Call To Worship: II Corinthians 12:9-10NIV ALL: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. LEADER: That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Song Pool:Blessed Be Your Name, Your Grace Is Enough, Dwell, Marvelous Light, White as Snow, All Creatures 2, Lay em Down, Draw Me Close to You, All Who Are Thirsty
Communion: Grace Centre - Every Saturday night and the fourth Sunday of every other month
Close:Puritan Prayer (adapted from Valley of Vision) – “Grace In Trials” LEADER: Father of Mercies, Giver of all graces, Hear me for Jesus’ sake. ALL: By Your grace you have disarmed me of the means in which I trust and I have no strength but in You. LEADER: Keep me sensible of my weakness and of my dependence upon Your strength. ALL: Let every trial teach me more of Your peace, more of Your love. LEADER: May your Spirit continually preserve and increase Your graces in me. ALL: That I may walk humbly in dependence upon thee, for Jesus’ sake.
Expanding Worship
After answering the sermon questions honestly, pray that the Lord will use those insights to apply his Gospel to your life. Sit and write out the details of the Gospel and what they mean in your daily life.
Series Intro
Background on Series: Introduction, context, maps, resources, articles
Questions
As Paul reveals his vision in this passage, in what ways is it expressed in humility and dependency? If you had such a vision, what would be your temptations? What does Paul say kept him humble? In today’s Christianity how do supernatural experiences often become a source of pride and division instead?
What spiritual insights and experiences have tempted you to become ‘inflated’ and position yourself in a superior way to others?
God used this experience 14 years prior to prepare and equip Paul for the suffering he would face. Think about how Paul expressed his confidence in heaven in other passages. How has God acted graciously in your past to prepare you for what you now face or will face in the future?
What is the purpose of thorns according to Paul? How does it work in your life?
What do we learn about prayer from this passage?
How is Jesus glorified in our pain? How are we benefited?
God answered Paul with ‘my grace is sufficient for you’. How do you feel about that when you apply it to yourself and those you love?
Scripture
Isaiah 43:1-3a
But now, this is what the LORD says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
Quotes
From C.H. Spurgeon, 1872:
"At first the Apostle may not have seen his thorn to be a gift, but afterwards, when experience had taught him patience, he came to look at that sharp, pricking, festering torment as a gift from his heavenly Father."
"God, therefore, knowing that this thorn in the flesh was a sacred medicine to Paul, would not take it away, even though most urgently requested to do so."
"And though I cannot promise you that you shall be without thorns as you live, I can promise you that your thorns shall be removed—they shall become to you a rich blessing which will be better, still. There is one thorn you shall never have if you believe in Jesus—the thorn of unforgiven sin—the fear of the wrath to come! You shall have the peace of God…"
Books
When God Weeps by Joni Earekson Tada and Steve Estes, Chapters 7, 8, 9
Consider stepping into a ministry that you have felt called towards but have hesitated because you consider yourself disqualified (because of a "thorn" or a weakness). Have an initial conversation with someone about the first step for getting involved. What would it look like for you to believe that God is sufficient for your weakness while moving out with the Gospel?
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