Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
This coming Lord’s Day we will continue our look at the Second Commandment in the Decalogue. Our text will again be taken from Exodus 20:4-6. As we saw last week, this Commandment forbids the worship of God by means of idols or likenesses of anything in heaven or on earth. And this prohibition specifically applies to the creation of anything that would represent God, the angels, or other creatures. Worship must be simple, and governed by God’s self-revelation and not the imagination or creative abilities of human beings. But why does the Lord restrict worship in this way? And what, in practical terms, does this mean?
Throughout Church history the use of such images in worship has been a significant point of controversy and contention. Believers have at times made use of many objects in corporate worship, ranging from simple crosses to the (alleged) skeletal remains of notable saints. Of course, the Roman and Orthodox Churches continue to use various icons and sacred artifacts in their worship to this day. But is this pleasing to God? Does the employment of such worship aids violate the substance of the Second Commandment? And, a bit closer to home, how should this Commandment shape and govern our worship today? Is our worship pleasing to the Lord, and if not, how should we reform it?
These are some of the issues we will touch this Sunday as we gather before our Savior and Lord. And, as always, let us be faithful to spend time in prayer for the preaching of God’s Word and ready our hearts to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Mission Report From Ireland
Also on Sunday it will be our joy to hear a mission report from Seth and Jessica Lewis, our missionaries to Ireland serving with Crossworld Missions. Seth will be bringing us news of the Lord’s work, and he will tell us how we may specifically pray for them and the spread of the Gospel there.
Sunday School Starts Sunday August 9th at 9:15 AM
On Sunday August 9th we resume our Sunday School ministry for all ages. Below is the class breakdown for our fall semester of Christian Education.
In our Children’s Division:
Pre–K and Kindergarten
1st and 2nd Grade
3rd through 5th Grade
In our Youth Division:
6th through 8th Grade
9th through 12th Grade
In our Adult Division:
Class 1–‘Let My People Think!’ Confronting the major issues of the day with the Word of God.
Class 2–‘What Did Jesus Really Say?’ Examining some of the more difficult sayings of our Lord.
Church-Wide Picnic Next Sunday at 4:30 PM
And don’t forget about our Picnic next Sunday afternoon at the Church House at 4:30 PM (parking will be at the Worship Center parking lot). BBQ will be served beginning at 5:00 PM. And for those interested, we will also have our annual Ice Cream Contest. Bring your best recipe and we’ll see who becomes our ‘Frozen Chosen Champion’ this year!
I love you all and have each of you in my heart and in my prayers!
Mike