Here’s what we had going, and here’s what I actually said earlier this afternoon.
Go on, compare it to what I had planned by way of digital scribbles.
The fellow who exhorted for Holy Communion had this to say: Remember what Jesus Christ has done, and give thanks.
Quite refreshing compared to what the older folks were used to – giving too much attention to avoiding eating or drinking in an ‘unworthy’ manner, they had the people reflect on their sins, on their works (or lack thereof)… Here I’m happy to have heard it from someone else: Eating the bread and drinking the wine / juice not in remembrance of our works, but of Christ’s finished work.
The fellow who exhorted for Offertory / Giving, on the other hand, approached by testifying. His family was experiencing a transition from working from home to going back to working face to face. He didn’t elaborate on what they were experiencing, but he was more excited to proclaim: even in transition, God will not leave or forsake us.
What’s more: ‘Blessings will come, more sooner than later‘
Finally, the fellow who had the opportunity to testify this time around was as excited as he was emotional about the entire ordeal he shared – but in the end, of course, he gave thanks to God, because not only was he feeling ‘hit’ by circumstance, but he was also feeling ‘down’ with regards to his faith… but he was thankful for her sister who knew what he was going through before he even said anything; she reminded him to seek the Lord, to worship when he could, to read the Bible and pray when he could.
…and his taking part in leading worship earlier was a testimony of how God saw him through his present trials.
We went through declarations before jumping directly into the Word.
After a quick prayer I set the expectation to all, that I’m sharing how we’ve been doing ever since the start of this year. I told em, if y’all have your 2024 bingo cards all updated with people and events, well, I’m here to make sure your ‘spiritual’ bingo cards are up to speed.
Psalm 20
Trust in the Name of the LORD Our God
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion!
3 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
5 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
9 O LORD, save the king! May he answer us when we call.
We started with the first quarter of 2024, where we emphasized focus on Psalm 20 and finding out for ourselves, appreciating how we can and should trust in the Lord.
We went through crucial topics such as:
- Trusting God through the famines (of food and truth) and earthquakes (both real and in our heads)
- I told them about how the famines aren’t just the lack of good food, but the abundance of bad food. And it’s not just about famines of food, but famines of Truth; Lack of truth, abundance of lies.
- Trusting in the name of the Lord
- I spoke to them about how I believe a ‘name’ implies or connotes association and relationship; Rather, if we say we trust in the name of the Lord, we’re trusting that He helps us because we bear His name – we are not only associated with Him, but we are also in a deep relationship with Him.
- If we say we trust in the name of the Lord, we’re saying that He helps us because He keeps up with His name. Because we are associated and have a relationship with Him, He is responsible for helping us.
- It was pretty timely that we sang This I Believe by Hillsong (‘For I believe in the Name of Jesus’ 🎵) and How Great Is Our God (‘Name above all names, You are worthy of all praise’ 🎵) earlier.
Even as early as then, we had a foreshadowing of what was to come, in the book of Romans:
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:10-13
Psalm 111
Great Are the LORD’s Works
1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Throughout the Second Quarter, we pivoted from our trusting in the Lord, to realizing how trustworthy He really is… and in the process, we also had a look into His faithfulness.
- This was around the time when we celebrated how we surely can trust Him, as the Savior who rode on a donkey, and then as the resurrected King.
- It was when we celebrated God’s faithfulness to us in the form of our Moms, who pray for us when nobody else prays.
- We also circled back and celebrated God’s trustworthiness to us in the form of our Dads – if our Moms spoke words of life for us, then our Dads lived according to their word – Our God is trustworthy as a Father, and we see this as He is true to His word. All His promises in Christ as ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’.
Do you see a pattern here? As you continue to trust in the Lord, you also see more of His faithfulness.
Also, did you notice something else in these two Psalms? Only a couple of the verses talk about His faithfulness, or on how we should trust in Him. The rest of the verses speak of His goodness.
There’s a connection between God’s faithfulness and our trusting Him, but it’s all rooted – not in our works, not in our efforts, not in how good we claim ourselves to be – All of it has its source in God’s goodness.
God’s goodness brings us to see HIs faithfulness.
God’s goodness brings us to trust in Him.
God’s goodness leads us to repentance.
By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we went through the book of Romans during Q3.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”Romans 1:16-17
What is this Gospel?
God is supreme. He alone is glorious and great.
Because of Adam’s disobedience, we were separated from Him.
While we were yet sinners, Christ loved us and gave His life for us.
We have been reconciled and made righteous unto eternal life – Here and now, unto forever.
Four questions to ask ourselves, as we approach the end of this wonderful year, 2024:
Have we been trusting in the Lord?
I certainly have. Recall how, when I turned 40, my time at the pulpit was spent complaining, if I’m being honest – that it seemed like the difficulty level of life in general increased significantly. It was there that I found out how all that I placed my trust in – money and myself – absolutely failed me. Rather, ever since things got more difficult, I lost my trust in myself, and, well, I lost my money.
Have we seen His faithfulness so far this year?
It’s automatic – we trust in Him, we are humbled, and we see His trustworthiness and faithfulness. And that was truly the case here. I saw all I trusted in crumble… but in its place, I saw what remained – God’s faithfulness, not in the form of money, but what really mattered – people. There weren’t a lot of us during the start of the year and I took time to look at everyone who made their way there and stayed there. We may not have money and we have each other.
It wasn’t an accident that we’ve started moving from telling each other ‘I don’t need you’, to ‘We need each other’. I feel as if, in our seeing His faithfulness, we’ve been led to depend on each other – not to recover, but to amplify our own individual potential, beyond what we could achieve on our own. We need the Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently this leads us to really saying we DO need each other.
Do we have a bigger understanding of what it means for us to be saved?
Yes. I’ve seen how great God is, how hopeless I was, and a bigger picture of who Christ is and what He has done. What we have in and through Christ is FAR better than anything that we could ever have in this world. And we don’t need to work or strive for Christ, and all He worked for us to have! All that’s left is to believe, and receive breakthroughs and milestones according to His wisdom!
Our prayer is that we all look forward to seeing each other every Sunday to celebrate all we have in Christ. Our generation, and the next generations to come.
This is where I mentioned to all that immediately after this, and during the month of November, we will be talking on 2 Timothy.
How has our salvation impacted us in our conduct towards ourselves and others?
I answered this by saying I learned that I had much more to learn.
I closed with the following verse:
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.Romans 16:25-27
God bless us all.
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