily as he doth of believing daily… The penitent soul never ceases repenting till he ceases living. He goes to heaven with the joyful tears of repentance in his eyes.” Thomas Brooks
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for June 4 include ::
:: Come Ye Sinners (Joseph Hart, 1759) CHART [bandcamp track=3212643059 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Help My Unbelief (John Newton, 1791) CHART [bandcamp track=4060469677 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior (Fanny Crosby, 1868) CHART [bandcamp track=1009889899 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Rock of Ages, When the Day Seems Long (Sandra McCracken, 2005) CHART [bandcamp track=3793832028 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Kindness (Giglio, Reeves, Tomlin, 2000) CHART // AUDIO
Call to Worship :: Jeremiah 31:10,12-14
Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
He who scattered Israel will gather them
and will watch over His flock like a shepherd.
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord.
“I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the Lord.
Confession of Sin :: Psalm 51:1-12
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Words of Encouragement :: from Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.
Gospel Reading :: Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Sermon :: II Corinthians 7:5-16
5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore we are comforted.
And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14 For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.