Household Worship Guide – 09/01/13

I added another component that has already been available to you in our Passages scripture reading guide. Under “Family Scripture Reading” I placed the scriptures to read each day as a family.

For a PDF version log into the CITY.

Prayer

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

Address God and Praise Him for Who He Is (Matthew 6:11)

• “Faithfulness is that in God which guarantees that He will never be or act inconsistent with Himself. You can put that down as an axiom. It is good for you now and good for you when you’re dying. It will be good to remember as you rise from the dead and good for all the eons and millenniums to come. God will never cease to be what He is and who He is. Everything God says or does must be in accord with his faithfulness. He will always be true to Himself, to His works and to His creation” (A.W. Tozer, Attributes of God).

  “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

• Thank God for All That He Has Provided (Ephesians 5:20)

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Pray For The Gospel To Spread Among All Peoples (Matt. 9:37-38)

COUNTRY: Syria DESCRIPTION: Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawites, Shiites and Sunnis. It is a secular state, but Islam is recognized as the religion of the majority, and Shariah is the source of all legislation. The constitution requires that the president be a Muslim. Since civil war erupted in March 2011, an estimated 9,000 people have been killed.Category: Restricted Nation Religion: Muslim 90.0{e0b72a53c242df1424785628340537005f8b2ebeecfbb0205a95286f7b4c8fc9}, Christian 6.3{e0b72a53c242df1424785628340537005f8b2ebeecfbb0205a95286f7b4c8fc9} Ideology: Islam Head of State: President Bashar al-Asad In 2012, militants engaged in Syria’s civil war displaced whole Christian neighborhoods in some regions, taking over homes and confiscating personal property. Prior to the war, traditional Christian minority groups had relative freedom within the larger Islamic society, but discrimination is rising, and our partners report that acts of violence during the war have specifically targeted Christians and Christian communities. Christian evangelism is not welcome, and missionaries are not allowed in the country. The government closely monitors all activities deemed a threat to communal harmony, and most churches in Syria are hesitant to evangelize Muslims. Believers who meet for fellowship outside designated places of worship risk having their apartments appropriated by the government. Occasionally, traditional churches that feel threatened by evangelism work with Muslims to carry out persecution against those who evangelize. VOM works with partners to bring Bibles into the country. *Information taken from The Voice of the Martyrs, Persecution.com

^“Give us this day our daily bread”

Pray For Yours and Your Family’s Needs (Matthew 6:11)

Pray For One Another (James 5:16)

• See the CITY for families to pray for

Pray For Those Who Feed, Lead, And Care For The Flock (Col. 4:3; 2 Thess. 3:1)

• Elders: Joe Anady, Steve Bovee, Kris Vanderschuit
• Deacons: Dave Anady, Mike Thezier

Pray For Kings And Those In Authority (1 Timothy 2:2)

• Local: Mayor Pro Tem – Larry Smith:
• State: Senator  – Bill Emmerson
• Nation: Speaker of the House of Representatives – John Boehner

^“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Ask Forgiveness From God And Others. Forgive Those Who Sinned Against You. (1 John 1:9)

^“lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Pray That God Would Strengthen Us From Giving Into Temptation (James 1:12-17).

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Worship through Song

Song of the Month  

• I encourage you to incorporate musical worship in some way within your household worship time. This is also a great way to prepare for worship Sunday worship by learning the songs we sing.
• “O Great God” by Sovereign Grace Music can be purchased and downloaded here.

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Preparing for the Lord’s Day

Our Sermon Text For This Week Is: Galatians 1:6-9

• “⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

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Family Scripture Reading
The scriptures follow the reading plan for families outlined in Emmaus’ Passages booklet.

• Sunday – 1 Sam. 25, 1 Cor. 6
  Monday – 1 Sam. 26, 1 Cor. 7
  Tuesday – 1 Sam. 27, 1 Cor. 8
  Wednesday – 1 Sam. 28, 1 Cor. 9
  Thursday – 1 Sam. 29-30, 1 Cor. 10
  Friday – 1 Sam. 31, 1 Cor. 11

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Catechism – Instruction of God’s Word

Doctrinal Standard WSC #86

• Q. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
• A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, by which we receive and rest on Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.

