The Guide for the Week of November 13-19th, 2022
The 23rd Week after Pentecost
Bible Passage for the Week
Deuteronomy 25:11-19
Romans 12:1-2
Philippians 2
Psalm 48
Verse to Memorize
Romans 12:1
Catechism Questions
Q. Why did God make you and all things?
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
People to Pray for:
Church: Trinity Reformed Church
Pastor Jody Killingsworth
Ministry: Warhorn Media
Civil Magistrate: All Newly Elected officials
Song Recommendations:
Deuteronomy 25:11-19
Romans 12:1-2
Philippians 2
Psalm 48
Verse to Memorize
Romans 12:1
Catechism Questions
Q. Why did God make you and all things?
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
People to Pray for:
Church: Trinity Reformed Church
Pastor Jody Killingsworth
Ministry: Warhorn Media
Civil Magistrate: All Newly Elected officials
Song Recommendations:
For the beauty of the earth, For the glory of the skies, For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies, Refrain Lord of all, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour Of the day and of the night, Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r, Sun and moon and stars of light, (Refrain) For the joy of ear and eye, For the heart and mind’s delight, For the mystic harmony Linking sense to sound and sight, (Refrain) For the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child, Friends on earth and friends above, For all gentle thoughts and mild, (Refrain) For each perfect gift of Thine To our race so freely giv’n, Graces human and divine, Flow’rs of earth and buds of heav’n, (Refrain)
Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore; Rejoice, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore; Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! Jesus, the Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love; When He had purged our stains He took His seat above; Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and heav’n; The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n; Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! He sits at God’s right hand till all His foes submit, And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet: Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord, the Judge shall come, And take His servants up to their eternal home. Lift up your heart, lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say, rejoice! Lift up your voice; Rejoice, again I say—, re—joice!
Notes for Parents
Bible Passage for the Week
Deuteronomy 25:11-19
“Alright gentlemen, we’ve already been through the rules. Let’s have a clean fight, obey my instructions and protect yourself at all times. Touch gloves if you want to, and go back to your corners.” If you have ever watched boxing or MMA fighting, you have heard the referee at the beginning of the fight say this to the fighters. He is reminding them of the rules. Fair fights have rules. Our passage today speaks of a command given regarding a fight between two men. It is an shocking verse. Its not what you expect to find in the Bible. But the gist is if two men are fighting a woman isn’t allowed to come in a give a low blow. Now why is this in scripture? What’s the point?
First of all, its not talking about accidental contact but rather intentional actions to attack a man in his privates. This is a malicious strike intended to injure the man to the point where he cannot have children any longer. It is emasculating him and cutting him off from having posterity and from being able to enter the temple. Remember a few verses ago that God forbid eunuchs from coming into the temple.
This rule set a boundary that protects a man’s ability to have children and his ability to come into the presence of God. There are several applications for us this that can come from this passage. We see once again that God honors childbearing and protects it. We do not see in scripture any promotion of preventing child birth.
But the point, I want to drive home is that there are rules here for a fight. These rules protect those in the fight and insure they can continue to be able to worship God. Fighting is not necessarily a good thing. These two men may be sinning. God’s law deals with man as he is. Fighting unfortunately is a fact of living in a fallen world. Two people or more are prone to conflict. You see it with your children. You see it with you and your spouse. And you see it with those in the church. Conflict happens as two disagree. Sometimes a conflict can lead to greater peace as a disagreement is worked out. Therefore not all conflicts can be avoided. But we can remember to deal with conflict fairly.
In my pastoral counseling of married couples, find the problem isn’t always that they fight but that they either don’t have enough of the right fights or they don’t fight fairly.
Regarding the right fights, most people rather than deal with issues as they arise, sweep it all under the rug building up a lot of bitterness. They wait till there is a tipping point and and let all the bitterness and anger pour fourth. At this point the fight is never about the issues but about the bitterness and hurt feelings. Husbands have to be willing to deal with sin and problems without being passive or harsh. Wives need to talk through issues while having a gentle and quiet spirit without either giving the silent treatment or being the nag. Fight about things that matter.
Secondly, you must fight fair. Follow the rules to a good marriage fight:
1. No physical violence or destruction of property
2. The D Word is forbidden. Never threaten divorce or say you hate them.
3. No insults especially using their family against them aka you are like your mom.
4. Stick to the issue at hand. Don’t make the fight about everything from the past or every irritation you have ever had.
