Sermon Preview
Dear Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
This coming Lord’s Day morning, as we continue our study of the major characters in the book of Judges, we will take our final look at the man named “Gideon.” And we have arrived at what is, perhaps, the most famous episode from his life—the amazing story of the Lord’s reduction of his army to just a fraction of its original size, from 32,000 to just 300 men, and the ultimate defeat of the Midianites.
But, as we have also observed along the way, the story of Gideon’s life and times is much more than just an interesting and even entertaining episode from the Old testament. It is an example for us. By looking at this story, and all of the others that we find in the Old Testament, we learn something very important about God’s plan of salvation, how He redeems His people, and how they serve Him and His kingdom in this world. This is why we are not at all surprised to find Gideon among those Old Testament men and women of faith mentioned in the Epistle of Hebrews in the New Testament. In the life and times of Gideon we see the one, eternal plan of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ—and the life of Spirit-empowered and God-glorifying service that it inaugurates—unfolding most beautifully before our eyes. And this will be especially true as we investigate this most well-known event recorded in Judges 7. Our focus for Sunday’s sermon will be upon verses 1-9, but you will need to be familiar with the remainder of the story found in 7:10-8:35 to more fully benefit from the message.
The overall theme of this colorful event is discovered in Judges 7:2 where the Lord explains to Gideon why his forces must be significantly downsized before they go and confront the Midianites: “lest Israel become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’” I believe you can see the immediate relevance to us and to our salvation in Christ, and the presence of the very same danger we also face as we serve our Lord in this world. So take another good look at this amazing episode from the life of Gideon, and join me in prayer that the Lord will speak to us most powerfully on Sunday.
Let me also say just one more word about Sunday School. All of our classes resumed last week. And we would encourage you to be a prat of this wonderful opportunity for further growth in the Lord and in our faith, and for the blessed opportunity for fellowship that Sunday School affords us. For our adults, we are studying the topic of “Spiritual Depression” as addressed by D. Martyn-Lloyd Jones in his classic book by the same title. If you have a copy of the book and are reading along with us, I will be continuing our introduction to the topic (chapter one) and also getting into chapter two, “The True Foundation.”
I love you all so much and eagerly look forward to coming together with you in the worship of our great Savior and Lord!
In His grace,
Mike
Upcoming Events:
January 16, 6 PM – Women’s Evening Study
January 17, 9:30 AM – Women’s Morning Study
January 17, 6 PM – Diaconate Meeting
January 18, 6 AM – Men’s Morning Study
January 21, 4:30 PM – Youth Group
January 31, 8:30 AM – Senior Fellows Bags O’ Blessings packing at The CARE Center
February 25, 2 PM – New Members Class
Order of Worship:
You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here
The songs for this week are:
To Thee I Come
Hark the Voice of Love and Mercy (It is Finished)
Have Thine Own Way 688, all 4 verses
He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought 600, vs 1,3-4
Announcements:
Diaconate Announcement: Do you have a practical need, or know of someone who does? Your diaconate is most ready and willing to serve you, or to help you serve others, in any way we can. Please simply contact our Chairman, Jeff Brown, or speak to any of our Deacons. Our names are listed in the bottom of the bulletin, or you can send us an email at deacons@christpreshamptoncove.
New Members Class: The next New Members Class will be on February 25 from 2 to 6 PM at the church. Childcare will be provided, and there will be a meal immediately following. Attending the class does not obligate you to join the church, but those wishing to join must attend the class. Visitors will not receive this notice via email, so if you know of any visitors interested in church membership, please help make them aware of the upcoming class date.
Children’s Ministry Help: Our nurseries are still growing! Praise the Lord! We have SEVERAL more babies coming this spring, and we want to make sure we have loving, caring volunteers to serve our young families in the nursery area.
- Arrive at the baby nursery at 10:15 am.
- Greet moms, help them get their little one settled, take any instructions from visitors.
- Rock, love, and hold these precious babies (ages 0 to about 18-20 mos)
- If there are not many babies in nursery, and the staff feels okay about it, you may leave and return to worship. This will happen on occasion.
Schedule Announcement: Sunday School has resumed, with classes for all ages at 9:15 AM. We strongly encourage you to come participate in this important time of study and fellowship. For adults, the Spring Semester of Sunday School will be studying the Christian classic by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure. A link to this book is here if you’d like to secure your own copy and read along with us.
Women’s Bible Studies: The Women’s weekly studies are ongoing. The Tuesday evening study is at 6 PM, while the Wednesday morning study is at 9:30 AM.
Men’s Bible Study: The Men’s Morning Bible Study is also back in action, meeting every other Thursday. The next meeting is January 18 at 6 AM.
Youth Group: Youth Group meets again on January 21 at the church at 4:30 PM for all students in grades 6-12. Invite friends and neighbors!
Senior Fellows: On January 31 at 8:30 AM the Senior Fellows will support Bags of Blessings packing at The CARE Center.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Bill Bower, Suzi Jones, Robin Holloway, Chris Smotherman, Elizabeth Holton, Janet Chou, Ramona Edwards, Nolan Osmer.
Expecting: Please pray for the the Townsley family, expecting in March, and the Staffords and Deans, expecting in April.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); RUF at Alabama A&M; Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky Garcia (seminary student).