Worship Preparation Guide for Sunday, May 18

The Sermon Text for this week:  John 11: 1-16

This Sunday we will gather together to worship Jesus.  We come to worship the One who is the ‘I AM’.  We come to worship the One who gives and is the bread of life; the One who gives and is the water of life; the One who gives and is the light of life; and, as we will see in John 11, the One who gives and is life itself. 

Read that statement again slowly.  Before you read any further perhaps it might be good to pause and ask God to work in your heart and impress upon your soul the glorious truth of who it is you will come to worship this week.  Ask Him to help you recall and exult over the ways Jesus has been all this for you this week. 

John 11 records for us the greatest of the “signs”, or miracles of Christ.    Merrill Tenney, of Dallas Theological Seminary writes, “The signs [of Jesus] are an integral part of John's Gospel. They show that Jesus has shared every aspect of human life: its joys in the wedding, its anguish when disease strikes a life, its helplessness when paralysis immobilizes action, its hunger when food is scarce, its fears when exposed to the uncontrolled elements of nature, its hopelessness when facing a future of poverty and frustration, and its confusion when confronted by the irrationality and sorrow of death.  Jesus suffered all of these, and His final victory over them was the greatest sign of all — the resurrection. These signs are samples of what He can do for those who trust Him and of the life that He confers on those who believe on His name.” (Topics from the Gospel of John Part II: The Meaning of the Signs, Merrill C. Tenney, 1975 by Dallas Theological Seminary)

We come to worship the One who is declaring to you:  “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).  

John's gospel is Christocentric.  Jesus is the center.  Martha comes to Jesus (v. 20);  Mary comes to Jesus (v. 32); the crowds look upon Jesus when he weeps (vv. 35, 36); Lazarus comes to Jesus (v. 44). There is no other to whom to turn—no one else to whom to go.  In the face of sickness, death, tears, the grave — Jesus remains the center—the focus.

Our worship must also be Christocentric.  Jesus must be at the center of your worship. 

Jesus is the Lord over life and death.  He is also a friend to those who trust in him.   A key focus this week is on the deep friendship and love existed between Jesus and Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  That love was important to Jesus and life changing for them.  Friends of Jesus can count on his love, for that love depends on him, not on us.  Our love for Jesus can, and often does change.  Jesus’ love for his friends is constant and consistent.  Jesus extends his friendship to all who trust in him.  Therefore Jesus’ friends can always take their needs to him with a trusting simplicity: “Lord, he whom you love is sick.”

You can bring your needs to him this week as you come to worship.  But you don’t have to wait till then. 

As a part of our worship we will sing an old hymn with simple, sweet lyrics that resound with rich biblical truth. 

          

What a friend we have in Jesus,


All our sins and griefs to bear!


What a privilege to carry


Everything to God in prayer!


Oh, what peace we often forfeit,


Oh, what needless pain we bear,


All because we do not carry


Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?


Is there trouble anywhere?


We should never be discouraged


Take it to the Lord in prayer.


Can we find a friend so faithful,


Who will all our sorrows share?


Jesus knows our every weakness;


Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,


Cumbered with a load of care?


Precious Savior, still our refuge

Take it to the Lord in prayer.


Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?


Take it to the Lord in prayer!


In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,


Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised


Thou wilt all our burdens bear;


May we ever, Lord, be bringing


All to Thee in earnest prayer.


Soon in glory bright, unclouded,


There will be no need for prayer—


Rapture, praise, and endless worship


Will be our sweet portion there.