Family Worship Guide

Call to Worship – Psalm 34:1–3
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! (ESV)

Old Testament Reading: Proverbs 1:8–19
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors. (ESV)

Prayer of Praise: Refer to the Call to Worship and the OT Reading above and the hymn below.

Hymn:‍ Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Reading of the Law: Deuteronomy 6:4–9

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (ESV)

Silent Confession of Sin/Confession of Sin:

Most High God, we have sinned; we are alien to you; our heads are deceitful and wicked; our minds an enemy to your law.  Yet in our lostness you have laid help on the mighty one, Jesus Christ, and he comes between us, our mediator, whose blood is our peace, whose righteousness is our strength, whose condemnation is our freedom, whose Spirit is our power, whose heaven is our heritage.  Grant that we may feel more the strength of your grace.  Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 32:1–2

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (ESV)

Response: The Gloria Patri

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen, amen.

Confession of Faith: Westminster Larger Catechism - Questions 91-95

Let’s continue to study the WLC by thinking about our duty to God and the moral law

Question #91

Q. What is the duty which God requireth of man?

A. The duty which God requireth of man is obedience to his revealed will.

Rom. 12:1-2; Mic. 6:8; 1 Sam. 15:22.

Question #92

Q. What did God at first reveal unto man as the rule of his obedience?

A. The rule of obedience revealed to Adam in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind in him, beside a special command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the moral law.

Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 2:14-15; Rom. 10:5; Gen. 2:17.

Question #93

Q. What is the moral law?

A. The moral law is the declaration of the will of God to mankind, directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in the frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body, and in performance of all those duties of holiness and righteousness which he oweth to God and man: promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the breach of it.

Deut. 5:1-3, 31, 33; Luke 10:26-27; Gal. 3:10; 1 Thess. 5:23; Luke 1:75; Acts 24:16; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:10, 12.

Question #94

Q. Is there any use of the moral law to man since the fall?

A. Although no man, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral law; yet there is great use thereof, as well common to all men, as peculiar either to the unregenerate, or the regenerate.

Rom. 8:3; Gal. 2:16; 1 Tim. 1:8.

Question #95

Q. Of what use is the moral law to all men?

A. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God, and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly; to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives; to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery, and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his obedience.

Lev. 11:44-45; Lev. 20:7-8; Rom. 7:12; Mic. 6:8; Jas. 2:10-11; Ps. 19:11-12; Rom. 3:20; Rom. 7:7; Rom. 3:9, 23; Gal. 3:21-22; Rom. 10:4.

Prayer of Thanksgiving:

Heavenly Father, we thank You that you have given us your Word, so we can get to know you better and to be able to love you more. Your people are grateful for teaching us through your Spirit out duty towards you. Lord, you have plainly shown us the moral law and have made it clear that we are not capable of keeping your law perfectly. We are thankful that you sent Jesus to die for us so we could be brought into your family through adoption. You have not only provided for the forgiveness of sin through Christ but also imputed his righteousness to us. And for this Father we are thankful. Blessed be our triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit one God now and forever more. In Jesus Name AMEN.

Prayer of Supplication:

Our merciful God and Father, we ask that you hear our prayers and answer them in your time and by your will. We pray for our church family, both young and old alike. We ask Father, that you heal the hurting, comfort the afflicted, give assurance to those who are struggling with their fatih and unbelief. We ask that you would superintend, Lord, over those who are facing operations, procedures and doctor’s appointments. May you cause their fear to be turned into trust in you. God, we ask you to remind us all of who paid for our very lives on the cross years ago and we pray in his name, AMEN.

Bible reading and commentary: Mark 2:13-17 (www.esv.org/Mark+2/ )

Questions to think about for the bible passage

Can you remember how God called you? It is OK if you can’t

What does it mean to you that Jesus went to dinner with sinners?

What does this story show us about who Jesus is?

What did Jesus mean by “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”?

In verse 13, Mark writes that Jesus was still focused on teaching, which points to the fact that Jesus was making disciples. Then as Jesus passed by the tax booth (v.14) he saw Levi (Matthew) sitting there. Levi was a tax collector who were usually despised by the Jews because they collaborated with the Roman empire. As the occupying political force in the Jewish land of Palestine, Rome and all who collaborated with Rome were despised by pious Jews. The taxation system was corrupt, and most tax collectors skimmed money from the taxes themselves. This makes Jesus’ calling of Levi particularly interesting. And what is even more interesting is that Levi follows him immediately.

Verse 15-17 gives us a very good picture of the compassion that Jesus shows to people who are outcasts in society. Mark uses the word sinners to describe others who are at this dinner. To recline at table indicates personal acceptance and willing fellowship. When dining formally in a home, guests reclined on a couch that stretched around three sides of the room. The host (Levi), took the central place surrounded by a U-shaped series of tables. The most honored guests reclined on either side of the host, with the guest’s heads towards the tables and their feet toward the wall.

By calling the people tax collectors and sinners, Mark is informing his readers that the people at this dinner are despised by the Pharisees because their perspective of both groups is that they disregard the law of Moses. According to Pharsaic interpretation, Jesus is to keep himself “clean” from such people. Jesus pursues a different path: personal purity and the fellowship of mercy.

Jesus likens those who are well to those who are righteous, and those who are sick to sinners. Therefore Jesus’ opponents must judge for themselves, which ones they are. On account of their lack of mercy, they are in fact “sick” and sinners.” In Christianity it is of utmost importance that we see ourselves as “sick” and “sinners”, so that we know we need a savior who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus boldly challenges the cultural and religious convention of his day by intentionally associating with despised tax collectors and sinners. In this way Jesus brings to fulfillment the Old Testament hopes that God would one day heal the broken and forgive the sinful among his people.

God’s pursuit of his people is not based on merit. It is based on our need and is by grace alone. Jesus’ entire mission proceeds on this foundation. It assumes that human beings are not capable of restoring their broken relationship with God, including the destructive personal and communal consequences of sinful striving to live independently of God.

Discuss questions above

Closing Thought

True followers of Christ are called to reflect Christ’s compassion and holiness to other human beings, irrespective of their race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or any other mark of distinction, since Christ has shown such grace to us.

Closing Hymn: The Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen

Closing Scripture: Psalm 121:7–8

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (ESV)

The Lord’s Prayer (together):

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.