Dear Church Family,
These are unusual times. As we will not meet for public worship for at least three weeks, I am going to change the normal format of the Worship Guide. (1) Instead of posting a week at a time, I will be posting daily; (2) Since we don’t have Worship Texts to prepare for, starting tomorrow I will begin a sequential study through the book of Joshua; and (3) I will also be posting one question and answer from the Shorter Catechism every day. This is a wonderful time to memorize a couple dozen answers to the catechism – and for our High School students this will be a wonderful opportunity to review and to fix these truths in their minds.
For now, let me encourage you to read and discuss Psalm 1:1-6. The first Psalm is so important to the Christian life that it is well worth memorizing so that you can meditate upon it throughout the day. Allen P. Ross explains the central message of the psalm:
By drawing a contrast between the righteous and the ungodly, the psalmist instructs believers not to live the way the world lives, not to take spiritual, moral, or ethical advice from unbelievers, and not to join them in their profane enterprises; rather, believers must study the word of God in order to live an untarnished and productive life for God, and that life will be evidence of a living faith that will see them through the judgment, when God judges the wicked. …
For believers, the application is obvious: they must spend time meditating on God’s word so that they may live a distinct and productive spiritual life for God, and in the process find assurance that God knows them and will preserved them through the judgment. To unbelievers the message is urgent: they must come to faith in the Lord, because if they live their lives without faith in him or his word, not even their good deeds will count and they will not survive the judgment to come.
Prayer: Ask the LORD to keep your heart and mind engaged in His word.
MEMORY WORK
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.