Sunday, October 25, 2020

Silent Prayer of Preparation
Merciful Father, We confess that our hearts are so often on this life:  its worries and responsibilities; its hopes and dreams.  Father, would you this day, open our eyes to the hope of a life spent with you, both now and in eternity.  Remind us again of the truth that you will return in glory, and help us by faith to look forward to that city whose designer and builder is God.  Amen.

Call to Worship                                                                            Psalm 130:1-4
"Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared."



Opening Hymn                                "If Thou Hast Drawn a Thousand Times"
                                                     
Invocation                                                                                                         
 
Memory Verse for October                                                        Daniel 2:20–21
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;"

Reading of Scripture                                                             Romans 16:1-16

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, ² that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. ⁵ Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you."
 

Hymn                                                                                         "Jesus, I Come"

Returning God’s Tithes and Offerings                               2 Corinthians 10:9
"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness."

Online Giving Here

Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!  Amen!

 
Sermon                          “The Widow’s Offering"                      Mark 12: 41-44

                                                                                     
Closing Hymn                                       "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise"                                                          

Benediction           
                     
Email mercy@firstprespooler.com if you are in need of care or help during this season.

Evening Worship
Rev. Dr. Bill Gleason
Ordinary People – Extraordinary God: Studies in Ruth
Session Six: Kindness/Steadfast Love to Others – How It Works
Ruth 2:20, 3:10
 
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Ruth 2:20
 
And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first ….” Ruth 3:10
 

Bottom Line Up Front

• God’s Gracious Love to Us Is What Produces Love to Others through Us
• Faith is the Drive Shaft that Connects the Power of Grace to the Axles of Love

 
 
I. Loving and Being Loved

1. God’s Love

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Acts 17:24-25
 
“God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made, not deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in by, unto, and upon them: He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things …” (The Westminster Confession of Faith, 2.2)
 
“What motivates [God] is not the need for something he does not have …  but his delight in displaying what he already possesses. This is benevolent love, a love that is distinct from need-love; it is the desire to take the blessing that one enjoys and extend it beyond oneself so that others will also benefit from it” (Daniel Fuller)
 

2. Our Love
• For Self
• In the sinful sense – selfishness

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive … 2 Tim 3:1-2
 
“Self-love is a trait that man has after the fall, and its evil … is not its desire for happiness, but its finding that happiness in narrow, merely private interests.” (John Piper)
 

• In the good (in-created) sense – the soul’s desire for its own happiness and fulfillment

 
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matt 22:39
 
“It is not contrary to Christianity that a man should love himself, or, which is the same thing, should love his own happiness. That a man should love his own happiness, is as necessary to his nature as the faculty of the will is, and it is impossible that such a love should be destroyed in any other way than by destroying its being.” (Jonathan Edwards)
 
“All men seek happiness, without exception; they all aim at this goal, however different the means they use to attain it …. The will never makes the smallest move but with this as its goal. [The quest for happiness] is the motive of the actions of all men, even of those who contemplate suicide.” (Blaise Pascal)
 

• For God: “Need Love”
• Lost at the Fall

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Gen 3:8
 
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Rom 1:22-23
 
“Man once possessed true happiness, of which nothing now remains save the mark and empty outline, which he vainly tries to fill in with his circumstances, seeking from things [ahead in the future] the help which he fails to find in things present, [but] all of them incapable of giving [contentment and joy], because the infinite abyss can only be filled by one infinite and steadfast object, that is, by God Himself.” (Pascal)
 

• Restored through Conversion

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor 4:6
 
“Love to God is the form that self-love takes when God is discovered as the all-satisfying fountain of joy.” (John Piper)
 
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matt 13:44
 
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Phil 3:7-8a
 
“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose! You drove them from me, you who are the true, sovereign Joy. You drove them from me and took their place ….” (Augustine of Hippo)
 
The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! Ruth 2:12
 

• For Others: “Benevolent Love”
• Loving from the “Overflow”

“What motivates our love is not the need for something we do not have …  but our delight in displaying what we already possess. This is benevolent love, a love that is distinct from need-love; it is the desire to take the blessing that we enjoy and extend it beyond ourselves so that others will also benefit from it” (Fuller paraphrased)
 

• Restored through Conversion

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 1 Jn 3:14
 
Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 Jn 4:7
“The Spirit of God is a Spirit of love, and when the former enters the soul, love also enters with it. God is love, and he that has God dwelling in him by his Spirit, will have love dwelling in him also.” (Jonathan Edwards)
 
“What motivates our love is not the need for something we do not have …  but our delight in displaying what we already possess. This is benevolent love, a love that is distinct from need-love; it is the desire to take the blessing that we enjoy and extend it beyond ourselves so that others will also benefit from it” (Fuller paraphrased)
 
And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first ….” Ruth 3:10
 
II. Faith and Love
 

1. The Marks of a Christian

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.
Eph 1:15 (cf. Col 1:4; 1 Thess 3:6; 2 Thess 1:3; 1 Tim 1:14; 2 Tim 1;3; Philemon 5)
 

2. The Sum of What God Requires

This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.
1 Jn 3:23
 

3. How Faith and Love Work Together
• Grace Produces Faith

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should … believe in him ….
Phil 1:29; cf. Eph 2:8; Acts 18:27
 

• Faith then Works through (Produces) Love

In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
Gal 5:6 (cf. 1 Tim 1:5)
 

• Both Faith and Love Are Gifts of Grace

 
The Grace of God      à      Faith in God      à      Love for Others
                                        Begets                                   Begets