Memory Verse(s)

• “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV).

Scripture

• Study Passage: Hebrews 11
• Support Passages: Isaiah 43:1-3; Matthew 10:34-39; Romans 8:18-39; Revelation 2:1-3:22
• Bible Story: II Corinthians 11:23-28

Thoughts

• “The Protestant Reformers recognized that biblical faith has three essential aspects: notitia,assensus, and fiducia.
  Notitia. Notitia refers to the content of faith, or those things that we believe. We place our faith in something, or more appropriately, someone. In order to believe, we must know something about that someone, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
  Assensus. Assensus is our conviction that the content of our faith is true. You can know about the Christian faith and yet believe that it is not true. Genuine faith says that the content — the notitiataught by Holy Scripture — is true.
  Fiducia. Fiducia refers to personal trust and reliance. Knowing and believing the content of the Christian faith is not enough, for even demons can do that (James 2:19). Faith is only effectual if, knowing about and assenting to the claims of Jesus, one personally trusts in Him alone for salvation.” [1]

• Below is taken from chapter 14 of the London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 – Notes by Peter Masters.
• “14.1. The grace of faith by which the elect are enabled to believe, so that their souls are saved, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts,¹ and is ordinarily [normally] brought into being by the ministry of the Word.² It is also increased and strengthened by the work of the Spirit through the ministry of the Word, and also by the administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and other means appointed by God.³ 1 2 Cor 4.13; Eph 2.8. 2 Rom 10.14-17. 3 Luke 17.5; 1 Pet 2.2; Acts 20.32.
• 14.2. By this faith a Christian believes to be true whatever is revealed in the Word because this Word has the authority of God Himself.⁴ [Saving faith causes a person to believe all the Bible to be the Word of God – instinctively and completely.] Also, by this saving faith, a Christian apprehends [sees] an excellency in the Word which is higher than in all other writings and everything else in the world,⁵ because the Word shows forth the glory of God, revealing His attributes, showing the excellency of Christ’s nature and offices, and also the power and fulness of the Holy Spirit in His workings and operations.
• – So the Christian is enabled to cast his soul upon [fully trust] the Truth he has believed,⁶ and to see and respond to the different kinds of teaching which different passages of Scripture contain. Saving faith equips him to perceive and obey the commands,⁷ hear the threatenings with fear and respect,⁸ and to embrace the promises of God for this life and the life to come.⁹
• – But the first and most important acts of saving faith are those ­directly to do with Christ, when the soul accepts, receives, and rests upon Him alone for justification, sanctification and eternal life, by ­virtue of the covenant of grace.¹⁰ 4 Acts 24.14. 5 Psa 19.7-10; 119.72. 6 2 Tim 1.12. 7 John 15.14. 8 Isa 66.2. 9 Heb 11.13. 10 John 1.12; Acts 16.31; Gal 2.20; Acts 15.11.
• 14.3. This faith, although it differs in degree, and may be weak or strong,¹¹ even at its very weakest is in an entirely different class and has a different nature (like other aspects of saving grace) from the kind of faith and common grace which is possessed by temporary believers.¹² Therefore, though it may be frequently assailed [attacked] and weakened, it gets the victory,¹³ growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ,¹⁴ Who is both the ­author and finisher of our faith.¹⁵ 11 Heb 5.13-14; Matt 6.30; Rom 4.19-20. 12 2 Pet 1.1. 13 Eph 6.16; 1 John 5.4-5.” 14 Heb 6.11-12; Col 2.2. 15 Heb 12.2.” [2]

Discussion Questions

• What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ?
• What does it mean to receive him for salvation?
• What does it mean to rest on him alone for salvation?
• Why is it important that our faith, rest, and salvation is according to what was “offered to us in the gospel?”
• Have you placed your faith and rest alone in Christ for your salvation?
• What evidence in your life might be a testimony to this?