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The J-Curve will help you process the suffering of life and see it’s purposes. Click the link to watch.
Tag Archives: suffering
Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 6/19/2022
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Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 6/12/2022
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Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 6/5/2022
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Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 5/1/2022
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Morning Meditation
Genesis 47:4
[4] They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to *sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
One might think that Jacob had not been sojourning previous to arriving in Egypt. Yet, he had been living in the the land of Canaan that God had promised to give the descendants of Abraham.
Yet, when Pharaoh asked him how old he was, he replied: Genesis 47:9
[9] And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.”
He described his entire life as “the years of my sojourning.” Maybe this means nothing or maybe he was looking beyond this life and this land. Maybe he had his eye on Beth-el!
Morning Meditations
Genesis 41:51
[51] Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”
If we could keep in mind that on that Day, God will make us forget all our hardships then we might live differently in this foreign land. We are just sojourning here.
Let us be fruitful now in the land of affliction: Genesis 41:52
[52] The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
Help me remember because I easily forget.
Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 11/14/2021
Is it possible to be a secret follower of Christ? That is a question I seek to answer in the context of this story. Let me know what you think.
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Sermon Manuscript for Lord’s Day 11/7/2021
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Order of Worship—John 19.16b-30
Opening Chorus “He has made me glad” page 579
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
(Ps. 22:1-31) To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet– 17 I can count all my bones– they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.
Hymn No. 446 “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine”
Hymn No. 225 “There’s Power in the Blood”
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn No. 234 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
Sermon John 19:16b-30
The Lord’s Supper
Hymn No. 389 “Blest Be the Tie”
Postlude
Next Week’s Text: John 19:31-42
I Have a Problem with Pilate’ Sign
The charge for which Jesus died was insurrection and sedition. To claim that one rules as King over what Caesar had already laid hold of resulted in capital punishment. But, as we know, the chief priests’ real charge was blasphemy for which the law demanded that one to be stoned. But there was no law for claiming to be a king. Therefore, if they were to carry out their plan to kill Jesus, they needed the Romans to do it because at that time they were a slave state and had no authority to carry out their desires.
So, the charge needed to change for that to happen. Jesus most certainly was the Promised Messiah/King of the Jews. But Pilate doesn’t hear theological categories but political categories. Therefore, Pilate’s sign reflects the charge for which Jesus died: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
But I have a problem with the sign. I don’t have a problem with its content. I believe it to be the truth. But rather it lacking my sin for which Jesus did not refuse and for which he willingly died and all of which he was innocent of committing. He died for his enemies like me that his strips might heal my sinful soul.
What about you? Do you have some additions to make to Jesus’ sign?
The Word Is Not Imprisoned 