TMG
Tom’s Midweek Greeting
Crossroads Community Church
Nevada MO
October 31, 2019
www.nevadacrossroadschurch.org
Hello, Church Family!
I look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday at the Y for Sunday morning classes and for worship! Don’t forget that we turn our clocks back one hour on Saturday night!
On Sunday in our worship service, we’ll celebrate the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We’ll do that in two ways:
1) Toward the end of the service we will take the Communion meal which Jesus gave His followers for the purpose of remembering Him.
2) Throughout our service, we will re-live the meal that Queen Esther shared with the King of Persia and his wicked right-hand man, Haman, in the Old Testament book of Esther, chapters 7 and 8.
The two meals have a lot of similarities! In fact, so many that I’m calling Sunday’s sermon “The Good News According to Esther.”
Here’s a short review of the story of Esther up to this point: Esther and her step-father Mordecai are Jews living in Persia some 470 years before Christ. King Xerxes (also called King Ahasuerus) was a real king who ruled Persia and who was at war with the rising nation of Greece. Xerxes has taken Esther to be his wife, although he does not know Esther is a Jew! In the meantime, the prime minister at this time, a wicked man named Haman, has drawn up a plan to eliminate all the Jews living in the empire. Mordecai, Esther’s step-dad, has urged Esther to reveal her identity to the king and to do whatever she is able to put a stop to this genocidal plan. “Who knows,” he has said to Esther, “but that God has put you in this place for such a time as this!” (Esther 4:14).
In this coming Sunday’s part of the story, we’ll see Esther finally garner the courage to make her identity known to the king. It takes place at a meal, and it becomes the Good News according to Esther!
Worship at 10:00.
Classes at 9:00 — “The Truth Project,” for high school & middle school students ; “Why We Believe The Bible,” for everyone.
If you haven’t been part of our “Why We Believe the Bible” class, jump in this Sunday! It may be one of our most practical sessions, as we study three purposes of studying the Bible – observation, interpretation, and application. How can we do each of these three things better?
Coming Up at Crossroads
Elders Meeting. The elders will meet immediately following the worship service this Sunday.
Thanksgiving Dinner. A carry-in Thanksgiving dinner is being planned for the church family and your friends on Sunday afternoon, November 17, starting at 1:00 pm at the Enchanted Prairie Farm, 17557 Stockade Road, just south of Nevada. Mark your calendar for this good time of fellowship! Erin will have a sign-up list at church this Sunday so you can sign up to bring food. The dinner will take the place of Home Group in November.
Congregational Meeting. Our next Congregational Meeting will be Sunday, January 12, right after the worship service. If you have input you would like to give for the 2020 church budget, please share that with one of the elders.
Christmas Eve Service. Plans are being made for a Christmas Eve service, December 24th, at 6:30 pm. Mark your calendar and watch for more details!
Prayer Requests
One of the ways we can exercise our powers of observation in studying the Bible is to look for prayers that are found in the bible. Some are straightforward; others can be discerned by drawing out the principles found in the passage being read or studied. As I was reading through the Psalms again this fall, I came across an impressive list of prayer requests made by David in Psalms 141-144. I hope you’ll look through them (or better still, read these four psalms), and maybe these prayers will help you in your own personal praying!
-
-
- Give ear to my voice! Psalm 141:1
- Set a guard over my mouth. 141:3
- Do not incline my heart to evil. 141:4
- Let the righteous smite me (reprove, correct me) in kindness. 141:5
- Don’t leave me defenseless. 141:8
- Keep me from the trap others have set for me. 141:9
- Let the wicked fall into their own nets while I pass by in safety. 141:10
- Look and see: No one cares for my soul! 142:4
- Give heed to my cry! 142:6
- Bring my soul out of prison! 142:7
- Hear my prayer! 143:1
- Give ear to my requests. 143:1
- Do not enter into judgment with me. 143:2
- Answer me quickly. 143:7
- Let me hear your lovingkindness in the morning! 143:8
- Deliver me from my enemies. 143:9
- Teach me to do your will. 143:10
- Let your Spirit lead me on level ground. 143:10
- Revive me. 143:11
- Bring my soul out of trouble. 143:11
- Cut off my enemies. 143:12
- Destroy those who afflict my soul. 143:12
- Bow your heavens and come down! 144:5
- Scatter them (my enemies). 144:6
- Confuse them. 144:6
- Stretch forth your hand; rescue me; deliver me. 144:7
- Rescue me; deliver me. 144:11
- May our children, crops, flocks, and community flourish. 144:12-14
-
David was in real trouble when he wrote these psalms! Many times we find ourselves in trouble too! These are raw prayers but remind us that we can be open before our loving Father who hears and who does deliver.
On Sunday we’ll see how God delivered Esther from the trouble she was in! I hope to see you Sunday!
— Tom
Leave a Reply