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This Lord’s Day, we are happy to have Pastor Michael Riley as our guest speaker. A former member of our church, Pastor Riley and his family live in Wakefield, Michigan, where he pastors Calvary Baptist Church. He will preach about place of honor that Jesus now holds as described in Hebrews 1:1-4.

The sermon text continues Paul’s instructions to Timothy about appropriate worship that needed to be established in the churches. It speaks to proper roles in worship for men and women. It cuts across the grain of modern assumptions, but properly understood, Paul’s instructions chart the course for strong and joy-filled ministry.

In 1 Timothy, Paul instructed Timothy to set things in order in the churches in Ephesus. The first order of business was to establish well-ordered worship. This was the concern addressed in chapter two. In 2:8-10, Paul discussed the way men and women are to conduct themselves in worship, offering correction to improper behavior. His guidance makes it clear that his concerns were no merely superficial. He was concerned about underlying issues of the heart.

Last week we looked at the third of three tests given in 1 John for determining whether or not we possess eternal life: the test of love for God’s people. We saw that since love originates from God, those who have life originating from God should show the love which also originates from Him. God’s life in someone is so inseparably linked to God’s love that John goes on to show that the absence of love demonstrates the absence of life. This week we will look at the next verses that show us the tangible demonstration of God’s love in sending His Son and its powerful implications for us.

This Lord’s Day we will look at the epistle of 1 John where John writes to help his readers know for sure whether or not they have eternal life (5:13). To help them come to this certainty, he explores three tests which in combination expose the reality or absence of spiritual life. The tests may be captured in three questions: 1) Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? 2) Do you obey His commandments? 3) Do you love fellow members of the church? Our sermon text is 1 John 4:7-11 where John explores the test of love more thoroughly. Showing love demonstrates that we possess life that originated from God because love originated from God. 

This Lord’s Day, Missionary Scott is our guest speaker. He will preach in the worship service and present a ministry update during Family Bible Hour.

His sermon from 1 Peter 3:13-17 focuses on thinking “rightly, to bank of biblical truth, when we are suffering for the Lord.” The elements of the service acknowledge that we cannot always understand what God is doing, but we are determined to serve and uphold his cause despite difficulty that the world may bring to us.

This Sunday we will observe the Lord’s Table during the morning worship service. As usual, we will devote the entire service to this ordinance. Our scriptural focus will be Ephesians 2:11-13 in which Paul called his readers to remember what they were before Christ graciously saved them. Then he set in contrast their current, new condition accomplished by Christ.

I.  At the Table we remember what we once were: Far from God.

A.  We were once pagans.

B.  As pagans, we were:

II.  At the Table we marvel at what we have become: Near to God.

A.  Christ united us to himself.

B.  Christ also united us to each other.

C.  Christ accomplished this through his own blood.

The church has labeled this Lord’s Day, “Palm Sunday.” It marks the beginning of Christ’s Passion Week. The sermon will consider Matthew’s account of the Triumphal Entry. The hymns chosen present a sharp contrast between the praise of the fickle crowds that welcomed him that day and the worship of those who trust him as King and Savior.

Two weeks ago (March 3), we introduced Paul’s first concern for Timothy as he set things in order in the churches in Ephesus (1 Timothy 2:1-7). The focus of the message was on the importance of corporate prayer (vv. 1-4). This Lord’s Day, we will complete the message of the paragraph (vv. 5-7) where we see that the church’s prayers express our understanding of God’s saving mission.

This Lord’s Day, Mark Buhr will conclude his sermon series that has taken us through the book of Galatians. The series was lengthy because the sermons were preached whenever pastor Thomas was away. The concluding verses (Galatians 6:17-18) remind us of our mission—a calling that includes suffering for Christ.