Worship Preparation Guide for Sunday, May 14

Worship Preparation Guide for Sunday, May 14

Sermon Text: Isaiah 55

“Come”, God says.  We hear it five times in the first three verses! 

In this week’s passage God is inviting you to come receive what you cannot earn.  He is inviting you come and know what it is to have soul satisfied. (55:1-5)  At first sight it sounds strange – buying “without money and without price”.   God’s best is available to us because his Servant ahs already paid the price.  Satisfaction can only be found in what God offers  - provision for our souls in the form of a love that lasts and a place in his kingdom. 

In this week’s passage God is also inviting you to come while you still can, and receive God’s full and free forgiveness. (55:6-8) Here is one of the greatest promises in the Bible: God hears and responds to the humble cry for forgiveness.  He stands ready to generously forgive, and does so when we seek him and cry out to him.  You are not promised tomorrow.  You may not be here this Sunday.  So Isaiah tells us there is a sense of urgency to this call - repentance must be an intense priority for us.  He tells us there is a certainty to this promise.  We will receive God’s generous abounding mercy.  

In Isaiah 55 God is inviting you to take him at his Word, even when you cannot understand it.  “The logic of grace doesn’t compute with us.”  It is both surprising and sustaining.  Like the rain from heaven, God’s Word is life-giving.  Like the rain, God’s Word is:  1) The source of life that comes from beyond us.  We can't control it – we only receive it.  2) The life it brings springs forth from death – it overcomes death.  It waters, saturates, sprouts life and allows the cycle of provision.  3) It fulfills and accomplishes the purposes of God.  The way God works is through his Word.  The way we live is through his Word. 

Finally, Isaiah 55 invites us to come sing with joy, and go out in peace.  (Is 55:12-13)   The chapter concludes with a vision of God’s triumphant grace.  It is a procession of praise involving all of the redeemed – including creation itself.  The effects of the fall are reversed and God is forever glorified through the display of his saving grace.   

As you prepare for worship read Isaiah 55.  I would encourage you to read the extended section (Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 55)

Pay especially close attention to Isaiah 55: 6-8. 

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; 

call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way, 

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD, 

that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

These words are not just for the lost.  All of us struggle with seeking satisfaction in places and from sources that will never suffice.  Ask God to reveal the affections and attractions of your heart that need to be repented of.  He will answer this prayer.  He will have compassion and will forgive.  This is his promise.  This is his unfailing Word. 

“Come” join us this Sunday as we gather for worship, just as we do every Lord’s Day.  Invite someone to come with you.  We will greet one another and extend to each other the hand and hug of fellowship.  We will sing songs & hymns of the faith, songs grounded in the truths of God and the good news of the gospel.  We will pray, both within our small groups and in our large gathering.  And we will read the Word of God and hear it taught.  We do that knowing and trusting that “No one loves the Word of God more than the God whose Word it is, and he, the eternal, almighty, impeccably faithful Lord, has pledged that his Word will never be fruitless, never come back empty handed.” (A. Motyer)

I look forward to seeing your there.  I will be praying for you until then.