5. No taking your ball and going home. Don’t just throw up your hands and check out.
6. It’s ok to take a break if it’s getting too heated. Let your spouse call a timeout. Don’t abuse this rule therefore see rule 5.
7. Admit when you are wrong. Confess sin and forgive.
8. Enjoy the makeup after the fight.
Romans 12:1-2
In this chapter, the Apostle Paul begins to give instruction on the Christian life to the church in Rome. Everything he says here is predicated on the first 11 chapters, a quick summary of which is that you were dead in your sins, unable to save yourself, deserving the wrath of God, not able to be redeemed by lawkeeping, but you were saved by the grace of God through faith. Over the next few weeks we will be going through several key aspects of the Christian life but the primary thing is that the Christian life is simply the life of thankfulness. Everything that a Christ does is a response to the grace of God. Your obedience is your reasonable service. You give your life to serve God because Christ gave his life on the cross to rescue you. You must must must must get the gospel right in your home. Husbands if your wife cannot articulate the gospel then forget everything else you are doing and teach her it. The same with your children. They must know that they are sinners who can only be saved by God’s grace. It is not their good deeds. It is by the unmerited favor of God.
Philippians 2
Imagine you got yourself in trouble with a loan through a loan shark. This guy is in deep with the mafia. The interest rate is so high that you can’t even pay the interest each week. Finally the man comes with two Italian thugs to rough you up. They say if you don’t have 6 million dollars that you own them (you originally took out a 100,000 loan but interest and the fact that it’s the mob bumped it up), you and your whole household are going to pay with your life. You think about running but they have your house under surveillance. You can’t go to the police, you will be thrown in jail besides they can get to you in there. You have seen the movies. You are anxious the whole night. You have called around and nothing you have done gets you closer to finding the money.
Finally, as the sun rises you look out your window to see the seedy loan officer approaching with his two armed bodyguards. You know its over now. Nothing you can do. But something happens, your neighbor whom thought was your personal enemy shows up with a briefcase. He comes in the house just as they get there. He hands them the briefcase and says its all in there, all six million dollars. The mobsters take the money and they leave. You are relieved. You don’t know what happened. You look at your neighbor. He smiles at you and says I love you man, glad you are safe now. How do you respond? Well, you begin grumbling about the fact that you don’t like how he has kept up his yard. You don’t like how he lets his kids play in the yard so you grumble about that. And why didn’t he give you more money. You grumble about the food your going to have for dinner. No you don’t do any of that. You are eternally grateful.
Everything the Christian does is a response of thanksgiving to God. You owed more than 6 million to someone far more powerful than the mob. You were enslaved to the devil and had no hope of help. If you have been forgiven your sins, how could you not spend your whole life giving thanks to God. You owe your life to God. You do not have anything that he has not given you.
Philippians 2 says Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Grumbling and disputing are not the characteristics of one who has been forgiven much. They are not the traits of those who know God and know how much they owe him. These are traits of people who have forgot who they are and what they have been purchased with.
Psalm 48
Read this psalm and rejoice in our King.
Catechism/ Memory Verse
The Christian life can be summed up in one word- thankfulness. We were created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We have so much to be thankful for. God has made us and taken care of us. He rescued us from sin and provides all that we need. Spend time this week encouraging your children in thankfulness. Routinely ask your child what they are thankful for. Do this especially when it has been a difficult day or week. Father, you be the lead worshipper not the lead grumbler.
People to Pray for:
Pastor Jody Killingworth has now been pastor of Trinity Reformed Church for about 5 months. He is still getting his legs underneath him and could use our prayer. Trinity is the largest church in our presbyterian and most influential. We should pray that God will bind them together in peace and give them growth in number and holiness. Pray that God will use their influence to grow our presbytery and more importantly the kingdom.
Warhorn media is the organization that publishes Tim Bayly’s books along with podcasts and music from members of our presbytery. They have been putting out a podcast called “The World We Made,” which is discussing the topic of abortion. I highly recommend you listen to it. Pray that God will also bless the influence of Warhorn. Also pray that God will raise up from among our own number those who are gifted in arts and media.
Lastly, pray for all those who were recently elected. Our nation has much to repent of. Its love of abortion is wicked. Pray God will give us all repentance and that those elected will honor the dignity of their office by obeying Christ.
