Family Worship Guide

Scripture Reading:
‍#1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. (Psalm 84:1-2).

#2 But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24).

Prayer of Praise: Refer to the verses above and hymn below.

Hymn:‍ In Christ Alone

Reading of the Law: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1Peter 1: 14-16)

Silent Confession of Sin/Confession of Sin: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

‍ ‍Reading of the Gospel: Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19)

Westminster Larger Catechism - Questions 6-10

Question #6

Q. What do the Scriptures make known of God?

A. The Scriptures make known what God is, the persons in the Godhead, his decrees, and the execution of his decrees.

Heb. 11:6; 1 John 5:7; Acts 15:14-15, 18; Acts 4:27-28.

Question # 7

Q. What is God?

A. God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.

John 4:24; Ex. 3:14; Job 11:7-9; Acts 7:2; 1 Tim. 6:15; Matt. 5:48; Gen. 17:1; Ps. 90:2; Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:1-13; Rev. 4:8; Heb. 4:13; Ps. 147:5; Rom. 16:27; Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4; Deut. 32:4; Ex. 34:6.

Question #8.

Q. Are there more Gods than one?

A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Jer. 10:10.

Question #9.

Q. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There be three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; although distinguished by their personal properties.

1 John 5:7; Matt. 3:16-17; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 10:30.

Question #10.

Q. What are the personal properties of the three persons in the Godhead?

A. It is proper to the Father to beget the Son, and to the Son to be begotten of the Father, and to the Holy Ghost to proceed from the Father and the Son from all eternity.

Heb. 1:5-6, 8; John 1:14, 18; John 15:26; Gal. 4:6.

Prayer of Thanksgiving: Give thanks to God for his steadfast love that endures forever and that he is our rock and our refuge.

Prayer of Supplication Supplication: Ask God to help you with your obedience to his holy law and to be more willing to forgive others.

Bible reading and commentary: 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

In 11:7-17, the false apostles dress up as angels of light to deceive the church. Here, Paul mockingly dresses up in the false apostle’s rhetorical style to show how the church has been deceived. He is speaking as a fool to uncover the foolishness of boasting (v 21). Counterintuitively, Paul commends himself by listing his sufferings for Christ (vv 23-28, 32-33). He uses an ironic, upside-down paradigm to communicate the inverted, upside-down reality of the gospel of which he is a minister. As such, he is far more interested in the things that show his weakness than in his audience’s definition of strength (v 30; 10:17). For his weakness puts the power of Christ on display.

In the economy of the gospel, godly foolishness trumps worldly wisdom, and at the heart of Christian folly is the crucified Messiah (1 Cor. 1:20-23). Paul’s record of sufferings is the greatest argument for his apostolic authority because it demonstrates his solidarity with God. Since Christ suffered, therefore Paul, Christ’s apostle, suffers. As we understand our own trials and sufferings in this light, we discover that, far from disqualifying us from experiencing and proclaiming the gospel, they actually qualify us for it. God uses the hardest and most shameful experiences of our lives to soften us and bring us to a fuller understanding of his surpassing benefits. In our isolation from the world’s provision, we learn that we are fully satisfied when God is our portion (Psalm 73:26). He uses our sufferings to demonstrate his sufficiency and he uses our afflictions as the occasion for dispersing comfort and the deepest realities of his abiding care (2 Cor. 1:3-11).

Christians must realize that boasting is always dangerous and pride never completely dies in us. And it follows that self-confident boasting is stupid, it is the way of the world. The world encourages us to sell ourselves. When we recognize that “From him and through him and to him are all things’ (Rom. 11:36), we shudder at any thought or suggestion of ascribing to ourselves what belongs to God. Philippians 2:3 applies here also: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Christian’s service must be characterized by unselfishness. We may accomplish this as we deliberately follow the example of our Lord Jesus in his ‘meekness and gentleness’ (v 20; compare 2 Cor. 10:1, Phil. 2:5-11). It is better to be regarded as weak than selfish or manipulative (v 21). There is no place in the Christian life for confidence in human achievements or lineage. Essential to spiritual understanding and entering into salvation is the absolute poverty of all we have to offer God and our total dependence upon his grace and mercy. We do better to boast of what shows our weakness than our strength, for then we confess our dependence upon God. God is not honored by boasting but by complete dependence on him. It is the way of being Christ like.

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: You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator (Col. 3:9-10).

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