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::: Listen to the 6.16.2013 Sermon
image :: The Vision of the Prophet Obadiah, Marc Chagal (1956)
Preparation for Worship ::: Obadiah, Standing
“Learn to praise Him and, despairing of yourself, say, ‘Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness, just as I am Your sin. You have taken upon Yourself what is mine and have given to me what is Yours. You have taken upon Yourself what You were not and have given to me what I was not.’ Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners.” (Martin Luther)
Depth of Mercy (Charles Wesley, 1740) [bandcamp track=1100253496 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior (Fanny Crosby, 1868) [bandcamp track=1009889899 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Nothing But the Blood of Jesus (Robert Lowry,1876) [bandcamp track=2357154689 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson, 1758) [bandcamp track=4015998502 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (Elisha Hoffman & Anthony Showalter, 1887) [bandcamp track=4223285600 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi, 1225) [bandcamp track=3110760989 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=grande]
Call to Worship ::: Isaiah 33:2,5-6
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble. The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.
Sermon ::: Obadiah 1:1-21
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
you have no understanding.
8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
in the day of distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
We Confess Our Sin Together ::: from The Valley of Vision, “Confession and Petition”
Holy Lord, we are guilty—of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Your mind in Your Word, of neglect to seek You in our daily lives. Our violations and shortcomings present our consciences with a long list of accusations, but they shall not stand! For we lay them all now on Christ, our Sacrifice and Advocate. Lord, subdue our weaknesses and selfishness, granting us grace to live above them. Let us not be mastered by them, but have You rule over us in liberty and power. We praise and thank You for Your wisdom and love, for sometimes putting us into the furnace to refine our gold and remove our dross. Deliver us from every evil habit, everything that dims the brightness of Your grace in us, everything that prevents us from taking our deepest delight in You. Amen.
Words of Encouragement ::: Romans 5:1-2
Since have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
New Testament Reading ::: Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”