Prelude & Preparation                                                                             Marlene Howard

                                                                                                                                                           

Welcome and Announcements                                                 Pastor Dan Neary

Pastor: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Be With You!  

Response: And Also With You!

 

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10 Things You Never Hear in Church (supplied by Pamela Cornell)

 

  1. Hey! It's my turn to sit in the front pew!
  2. I was so enthralled; I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time.
  3. Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf.
  4. I've decided to give our church the $500 a month I used to send to TV evangelists.
  5. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class.
  6. Forget the denominational minimum salary. Let's pay our pastor so he can live like we do.
  7. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!
  8. Since we're all here, let's start the service early.
  9. Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas.
  10. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!

 

Call to Worship  — Responsive from Psalm 34

 

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

 

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Glorify the LORD.

 

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Glorify the LORD.

 

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry.

Glorify the LORD.

 

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Glorify the LORD.

 

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

 

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty                                                         Chapel Singers

 

Repentance                                                                  Pastor Christian Lindbeck

Heavenly Father,
it does not take long to see that we live in a broken and dangerous world. Nations convulse and war against each other.
Millions starve, and the rich live in excess.
We buy too much, we share too little.
Our unborn develop in helpless peril,
and our children know more diversion than divine.
Oh God help us.
We grieve over the purposeful destruction of your creation by insatiable sin.
Is there no end to the appetite of the wicked?
Will we not rest until we have ruined all?

 

What can we say then? Should we despair?
Certainly not, we will declare that you are Yahweh Shalom, GOD of Peace!
We will delight in your sovereignty.
We will rejoice with the angels and archangels that our Savior has come,
and we will proclaim that he is victorious over sin and death.
We will choose to do your kingdom work among the ruins.
Forgive us for avoiding the anguish,
and send us out again as your the agents of your Good News.

 

In the name of the Son, the very Prince of Peace, we pray.  Amen

 

Silent Personal Repentance

 

Assurance  -  1 Peter 1:3,4                                              Pastor Christian Lindbeck

Grace Greater Than Our Sin (excerpt from #201)

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!

 

Worship in Song                                                                  Pastor Laurie Neary

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (#8)

Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

This is Holy Ground

We Are Standing on Holy Ground

Surely the Presence

Come, Let us Worship and Bow Down

I Give You My Heart

 

Proclamation                                                                                  Walt Beals

Old Testament:  Isaiah 58:1-9a
New Testament:  Matthew 6:1

Creed: The Inspiration of Scripture

 

Leader:  Church, What do we believe regarding the Bible?

 

Congregation: We believe the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments,
are verbally inspired by God and are the revelation of God to man,
the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct. Amen

 

Gloria Patri (#622)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.  Amen.  Amen.

                                                                                                                  


Homily                                                                                  Pastor Dan Neary

Acts of Righteousness

 

Seventh out of 12 in our series on the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, 6 and 7.

 

I cannot be held totally responsible for the quality of this sermon… I was fasting.

 

It seemed that on this one, especially, I should make an effort to practice what I intended to preach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6      “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Acts of Righteousness

·      Jesus lists three that have, subsequently been embraced by the Christian Church

·      We don’t have a corner on this market… these three are embraced by most religions.

·      There are others, including:

§      Pilgrimage

§      Witnessing / Evangelism

§      Jihad

·      Foster, in his book The Celebration of Discipline, listed 12:

§      Meditation

§      Prayer

§      Fasting

§      Study

§      Simplicity

§      Solitude

§      Submission

§      Service

§      Confession

§      Worship

§      Guidance

§      Celebration

·      These three: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting were embraced by the Pharisees

 

Important note: Acts of Righteousness… not Acts for Righteousness

 

Reward, from God, is a consistent theme.

Held in opposition to human acclaim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Almsgiving: Giving to the Needy

  • One of a number of kinds of giving
    • Tithe
    • Outreach / Missions
    • Projects
    • Dues
  • Almsgiving, caring for the poor, holds a special place
  • The Chapel and almsgiving
    • Weekly almsgiving emphasis
    • Special projects (Everett Gospel Mission, Shaws)

 

Reward from God

  • Sanctification
  • Reaping what is sown
  • Eternity

 

Prayer

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 

 

  • Not  a prohibition on public prayer – this leans more to motivation
  • Different kinds of prayer
    • Public worship / Call
    • Repentance
    • Intercession
    • Thanksgiving
  • Different styles of prayer
    • Formal / prewritten
    • Extemporaneous
    • Desperation
    • Meditation / Silent
    • Listening

 

Direction of prayer

 

Reward from God

  • Sanctification
  • Answer

 

Don’t just babble, say something meaningful.

 

Be careful not to fall into the trap of meaningless prayer habits. (“Press Play”)

 

Repetition isn’t the problem… vain repetition is the problem.

Some have turned the prayer that follows into a set of magic words.

We have to discipline ourselves to be mindful of the meaning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this:

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. a ’ 

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 

  • Worship
  • Reverence
  • Dominion

 

  • Give us
  • Forgive us
  • Deliver us

 

Robert Law has said, “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth.” We have no right to ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom, or disturb His will on earth.[1]

 

 

No first-person singular pronouns… no me or I.

 

Inserts a teaching on forgiveness…
a new act of righteousness I give unto you.

 

And finally… Fasting

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [2]

 

  • Meant for denial of self… easy to turn into something that draws attention
    • Should we hang ourselves in a Plexiglas box?
      • David Blaine is due to end his 44 day stunt Monday evening
    • Keeping fasting a secret isn’t easy… food is an integral part of culture
      • I’m pretty sure nobody knew when I fasted for a day this week.
  • Nothing special about “oil on the head” This simply points to the idea of care for your appearance like you normally would.

 

The Pharisees fasted each Monday and Thursday (Luke 18:12) and did so in such a way that people knew they were fasting. Their purpose, of course, was to win the praise of men. As a result, the Pharisees lost God’s blessing.[3]

 

 

Why these three?

What can we learn from these three?

§      Care for others

§      Care for relationship with God

§      Denial of flesh

 

by them we do homage and service to God with our three principal interests;
by prayer with our souls,
by fasting with our bodies,
by alms-giving with our estates.
Thus we must not only depart from evil, but do good, and do it well, and so dwell for evermore.[4]    (Matthew Henry)

 

 

What really do these acts have to do with righteousness?

  • Outside in or inside out?

 

The main point of Jesus’ teaching on these acts of righteousness is that we need to resist the urge to apply these acts merely to our exteriors.

 

So What?

 

What do we do with this today?

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the cookie dough illustration?

 

 

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)

 

Remember the

  • Importance of the Disciplines
    • Not to be neglected
    • Look to Foster for study
  • Intent of the Disciplines
    • Not to be misunderstood



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

Intercession                                                                                  Pastor Christian Lindbeck

 

Offering                                                                                                     Pastor Dan Neary

 

Glory and Honor                                                                         Chapel Singers

 

Benediction