• 69 – What A Friend We Have In Jesus
• 73 – Sweet Hour Of Prayer• Opening Prayer• 166 – He Loved Me So• 392 – Count Your Blessings• 95 – ‘Tis The Blessed Hour Of Prayer• Sermon• 305 – Let Him In• 683 – Sing And Be Happy
Isaiah 534 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
1 Corinthians 1123 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat, this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
• 69 – What A Friend We Have In Jesus
• 73 – Sweet Hour Of Prayer• Opening Prayer• 166 – He Loved Me So• 392 – Count Your Blessings• 95 – ‘Tis The Blessed Hour Of Prayer• Sermon• 305 – Let Him In• 683 – Sing And Be Happy
“Disciplines for
the Disciple”
• “The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people” - (Treasury of Christian Discipline, Richard Foster).
• “Discipline” – Training that develops self-control & character.
“On a Spiritual
Pilgrimage”
“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to
abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war
against the soul”
1 Peter 2:11
“Imitate me, even as I also imitate Christ.”
1 Cor. 11:1
“as obedient children, not conforming
yourselves to the former lusts, as in your
ignorance.”
1 Peter 1:14
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such
there is no law.”
Gal. 5:22,23
• Do we believe that the disciplines are only for the spiritual titans?
• Do we believe that such disciplines lie just beyond our grasp?
• Absolutely not!
“Motivation Check”
• “What do we want our relationship with God to be like?”
• ‘Are we only willing to tolerate a “brief dabbling” of exploring the motivation and needs of the soul?’
• “Do we want our relationship with God to be a joy or a burden?”
“Rejoice in the Lord always”
Phil. 4:4
“I have learned to be content in
whatever circumstances I am”
Phil. 4:11
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…He will be like
a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which
yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not whither”
Psalm 1:1-3
“A Vital Requirement”
“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so
my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God
Psalm 42:1,2
“Meditation”
•Reflecting on God’s works•Practicing God’s
deeds•Pondering on
God’s law
“O how I love Thy law! It is my
meditation all the day”
Psalm 119:97
“I have more insight than all my
teachers, for Thy testimonies are my
meditation”
Psalm 119:99
“My eyes anticipate the night watches,
that I may meditate on Thy word”
Psalm 119:148
“When I consider Thy heavens, the
work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou
hast ordained”
Psalm 8:3
• When we read the Scriptures do we dwell upon what we are reading, or do we read simply to get through the material? • Do we really contemplate
upon what we have read?
• Do we seek to apply what we are reading to our daily lives and how we interact with others? • Do we use what we read
to make needed adjustments in our attitude?
“Let your mind dwell on these
things”
Phil. 4:8
• Do we contemplate the great things that God has done for His people? • Do we dwell upon His love
in sending Jesus for us, and the beauty of His creation?
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His
disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you
may have life in His name.”
John 20:30,31
“Solitude”
• Silence is not a bad thing if we are pondering God and our relationship with Him. • Jesus often took time out
to be alone (Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:13,23; Mark 6:31; Matthew 26:36-46).
• The purpose for such mental solitude is to be prepared to say what needs to be said at the right moment (Proverbs 25:11; 1 Peter 3:15; Colossians 4:6)
• “The disciplined person is the person who can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.” - Foster
• Missing opportunities?– Spend more time in prayerful
reflection and in anticipating questions and objections and possible problems.
• Mental solitude also helps us control the tongue (James 3).
• There are times when we need to “draw near to listen” rather than say anything(Eccl. 5:1-2).
“Simplicity”
“No one can serve two masters”
Matthew 6:24
“All things are lawful for me, but I will not
be mastered by anything”
1 Cor. 6:12
“fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one
mind.”
Phil. 2:2
• It is often that fear of what others may think or a hundred other motives determine our “yes” or “no” rather than obedience to the will of God (John 12:42-43).
• Simplicity means that we are loosened from the anxiety over earthly possessions (Matthew 6:25-34).
• Simplicity means that God is always the center of our lives!
• We are very susceptible in losing our focus in our pursuit of the genuine, even good things.
“and the worries of the world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things
enter in and choke the word, and it becomes
unfruitful
Mark 4:19
“Disciplines for
the Disciple”
“When There’s No Applause”
