July 24-30th Family Worship Guide 2022

Bible Passages for the Week
Deuteronomy 17:1-7
Matthew 21:33-46 
Ephesians 3
Psalm 118

Verse to Memorize
Genesis 2:4-9 with special focus on verse 7

Catechism Questions
Q. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.

Q. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.

Q. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.

Q. Have you a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.

Q. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.

People to Pray for: 
Church:  Trinity Presbyterian Church
                 Pastor Andrew Dionne
             
Ministry: Operation Save America
                 Jason Storms
                                           
Civil Magistrate: Jeffersonville City Council

Song Recommendations:
The Ten Commandments

Psalm 118 - Give Thanks To The Lord (For He Is Good)

Bible Passage for the Week
In our culture, idolatry isn’t that big of a deal.  We have made a principle of making sure that people are free to worship idols.  We believe it’s a right to worship whatever you want.

Therefore, when we read a passage like we do in Deuteronomy it shocks our sensibilities.   In Deuteronomy, God’s people were warned of the serious consequence of transgressing God’s covenant.  They were warned that idolatry is adultery to God and His goodness.  If any people were found to be worshiping idols, they were to face a fair trial and then to be executed if found guilty.  

There are things we can learn in this passage about how to carry out justice-the concept of a fair trial, being able to face your accusers, and not being convicted by just one witness- but the main thing we should learn is how serious idolatry is.    If someone were to search us, would they find us guilty of idolatry?  Are there things in your life you put above God?  If a fair-minded observer were to look into your life, what would they say are your idols?  Would you be found guilty or innocent if there were a trial?   There will be one day when we stand before God.  And his eyes see everything.  He is witness.  Let us repent of our idolatry before it is too late.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus reveals the hearts of the Jews and their leaders through a parable.  He tells the story of a vineyard owner who had hired out workers to care for it.  They were to gather in the harvest.  The owner sent several servants to collect the fruit but each time the workers killed them.  Finally, he decided to send His son.  Surely, they would respect his son.  But alas, they killed him too.

Jesus asked the question to his listeners, “what will the vineyard owner do.”  And from their own mouths they said, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end.” At that moment, Jesus had them trapped in their own testimony.  They were their own witnesses that they were covenant breakers and idolators and deserving the wrath of God.   Before Paul Washer said, “I don’t know why you are clapping, I’m talking about you.” Jesus did it and he did it better.  He turned the tables on them and said, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.”

The Kingdom isn’t for idolaters.  Its not for the fruitless.  Its for the faithful.   Let us be reminded that we have been grafted into the covenant but if we are fruitless, we too can be removed.
Ephesians 3 showcases how the covenant has been opened up to us gentiles.  Paul was a minister of the gospel to gentiles.   We have been drafted into the promise and are part of the one body of Christ.  We are built upon the chief cornerstone which is Christ.  
Psalm 118 is the response of praise for the grace and mercy of God.  He keeps his promises.

Catechism/ Memory Verse
This week our catechism questions and our memory verses speak to the creation of man.  We also see that man has a body and a soul.  This teaches us that while we care for the body, we must not neglect the importance of the soul.  One day our body will die but our soul will go to be with Christ to await the resurrection.  And then our body will be resurrected and glorified.  In the history of the church, there have always been people who have fell out of balance in regard to the body and the soul.  There is a temptation to emphasis one aspect of our existence over and against the other to a degree that we neglect one of the other.  An over emphasis on care for the body means that we become worldly thinking.  We forget that God has made us for eternity, and we live for the here and now only.  But to go to the opposite ditch is to forget that the only way we can be obedient in this life is in the body God gave us.  We should care about our health, taking care of natural resources, and the ways that we can do good to others.  

People to Pray for:
Trinity Presbyterian Church in a sister church in Evangel Presbytery with us.  Pastor Andrew Dionne has been instrumental in the formation of the presbytery.  He has provided important leadership in putting together our governing documents.  In addition, and more importantly, he is a faithful pastor to the people of His church and a bold fighter for the preborn in South Carolina.  Pray for His work as pastor and pray that God would grow Trinity Pres.

This week we are praying for Operation Save America and their national director Jason Storms.  For those who are new to Sovereign King, OSA is an organization that fights abortion and sexual immorality around the country.  We have had a friendship with them since we helped organize their national conference in Louisville back in 2017.  Please pray for them as they gather in Nashville the last full week of July.

Lastly, pray for the city council of Jeffersonville.  God has placed us in this city.  Pray that we can have opportunity to proclaim to them the truths of God and to serve where we are able.  Please pray that the city council members would repent of their sins and believe the gospel.

Church History Spotlight
James the son of Zebedee and his brother John were among the twelve disciples of Our Lord. They, together with Peter, were privileged to behold the Transfiguration, to witness the healing of Peter's mother-in-law and the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and to be called aside to watch and pray with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before His death.
James and John were apparently from a higher social level than the average fisherman. Their father could afford hired servants, and John (assuming him to be identical with the "beloved disciple") had connections with the high priest. Jesus nicknamed the two brothers "sons of thunder", perhaps meaning that they were headstrong, hot-tempered, and impulsive; and so, they seem to be in two incidents reported in the Gospels. On one occasion, Jesus and the disciples were refused the hospitality of a Samaritan village, and James and John proposed to call down fire from heaven on the offenders. On another occasion, they asked Jesus for a special place of honor in the Kingdom and were told that the place of honor is the place of suffering.

Finally, about AD 42, shortly before Passover, James was beheaded by order of King Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great (who tried to kill the infant Jesus), nephew of Herod Antipas (who killed John the Baptist and examined Jesus on Good Friday), and father of Herod Agrippa II (who heard the defense of Paul before Festus). James was the first of the Twelve to suffer martyrdom, and the only one of the Twelve whose death is recorded in the New Testament.
 
Highlight from the Westminster Confession of Faith:
The Westminster Confession of Faith says this in Chapter VII about the covenant: “The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.”

This statement puts us in our place.  God is God and we are not.  And because He is God and we are not, we by nature know that we owe Him all obedience, but we also would lack any understanding of the blessing it is to obey Him.  Our obedience would be only out of servile fear, the way that pagans fear the gods and try to appease them.  But because God is good and full of love, He condescends to us.  That means He comes down to our level and shows us the great blessing and joy that is found in Him.  And He voluntarily makes covenant with man.
In the garden, He made covenant with Adam and all his posterity.  If Adam obeys perfectly by not eating the forbidden fruit, He shall have life.  If Adams sin, He shall have death.  And of course, Adam sinned.

God didn’t end his condescension or kindness there because He thereafter established a covenant of grace.  The Confession says “Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.”

And this covenant of grace is given to God’s people in both the Old and New Testament.  In the Old Testament or Old Covenant, we see this God use the sacrifices, ceremonies, prophets, and promises to point His people to their sin and their need for a savior which they received by faith just as you and I. In the New covenant, the sacrifices, ceremonies, and other elements that were attached to the old covenant have finished their work.  Jesus came and these types and shadows were no longer needed. But we are still saved by faith.  And faith leads us to obey God’s commands.