“Deuteronomy Ch.6 Verses 4, 5 Here is a brief summary of religion, containing the first principles of faith and obedience. Jehovah our God is the only living and true God; he only is God, and he is but One God. Let us not desire to have any other. The three-fold mention of the Divine names, and the plural number of the word translated God, seem plainly to intimate…
Call to Worship January 12, 2025
“Acts 18 Verses 1–6 Though Paul was entitled to support from the churches he planted, and from the people to whom he preached, yet he worked at his calling. An honest trade, by which a man may get his bread, is not to be looked upon with contempt by any. It was the custom of the Jews to bring up their children to some trade, though they…
Call to Worship January 5, 2025
“Charles Spurgeon preached a plethora of New Year’s sermons during his pastorate at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. For Spurgeon, the arrival of a new year was a time that brought forth thinking on the Lord’s faithfulness and the Christian’s right response to the Lord in the new year. Five sermons preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle highlight Spurgeon’s understanding of what the Christian was to do with the new…
Call to Worship December 29, 2024
“In Genesis 3, one of the great tragedies in all of Scripture occurs. Adam and Eve sin against God, and are banished from the garden as God puts a curse upon the ground. It is a heartbreaking rupture in God’s perfect creation, and it is hard not to read this text without feeling a twinge of despair. And yet, before the curse comes a promise. God declares…
Call to Worship December 22, 2024
“The shepherds were keeping their flocks by night; probably a calm, peaceful night, wherein they felt the usual difficulty of keeping their weary eyelids still uplifted as sleep demanded its due of them. On a sudden, to their amazement, a mighty blaze lit up the heavens, and turned midnight into midday. The glory of the Lord, by which, according to the idiom of the language, is meant…
Call to Worship December 15, 2024
“Fifthly, There are several kinds of prayer. I shall speak a word to these three, [instantaneous], secret, and family… 3. Family prayer. God must be worshiped in our families, as well as in our closets. (1.) God commands it, in so far as he requires every kind of prayer, Ephesians 6:18, ‘Praying always with all prayer.’ The scripture speaks of a church in Aquila’s house, Romans 16:5. Surely the…
Call to Worship, December 8, 2024
“Fourthly, In whose name are we to pray? In the name of Christ, John 14:13, 14, ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.’ This is to plead the merits of Jesus Christ. We must come to God in the name of Christ, laying all…
Call to Worship, December 1, 2024
“Thirdly, The matter of prayer, or what we are to petition and seek for. These are, the things that are agreeable to God’s will. To pray for the fulfilling of unlawful desires, is horrid, James 4:3. But the will of God is the rule of our prayers, 1 John 5:14, ‘This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he…
Call to Worship November 24, 2024
“Of the Nature of Prayer in General; with the Import of Praying Without Ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17, ‘Pray without ceasing.’… Secondly, The parts of prayer are three, (1.) Confession, (2.) Thanksgiving, and (3.) Petition. 1. Confession, Daniel 9:4, 5, ‘I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant, and mercy to them that love him,…
Call to Worship December 17, 2024
“Of the Nature of Prayer in General; with the Import of Praying Without Ceasing1 Thessalonians 5:17, ‘Pray without ceasing.’THESE words are an exhortation briefly delivered, as laws use to be; and therein we have, 1. A duty proposed, ‘Pray.’ 2. The manner of it, ‘without ceasing.’ I. We have the duty itself, ‘Pray.’ It may be asked, What is prayer? I answer, It is ‘an offering up…