WELCOMED WORSHIP

“I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1 NKJV).

Unlike many folks today who prefer to be occupied doing other things, the Psalmist was glad to go to the house of the Lord. It true that a person’s attitude towards worship reflects his devotion to God. If you are not excited about worship, you may have a spiritual problem which is affecting your relationship with God. We ought to be glad to go to church to worship. Thus we want to note three reasons to be glad about worship - faith, future, and freedom.

Faith – We can be glad we can go to church to worship because the world in which we live, not only despises our faith but also tries to diminish our faith. However, at church our faith is not only honored but it is also helped. And our faith is more important than anything else in our life.

Future - We can be glad we can go to church to worship because there we learn the future and the hope that awaits us. When we go to the house of God to worship, we learn about the future and how to be prepared for it. Those who are wise recognize that we must give priority to preparing for the future. A future of joy and not judgment.

Freedom - We can be glad we can go to church to worship because this means we have freedom to worship. Many folk in many nations of the world do not have freedom to worship. Persecution has destroyed many churches and prohibited many from worshiping. But we have freedom in our land to worship. This means that we need to use this freedom to worship, wisely. Few losses are greater.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“He who lives a life of love and charity is constantly at worship!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Do business (Occupy)

In Luke 19:13 we read, “So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, do business till I come!” (NKJV).

Do business (occupy) is the Greek word pragmateuomai (πραγματεύομαι = prag-mat-yoo'-om-ahee). It is means to be busy or to occupy oneself in anything especially that of a banker or trader. It carries the idea of doing diligent business or trading, expending great energy and effort in producing effective results, not just spending one’s time casually working at something. We get our English word pragmatic from this word. In the context the slaves are to be pragmatic in their handling of the nobleman’s money.

Further, the word is an aorist imperative which means it is a command. The idea is to do this now! Don’t delay! Be pragmatic - the only practical thing to do in light of the Lord’s return is to be about the Father’s business! Instead of being a busybody, believers in the Lord Jesus are to be busy for the Lord; occupied with the task we have each been assigned. We are reminded Eph. 2:10 that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah’s betrayer would die unrepentant (Psalm 55:15)

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 27:35-; Acts 1:16-19

Did You Know…

In Psalm 22:1 we read, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:16 says that “They pierced My hands and My feet”. Psalm 22:18 also talks about casting lots for His clothes. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ repeats “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” after they pierce His hands and His feet. (Matt. 27:46) And the Roman soldiers cast lots for the clothes of Jesus (Matt. 27:35).

Bible Quiz

According to 1 Corinthians 1, the “Greeks seek for wisdom.” What does the Jews seek for?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: God told Abraham to leave which land to travel to the land of Canaan? Ur (Gen. 11:31)

Everyday Expressions Alluded to in the Bible

"Dig your own grave”

“He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent!” (Ecc. 10:8 NKJV).

“Dig your own grave” - The expression “dig your own grave” carries the idea of causing your own downfall or death. This familiar axiom tells us that those who plot evil against others often have their plans backfire on them. More times than not, those who create a problem will reap the consequences. Haman being hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai is the classical example (Esther 7:9).

Did You Know – Christian History

John Coleridge Patteson was born April 1, 1827 in London, England. He was an English Anglican bishop and martyr. A missionary to the South Sea Islands from 1855, Patteson was an accomplished linguist, learning 23 of the islands’ more than 1,000 languages.

Patteson attended Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated in 1849. After a tour of Europe and a study of languages, he became a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 1852. In 1855, he answered the call by Bishop George Selwyn of New Zealand for volunteers to go the South Pacific to preach the Gospel. He went there and founded a school for the education of native Christian workers.

He was adept at languages and learned twenty-three of the languages spoken in the Polynesian and Melanesian Islands of the South Pacific. He printed grammars and vocabularies and translated some gospels into the Mota language. In 1861 he was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia.

Patteson’s goal was to take boys from local communities, educate them in western Christian culture at his mission school, and return them to their villages to help lead the next generation. He had difficulty persuading local people to allow their young men to depart, sometimes for years, for this purpose

Patteson was deeply distressed by white sailors were grabbing natives of the Pacific islands as workers in various plantations. On September 16th, 1871 Patteson’s ship lay off the Santa Cruz group, a place where every effort to start a mission work had failed. He did not think that he was in much danger. However, earlier, slave-raiders had attacked the island of Nakapu. Patteson and several companions were assumed to be connected with the raiders. The natives of Nukapu Island clubbed him to death, indicating that he was killed in retaliation for five men recently stolen by white sailors. The vengeful natives shot three native mission workers with arrows at the same time. Patteson and his companions died on 20 September 1871. He is commemorated in the Church of England on 20 September.

Patteson’s death achieved what his life never had. Public outcry was so great in England that the practice of forced labor had to stop. His death not only became a cause celebration in England, it also increased interest both in missionary work and in improvement of the working conditions of laborers in Melanesia. The British navy enforced the ban.

A Little Humor

Pastor Martin led off the special fund-raising drive by visiting the James’ home, where Tim responded to his pastor’s request for $100 with, “No, Pastor, I can’t do it.” “Well then, how about $50?” “I can’t do it Pastor, I’m heavily in debt, and I have to pay my creditors first.” “But, Tim, you owe a great debt to God, too. Don’t you think He deserves your input?” “He sure does, Pastor, but God isn’t stressing me like my other creditors are.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“To know happiness, get to know Jesus!”