Glory of Christ Fellowship

The Witness of Justice Micah 6:6-8 December 11, 2016 Sermon Notes 1. What’s the most important thing you learned from today’s sermon? From Micah 6:6-8? 2. How has this sermon helped you to grow in love for God and others? 3. What’s the most important thing Jesus would have you do in light of this sermon? 4. Take some time to worship Jesus. Thank him, praise him, and ask for his help as you seek to strive with other believers for the faith of the gospel.

Announcements—December 11, 2016 Ladies’ Retreat Fundraiser: Handmade items will be available for sale Today . Proceeds will help with expenses for  the Spring retreat. Reminder: NO SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP Services on December 25, 2016 and January 1, 2017. See the information table for the Christmas Eve invite cards to use  with those you would like to ask to attend the service. Wednesday Morning Prayer Meeting :  Anyone who would like to join in corporate prayer may do so. The prayer time is 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. at the church office. Next Week’s Fighter Verse The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23:1-2

Why Must We Ask of Jesus in Prayer? Part I By Pastor Charlie In John 15:7-8, Jesus promised, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you . By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (emphasis mine). Last week we saw that this promise assumes something very basic but extremely important, namely, that we must spend time with Christ. For the next few weeks we will meditate on another basic but important assumption, namely, that we must ask of Christ in prayer or our prayers cannot be answered. In Matthew 6:8 Jesus said, “…your Father knows what you need before you ask him,” which begs the question, Why then must we ask of Jesus in prayer? If the Father already knows what we want and if he is disposed to give us what we want when we ask according to his will, why then doesn’t he just give us what we want? I see at least eight reasons, three of which we’ll consider today. First,...

Sing: O Come O Come Emmanuel Reading: Luke 1:24-25 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Summary (for your preparation): By having a child we are told Elizabeth's reproach/shame is removed among the people. Why would there be shame in the first place? It seems there are at least two reasons: First, having children for a woman was a way to validate her usefulness in providing her husband with a family heritage. Second, and perhaps more applicable, Elizabeth's inability to have children would have been understood or assumed as sin on her part. In their cultural thinking, Elizabeth would have done something to receive such a severe punishment from God.Consider John 9:1-2. Obviously Elizabeth was hiding some type of sin for God to withhold the blessing of children. We also see something about the character of ...

Sing: Select one or two songs of your choice Reading: Luke 1:18-23 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.  Summary (for your preparation):  Zechariah is punished quite severely for his disbelief. Truthfully, it is a little hard to understand this. For instance, Mary asks a ver...

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. I heard a story of and Egyptian Christian who had extraordinary Arabic and communication skills. He was widely read and followed as he sensed God's calling upon his life to enter ministry. This blessing was not without its difficulties. He came to realize that people were becoming more impressed with is Arabic than his Savior. This man responded by switching to a more colloquial Arabic from his "high class" Arabic. His desire and purpose was to convey the message of the cross and he had come to the realization that h...

Sing: Joy To The World Reading: Luke 1:14-17 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Summary: The angel of the Lord had good news for Zechariah: they were going to have a baby. More importantly, this child was going to play a special role: he was going to prepare God's people for the arrival of Jesus. Teaching Tip: The questions aren responses are only meant to be a guideline. You might find some of them more helpful than others. The goal of your devotions is to engage your child with truth of God's Word in or...