Church History Spotlight
Serapion of Algiers 1179-1240 AD
Serapion of Algiers was also known as Serapion of England. As a young man, he went with his Father in the Third Crusade and was at the battle of Acre in 1191 alongside King Richard the Lionheart. The Muslims captured many Christians and enslaved them or held them for ransom. Serapion joined a group dedicated to finding and setting free Christians captured by Islamic pirates and raiders. On one of the rescues traditionally attributed to him in 1229 he ransomed more than 150 captives. In 1240 he made another rescue attempt to free 87 Christians held in Algiers by Muslims, and when the captors requested more cash, he volunteered to remain as a prisoner until it arrived. He began preaching to his captives and some were converted but the rest were angry. When no more cash was to be had, the Muslims bound him by the hands and feet to two poles, and then beat, dismembered, and disemboweled him.
Matthew 25:34-40
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
Deuteronomy 25:11-19
“Alright gentlemen, we’ve already been through the rules. Let’s have a clean fight, obey my instructions and protect yourself at all times. Touch gloves if you want to, and go back to your corners.” If you have ever watched boxing or MMA fighting, you have heard the referee at the beginning of the fight say this to the fighters. He is reminding them of the rules. Fair fights have rules. Our passage today speaks of a command given regarding a fight between two men. It is an shocking verse. Its not what you expect to find in the Bible. But the gist is if two men are fighting a woman isn’t allowed to come in a give a low blow. Now why is this in scripture? What’s the point?
First of all, its not talking about accidental contact but rather intentional actions to attack a man in his privates. This is a malicious strike intended to injure the man to the point where he cannot have children any longer. It is emasculating him and cutting him off from having posterity and from being able to enter the temple. Remember a few verses ago that God forbid eunuchs from coming into the temple.
This rule set a boundary that protects a man’s ability to have children and his ability to come into the presence of God. There are several applications for us this that can come from this passage. We see once again that God honors childbearing and protects it. We do not see in scripture any promotion of preventing child birth.
But the point, I want to drive home is that there are rules here for a fight. These rules protect those in the fight and insure they can continue to be able to worship God. Fighting is not necessarily a good thing. These two men may be sinning. God’s law deals with man as he is. Fighting unfortunately is a fact of living in a fallen world. Two people or more are prone to conflict. You see it with your children. You see it with you and your spouse. And you see it with those in the church. Conflict happens as two disagree. Sometimes a conflict can lead to greater peace as a disagreement is worked out. Therefore not all conflicts can be avoided. But we can remember to deal with conflict fairly.
In my pastoral counseling of married couples, find the problem isn’t always that they fight but that they either don’t have enough of the right fights or they don’t fight fairly.
Regarding the right fights, most people rather than deal with issues as they arise, sweep it all under the rug building up a lot of bitterness. They wait till there is a tipping point and and let all the bitterness and anger pour fourth. At this point the fight is never about the issues but about the bitterness and hurt feelings. Husbands have to be willing to deal with sin and problems without being passive or harsh. Wives need to talk through issues while having a gentle and quiet spirit without either giving the silent treatment or being the nag. Fight about things that matter.
Secondly, you must fight fair. Follow the rules to a good marriage fight:
1. No physical violence or destruction of property
2. The D Word is forbidden. Never threaten divorce or say you hate them.
3. No insults especially using their family against them aka you are like your mom.
4. Stick to the issue at hand. Don’t make the fight about everything from the past or every irritation you have ever had.
5. No taking your ball and going home. Don’t just throw up your hands and check out.
6. It’s ok to take a break if it’s getting too heated. Let your spouse call a timeout. Don’t abuse this rule therefore see rule 5.
7. Admit when you are wrong. Confess sin and forgive.
8. Enjoy the makeup after the fight.
Romans 12:1-2
In this chapter, the Apostle Paul begins to give instruction on the Christian life to the church in Rome. Everything he says here is predicated on the first 11 chapters, a quick summary of which is that you were dead in your sins, unable to save yourself, deserving the wrath of God, not able to be redeemed by lawkeeping, but you were saved by the grace of God through faith. Over the next few weeks we will be going through several key aspects of the Christian life but the primary thing is that the Christian life is simply the life of thankfulness. Everything that a Christ does is a response to the grace of God. Your obedience is your reasonable service. You give your life to serve God because Christ gave his life on the cross to rescue you. You must must must must get the gospel right in your home. Husbands if your wife cannot articulate the gospel then forget everything else you are doing and teach her it. The same with your children. They must know that they are sinners who can only be saved by God’s grace. It is not their good deeds. It is by the unmerited favor of God.
