Thank you for joining us for a special time of worship this weekend.
Today, we have a great treat. Friend and local ministry leader Rudy Draper will bring the word. Pastor Rudy and a team of committed leaders operate The Sower Ministry.
The Sower is an ecumenical, Christ-centered movement that focuses on Evangelism and Church Renewal, led by the Holy Spirit. The Sower currently operates out of 400 South Cross St. in Chestertown MD. Their mission is to share the undiluted, powerful message of the Good News of Jesus Christ, make disciples and grow the Church.
Pastor Rudy is sharing a message today from Luke 9:23 on Christian Discipleship.
I pray that your time with us in today's worship encourages your faith and helps you move closer to Jesus as you discover more of his plan for your life.
8:30 am
Live @Raum Chapel
9:30 am
Live @Wesley Chapel
Live on our Worship Line: (443) 252-2878
11:00 am
Live @Rock Hall Church
Live online @https://yourrockhall.online.church
On-Demand
This week's announcements:
Today's Order of Worship
Welcome
Morning Prayer
Opening Songs
Pastoral Prayer
Message
Holy Communion
Closing Worship
Benediction
Songs for Worship
9:30am
2024‘FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN”
127 “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH”
SPECIAL MUSIC: BRADLEY CHAIRES
381 “SAVIOR, LIKE A SHEPHERD LEAD US”
11:00am
I Am Not Alone
Nobody Loves Me Like You
You Say
Message Notes:
Luke 9:37-43 ESV
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
37 The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. 38 A man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. 39 An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. 40 I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”
41 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”
42 As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father. 43 Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power.
This week's prayer focus:
Sunday - Our Mission: God, let Your church be a light in our community and world. Matthew 5:16
Monday - Our Church: God, bring unity to the Body of Christ. John 17:20-23
Tuesday - Our Leadership: God, help our worship leaders and musicians lead us before Your throne in a spirit of worship. Psalm 33:3
Wednesday - Families: God, help our families faithfully follow Your commands. John 14:15
Thursday - Our Community: God, soften the hearts of the lost in our community, show them your light. John 3:16-18
Friday - Children/Youth: God, change the world through our young people rather than letting the world change them. Romans 12:2
Saturday - Adults: God, enable our adults to live lives of faithfulness to You and perseverance to the end. Hebrews 12:1-3
Merger Prayer Focus: Working through Difficulties
Whenever people come together for a shared purpose, they should acknowledge potential difficulties. Each person has ways of communicating, expectations, or baggage from the past. These might be traditions, or unspoken ways of handling problems. They might be differing communication methods, or past hurts that people have buried. What are the difficulties that might be facing the new church?
Pray for an awareness of the potential difficulties that may hinder the church. John 13:35
Pray for an openness to new traditions. Gal 1:14
Pray for conflict and hard feelings to be forgiven. Matt 6:14
Pray for ineffective systems to be set aside. Mark 2:22
Pray for clear communication of expectations. Jer. 29:11
Pray that turf issues will be minimal. 1 Cor 1:10
Pray for a healthy grief process. Matt 5:4
Take it Home:
CONSIDER THIS
But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Can we resolve something here at the outset of this journey to the Cross? The greatest hindrance to growing in our understanding of life, faith, Jesus, the World and the World to come is our present understanding of life, faith, Jesus, the World and the World to come. It's hard to learn what we think we already know. And that may be our greatest problem: We don't know what we don't know. Know what I mean?
In other words, the more we grow the more difficult growth becomes and the more likely we are to stall out, plateau, and get stuck or arrested in development.
So what's the remedy for this condition? Sometimes it takes a desert to bring us to a desperation which can lead us to a humility making way for the kind of learning that leads to breakthrough growth. The word "disciple" comes from the Greek word mathetes which means, "learner." A disciple is not one who learns by mastering information, rather a disciple is one who learns by submitting to a master. Here's how Jesus describes it:
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30
This is an invitation to discipleship. Discipleship is a spiritual deepening for the sake of Divine Love. It's not about fasting, though fasting is a key path toward deepening. It's not about becoming more disciplined, though discipline comes from the root word, disciple. It's not about developing an Instagram-oriented designer spirituality so others can #checkoutmyperfectlife. If ever there were a process for #nofilter and no selfies, it is discipleship.
Discipleship leads us to get in touch with the holy discontent that comes from having too much of that which does not ultimately matter and too little of that which actually does. Discipleship unfolds a path allowing holy discontent to lead us into a brokenness before God (whether that be a real-messed-up-ness or a not-quite-right-ness or a somewhere-in-between-ness). Discipleship extends the invitation to let our brokenness before God lead us to a deeper surrender and truer submission to Jesus. And the outcome? Finally, through this qualitatively different kind of surrender, discipleship reveals all the human possibilities of participating in the Divine Nature, whereby we may escape the corruption that is in the world and live extravagantly generous lives in the embrace of Holy Love.
There's a way to avoid this outcome below:
But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
So what was it they failed to understand?
"The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men."
Of course we get this. It's obvious. We learned it a long time ago.
This is basic Christianity 101.
Remember how Jesus prefaced this critically important statement?
“Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you:"
Ok, so I will go first. "Jesus, as sure as I think I understand what you said here, I am confident that I don't fully get it. I may not even get it a little bit. I want to ask you to instruct me and lead me deeper into the meaning of your life and death and resurrection. I've been in church all my life and I have the perfect attendance pins to prove it. I've been to seminary and even work for one. I write books about you. But, I confess that what I understand causes me to love you and to want to understand more, and I know that understanding more will cause me to love you more which will lead me to love others more. I'm listening Jesus.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a son/daughter Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a saint.
THE QUESTION
Do the words holy discontent ring a bell or strike a chord in your soul? How would you describe your present state of stuckness, or what might be the growing edge of transformation in your life?
By J.D. Walt
Bible Reading Plan:
Join us for our 5x5x5 New Testament Reading Plan. 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, & 5 questions to go deeper.
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