PRAYER OF INVOCATION THE CONFESSION OF OUR FAITH

Transcription

1 CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 96:1-3 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! A HYMN OF PRAISE Hymn 2 O Worship the King PRAYER OF INVOCATION THE CONFESSION OF OUR FAITH Apostles Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. ASCRIPTION OF PRAISE Hymn 4 All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above (Stanza 1) RESPONSIVE READING Psalm 145 Hymnal, Pg. 838 THE CONFESSION OF SIN God of glory and love, you endured the searing loss of your most precious treasure to pay our ransom, and for this we adore you today with joy and gladness. You have called us to love one another as you have loved us, and we confess before you our complete unwillingness to obey this command. Like Cain, we are often consumed with jealousy of our brothers and sisters, harboring deep hatred in our hearts toward them. Instead of laying down our lives for others, we require them to serve us, and resent them when they fail to meet our expectations. Forgive us, Lord. Holy Spirit, we need your strength and help to survive our many failures to love others every day. Please give us swift and true repentance for our very real hatred toward others. Convict us of our selfishness and pride, and soften our hearts to cherish and love one another. Help us to believe that you love us, and cause that love to transform us radically into people who extend grace and mercy to others. Let us see the cross more clearly and more often, where the power of your love is openly displayed, where our sin is crushed and destroyed, and where our names are written in the wounds of our crucified Savior. We come in his name, amen. SILENT CONFESSION OF SIN

2 ASSURANCE OF PARDON In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 RESPONSE OF THE CONGREGATION Hymn 345 Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken (Stanza 4) SCRIPTURE READING John 13:1-17 Pew Bible Pg THE PASTORAL PRAYER Followed by the Lord s Prayer ( Debts ) OFFERING and DOXOLOGY Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heav nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Old Hundredth L.M. (731) A HYMN OF PREPERATION Hymn 342 Christ is Made the Sure Foundation THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD OF GOD Philemon 4-7 Pew Bib le Pg Paul Encourages Philemon Pastor James A. La Belle A HYMN OF RESPONSE Hymn 355 We Are God s People BENEDICTION Now blessed be the Lord our God, the God of Israel, for he alone does wondrous works in glory that excel. And blessed be his glorious name to all eternity; the whole earth let his glory fill. Amen, so let it be. McKee CM (11:1,2)

3 Philemon 4-7 Paul s encouragement of Philemon Understanding the passage in context I. Look at vv A. Paul begins with Accordingly, which means what Paul s about to say in vv.8-10 is directly shaped by what he already said in vv.4-7. B. So what are Paul s next words? He says though he could command Philemon, he preferred to appeal to him. C. Now why would Paul do that? He says, for love s sake (v.9), i.e., because Philemon had shown himself to be a man so heartily given over to love, there was no need to command him to show love to Onesimus. II. But how did Paul know this about Philemon? What confidence did he have that a command was unnecessary and that an appeal would be effectual? A. The answer to that question is the very point of vv.4-7. These verses explain the reason and ground of Paul s confidence that a tender appeal was all that would be needed to persuade him to receive Onesimus. B. So Paul prefaces his appeal for Onesimus (v.10) by encouraging Philemon in these verses that his love for the saints is well known and fruitful which meant his showing love to Onesimus would be most appropriate and in keeping with the godly character for which he was already known. Learning from the passage I. Paul s first encouragement he prays for Philemon. A. Paul believed in the power and efficacy of prayer and craved a place in the prayers of others, 1Th 5.25; 2Th 3.1; Col 4.3 B. He wants Philemon to know that he s close to his heart and that his needs are known to Paul, who faithfully brings them before God. C. This would ve greatly encouraged him as it should us when others tells us of their prayers for us. Prayer brings the Lord God Almighty onto the scene. Is anything too hard for Him? Why, then, don t we find greater encouragement in the prayers of others than we usually do? II. Paul s second encouragement he d heard of Philemon s love for all the saints and of his faith toward the Lord Jesus. A. This would ve been both encouraging and humbling. Humbling because Philemon s not looking for recognition but encouraging because it testifies that others are seeing Christ in him. PCCC 12/31/17

4 B. It would ve also been encouraging in light of the many times Philemon failed to love as he ought. Paul says nothing of his failures but only of his successes. C. We tend to say too little when others do well and too much when they do badly. We can learn from Paul. D. The best way to encourage people forward is to show them how far they ve already come, not by showing them how far they still have to go. III. Paul s third encouragement he d received much joy and comfort from Philemon s acts of love for the saints. A. As one who prayed daily for the church s welfare, he thoroughly identified the interests of others with his own and sincerely rejoiced when it was well with their souls. B. The world envies the prosperous and covets their prosperity; but the people of God rejoice and find comfort wherever and in whomever God sees fit to bestow His blessings. C. When we find it hard to rejoice in the good of others, it s because of our pride and self-conceit. Let us pray for the humility to rejoice in others blessings and for a love for Christ that takes comfort in His people being blessed. IV. Paul s 4th encouragement the reports of Philemon s service in the gospel had caused him to give thanks to God. A. Philemon hoped that his good works would point people away from himself to Christ, so it would ve encouraged him to know that Paul was caused to thank God for Philemon s works. B. It s hard not to want people to look at us and tell us how great we are, but that s because of our sinful love of self. Let s pray for a greater love for God and a greater desire that He be glorified in and through us. V. Paul s last encouragement he prays that Philemon would do more and more in the way of loving the saints. A. Many laboring for the Kingdom would not welcome such a prayer. They would prefer a prayer for less work. But not Philemon. He would ve echoed this prayer with an Amen. B. Let s pray for God to increase our love for Christ and our joy in His work until we re willing and desirous to do more and more for Christ and are thankful for such prayers as Paul s. VI. These are the several ways Paul encourages Philemon ahead of his request in v.10 to acquiesce. It s a model example of how we should encourage one another in our gospel work but only because it s an example of the way Christ encourages us, Mt Can we learn from Paul how to love one another as Christ has loved us? PCCC 12/31/17

5 We extend a cordial welcome to the visitors in our service today. Please sign our guest register in the narthex. Christian Education classes are available each Sunday at 8:50 am. All are welcome. Adult Sunday School Class Join us for a new semester study, Old Testament Survey: The Wisdom Books, led by Pastor La Belle. Sunday Afternoon Study 4:30pm, Pastor La Belle will be leading the study entitled Heartwork. Join us for Lesson 6, Governing the Heart. Prayer Meeting Come pray with us Wednesday at 6:30pm. The prayer meeting will begin with a brief study led by an Elder followed by a time of intercessory prayer. P.Y.M. Friday, 6-8pm Upcoming Men s Retreat Please prayerfully consider registering for this year s men's retreat at Camp Shiloh in Jefferson N.H. This promises to be a blessed time for us as we will be instructed in God's word unto our sanctification along with enjoying Christian fellowship among the Brethren. Please make every effort to attend! The Annual Meetings of the Congregation and the Corporation will be held on January 27 th at 9:30 AM. In preparation for these meetings, the annual reports should be ed to Tara Furman at pcccsecretary@gmail.com no later than January 13 th from the following persons/committees: Pastor, Session, Clerk, Diaconate, Christian Education, Cadets, GEMS, Women s Fellowship, & Trustees. Thank you. Also, please check the Bulletin Board for upcoming nominations. The missionaries for this month Bob and Martha Wright serving in Nakaale, Uganda Bulletin announcements should be submitted to Tara Furman by 12 noon on Wednesdays. Please to pcccsecretary@gmail.com or call