17 December 2014
Opening
Prayer/Worship
Hymn: All People
That on Earth Do Dwell
|
Theme: The Body
of Christ
|
Topic:
The Planting of the Lord
|
Reading: Isaiah
61:1-4, 8-11
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a
faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise
up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many
generations.
8 For
I the Lord love
justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and
their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me
with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns
herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a
garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will
cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Introduction
The
Scripture is filled with agricultural similes that explain our relationship
with God. In today’s study, we will be
discussing how we are the panting of the Lord.
The word ‘planting’ creates several impressions in our mind- seed, soil,
work, fruit, harvest, growth and development, watering, weed, food and so
on. Therefore to say that we are the
planting of the Lord implies that we are neither an accident nor afterthought
but rather that God has a plan and purpose for us according to His will for us
in Christ Jesus. When we understand that
we are the planting of the Lord, it helps us overcome obstacles along the path
of achieving God’s desire for our lives.
This is possible through His grace upon our lives, and guiding of the
Holy Spirit; for if the Lord planted us, we know without doubt that He will
water and take care of us.
Questions/Discussion
1. What is your
understanding of being the planting of the Lord?
Psalm 1:1-6
1 Happy
are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
4 The
wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord watches
over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Isaiah 61:1-4
The spirit of
the Lord God is
upon me,
because the Lord has
anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the
oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
and the day of vengeance of
our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead
of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead
of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to
display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins,
they shall raise up the former
devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many
generations.
Matthew 15:1-20
Then Pharisees and scribes came
to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2‘Why
do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their
hands before they eat.’ 3He
answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of
your tradition? 4For
God said, “Honour your father and
your mother,” and, “Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.” 5But you say that whoever
tells father or mother, “Whatever support you might have had from me is given
to God”, then that person need
not honour the father. 6So,
for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah
prophesied rightly about you when he said: 8 “This people honours me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 9 in vain do they worship
me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.” ’ 10 Then
he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: 11it is not what goes into
the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that
defiles.’ 12Then the
disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took
offence when they heard what you said?’ 13He
answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be
uprooted. 14Let them
alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And
if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ 15But Peter said to him,
‘Explain this parable to us.’ 16Then
he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not see that
whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18But what comes out of the
mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.19For out of
the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false
witness, slander. 20These
are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’
2. What are the
lessons for us in John 1:6-8, 19-28 regarding being a planting of the
Lord?
John 1:6-8, 19-28
There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John. 7He
came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through
him.8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the
light. 19 This is the testimony given by
John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are
you?’ 20He confessed
and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ 21And they asked him, ‘What
then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered,
‘No.’ 22Then they said
to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you
say about yourself?’ 23He
said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the
way of the Lord” ’, as the
prophet Isaiah said. 24 Now they had been
sent from the Pharisees. 25They
asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ 26John answered them, ‘I
baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming
after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ 28This took place in Bethany
across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Psalm 126:1-6
1 When
the Lord restored the
fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has
done great things for them.’
3 The Lord has
done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore
our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
3. How do we
become a planting of the Lord?
John 1:9-18
The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He
was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did
not know him. 11He
came to what was his own, and his
own people did not accept him. 12But
to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become
children of God, 13who
were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but
of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and
lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only
son, full of grace and truth.15(John
testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes
after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’)16From his fullness we
have all received, grace upon grace. 17The
law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God.
It is God the only Son, who is
close to the Father’s heart, who
has made him known.
1 Thessalonians
5:16-24
Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise the words
of prophets, 21but
test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22abstain
from every form of evil. 23 May the God
of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body
be kept sound and blameless at
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The
one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
2 Timothy 2:14-26
Remind them of this, and warn
them before God that they are to
avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are
listening. 15Do your
best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no
need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. 16Avoid profane chatter,
for it will lead people into more and more impiety, 17and their talk will
spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have swerved from the
truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place. They are
upsetting the faith of some. 19But
God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those
who are his’, and, ‘Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away
from wickedness.’ 20 In a large house
there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some
for special use, some for ordinary. 21All
who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils,
dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. 22Shun youthful passions
and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on
the Lord from a pure heart. 23Have
nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed
quarrels. 24And the
Lord’s servant must not be
quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, 25correcting opponents with
gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the
truth, 26and that they
may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do
his will.
Intercession/Worship
Conclusion
As we
celebrate the first coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ, let us remember that
the Lord, who began a good work in us, will without doubt carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Closing Prayer (Collect for Third Sunday of Advent)
God of power and mercy, you call
us once again to celebrate the coming of your Son. Remove those things which
hinder love of you, that when he comes, he may find us waiting in awe and
wonder for him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.
