To help guide in worship during this week

Weekly WOrship Guide

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by life’s challenges that despair seemed your only companion? If so, I believe God has an encouraging word for you through His holy word. In 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 Paul writes of being ‘utterly burdened beyond our strength’ during his hardships in Asia. I want us to briefly look at this experience of Paul and see how it provides great insight into the Christian life, especially in the battle against sin. I want us to notice the similarities between Paul’s physical struggles and the Christian’s spiritual struggles, to try to better understand sin and how to overcome it. 2 Corinthians 1:8 says, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” Can you identify with the Apostle Paul? In this verse, Paul is not specifically referring to sin but to physical hardships and dangers. But I think that these words are nonetheless helpful, especially when he says, “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” This struggle is comparable to the emotions that one may experience when battling sin—a feeling that many people, specifically those who call themselves Christian, can relate to. Battling sin is a Christian's struggle. This supports what we said Romans 7:14-25 is describing. Paul is describing his personal struggle, not as a non-believer, but as a mature believer. This more than suggests that at times, we all go through this struggle with sin, almost to the point of despair. Isn’t it true that everyone who is truly a Christian wants to do the right thing because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Isn’t it equally true, that Christians struggle to do the right thing because sin still exists in them? Because of this tension, many Christians live in constant defeat because they have bought into the claim that mature Christians don’t struggle with sin. James Montgomery Boice says, “For, as we mature in the Christian life, growing closer to Jesus Christ and thus wanting to be more like him and please him more, the struggle actually grows stronger rather than weaker. Those who struggle most vigorously against sin are not immature Christians but mature ones. The hardest battles are waged by God’s saints.” D. L. Moody once said, “when I was converted, I made this mistake: I thought the battle was already mine, the victory already won, the crown already in my grasp. I thought the old things had passed away, that all things had become new, and that my old corrupt nature, the old life, was gone. But I found out, after serving Christ for a few months, that conversion was only like enlisting in the army--that there was a battle on hand.” In moments of spiritual warfare, Christians might feel on the edge of despair, to use Paul's words in 2 Corinthians. It is important to remember, though, that even though the struggle is real and hard, the end result will be wonderful, not despair—because of Jesus. In Romans 7, when Paul is at his lowest point, he asks, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” He then answers with a profound sense of thankfulness: “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 25). Despite feeling utterly helpless in himself, Paul maintains a positive outlook as a Christian, confident in the knowledge that God is for him. The good news is that this same confidence can be ours, not because we are so awesome but because Jesus is. This theme is mirrored in 2 Corinthians, where, like I said, Paul discusses not the struggle with sin but rather the challenges of physical danger and threats. Following his expression of deep despair, he says, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor. 1:9-10). For those wrestling with sin, as you undoubtedly are if you seriously follow King Jesus, that is what I want you to remember from this last worship guide on Romans 7. The purpose of your struggle is to teach you to rely on God, who raises the dead, rather than on yourself. And I want you to know that he has already delivered you from “deadly peril,” and that he will do so again.

Pastor BERT

Preparation for sunday December 3rd

Sermon Series:  Romans: The Gospel of God

Title:   The War Within, Part 3

Passage:    Romans 7:7-25


Reflection  for Sunday:  Read verses cited


Application  for Sunday:  How do the experiences and teachings of Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 and Romans 7:14-25 relate to your personal struggles as a Christian, particularly in the context of battling sin and feeling overwhelmed? How do these verses influence your understanding of the role of faith and the Holy Spirit in getting through these hard times?

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Sunday December 3rd

worship focus

Leader: Grace

          ““For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

2 Corinthians 5:21

  • hope of the ages

    Link to YouTube for this week's song 1 of worship

  •                                                     Noel

    Link to YouTube for this week's song 2 of worship

  • god with us

    Link to YouTube for this week's song 3 of worship

Connect Church Prayer Gram

December 3rd, 2023


“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,”     1 Timothy 2:1


Call to Worship: "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." Psalms 63:1-4


Prayer of Adoration: Pray this praise to God: Praise God from whom all blessing flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above you heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Doxology


Confess your sins to God:  Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden—cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, so that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. ~Book of Common Prayer (1552)


Assurance of Pardon: Receive these words of comfort from God: For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:2-5

 

Pray for those in local, state, and national offices.

 

Pray for our partners in Spain

Thank God with us for answers to your prayer for the parents of two international workers (IWs) to Spain. Eli Rosa´s mother and Walter Hopkins´ father have responded well to the cancer treatments. Pray for ongoing treatment to eradicate the disease. Pray for the families during the holiday season as they are far away. Continue to pray for the sale of two houses for Kingdom purposes. The proceeds from the one in Spain will go toward LIFE School. The proceeds from the other will enable Jim and Peggi to be one step closer to coming to Málaga to join Project AMOR through Marketplace Ministries. Mariasun returned quite ill from her visit to churches and family in the United States. Pray for healing from bronchitis and exhaustion; three weeks of this bug has taken its toll physically, emotionally and spiritually. Nonetheless, she praises God for the great interaction with key church partners for Project AMOR. Two of our IWs are hard at work painting and writing pieces for the upcoming “Strawberry Girls” campaign in Spain against human trafficking of migrant workers, specifically Moroccan women who pick strawberries in Spain. Kim P has painted some 80 pieces! Recently they have been meeting with representatives of various organizations who are ready to help launch “The Strawberry Girls” project with exhibits all over Spain and the publishing of a story/art book.


Panta ta Ethne (Matthew 28:19 “all nations”): Bobo Madare in Burkina Faso

 

Persecuted Church: A Prayer for refugees and those in exile