Philippians 2
Imagine you got yourself in trouble with a loan through a loan shark. This guy is in deep with the mafia. The interest rate is so high that you can’t even pay the interest each week. Finally the man comes with two Italian thugs to rough you up. They say if you don’t have 6 million dollars that you own them (you originally took out a 100,000 loan but interest and the fact that it’s the mob bumped it up), you and your whole household are going to pay with your life. You think about running but they have your house under surveillance. You can’t go to the police, you will be thrown in jail besides they can get to you in there. You have seen the movies. You are anxious the whole night. You have called around and nothing you have done gets you closer to finding the money.
Finally, as the sun rises you look out your window to see the seedy loan officer approaching with his two armed bodyguards. You know its over now. Nothing you can do. But something happens, your neighbor whom thought was your personal enemy shows up with a briefcase. He comes in the house just as they get there. He hands them the briefcase and says its all in there, all six million dollars. The mobsters take the money and they leave. You are relieved. You don’t know what happened. You look at your neighbor. He smiles at you and says I love you man, glad you are safe now. How do you respond? Well, you begin grumbling about the fact that you don’t like how he has kept up his yard. You don’t like how he lets his kids play in the yard so you grumble about that. And why didn’t he give you more money. You grumble about the food your going to have for dinner. No you don’t do any of that. You are eternally grateful.
Everything the Christian does is a response of thanksgiving to God. You owed more than 6 million to someone far more powerful than the mob. You were enslaved to the devil and had no hope of help. If you have been forgiven your sins, how could you not spend your whole life giving thanks to God. You owe your life to God. You do not have anything that he has not given you.
Philippians 2 says Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Grumbling and disputing are not the characteristics of one who has been forgiven much. They are not the traits of those who know God and know how much they owe him. These are traits of people who have forgot who they are and what they have been purchased with.
Psalm 48
Read this psalm and rejoice in our King.
Catechism/ Memory Verse
The Christian life can be summed up in one word- thankfulness. We were created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We have so much to be thankful for. God has made us and taken care of us. He rescued us from sin and provides all that we need. Spend time this week encouraging your children in thankfulness. Routinely ask your child what they are thankful for. Do this especially when it has been a difficult day or week. Father, you be the lead worshipper not the lead grumbler.
People to Pray for:
Pastor Jody Killingworth has now been pastor of Trinity Reformed Church for about 5 months. He is still getting his legs underneath him and could use our prayer. Trinity is the largest church in our presbyterian and most influential. We should pray that God will bind them together in peace and give them growth in number and holiness. Pray that God will use their influence to grow our presbytery and more importantly the kingdom.
Warhorn media is the organization that publishes Tim Bayly’s books along with podcasts and music from members of our presbytery. They have been putting out a podcast called “The World We Made,” which is discussing the topic of abortion. I highly recommend you listen to it. Pray that God will also bless the influence of Warhorn. Also pray that God will raise up from among our own number those who are gifted in arts and media.
Lastly, pray for all those who were recently elected. Our nation has much to repent of. Its love of abortion is wicked. Pray God will give us all repentance and that those elected will honor the dignity of their office by obeying Christ.
Church History Spotlight
Serapion of Algiers 1179-1240 AD
Serapion of Algiers was also known as Serapion of England. As a young man, he went with his Father in the Third Crusade and was at the battle of Acre in 1191 alongside King Richard the Lionheart. The Muslims captured many Christians and enslaved them or held them for ransom. Serapion joined a group dedicated to finding and setting free Christians captured by Islamic pirates and raiders. On one of the rescues traditionally attributed to him in 1229 he ransomed more than 150 captives. In 1240 he made another rescue attempt to free 87 Christians held in Algiers by Muslims, and when the captors requested more cash, he volunteered to remain as a prisoner until it arrived. He began preaching to his captives and some were converted but the rest were angry. When no more cash was to be had, the Muslims bound him by the hands and feet to two poles, and then beat, dismembered, and disemboweled him.
Matthew 25:34-40
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’