5“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.6But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

7“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.8Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!9“Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be kept holy.

10May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

11Give us today the food we need,

12and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

13And don’t let us yield to temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

Jesus Teaching about Prayer 2 – Luke 11:1-10 NLT

1Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

“Father, may your name be kept holy.

May your Kingdom come soon.

3Give us each day the food we need,

4and forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us.

And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

5Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,6‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’7And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’8But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.

9“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.10For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Agape – Sermon for January 17 2010

Prologue
Job’s Integrity 1:1-5

Satan Tests Job the First Time 1:6-22
The Heavenly Counsel Meets 1:6-12
1:6
The angels (sons of God),
the LORD (YHWH – Yahweh or Jehovah),
Satan (the Accuser)
The Hedge 1:10
Reference Luke 22:31 (sift you as wheat)
Satan Strikes Job’s Household
Disaster 1 – Job’s donkeys and servants 1:13-15
Disaster 2 – Job’s sheep and servants 1:16
Disaster 3 – Job’s camels and servants 1:17
Disaster 4 – Job’s sons and daughters 1:18-19
Job Responds to the Disaster 1:20-22
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. 1:22

Satan Tests Job the Second Time
The Heavenly Council Meets Again 2:1-5
Skin for skin! 2:4
Reference Ex 21:24 Dt 19:21
This is not the only time Satan quotes Scripture to God – Ref Mat 4:5-6 Psalm 91
Disaster 5 – Satan Strikes Job’s Body 2:6-7
Painful soars 2:7-8
More than soars: Job 7:5 (worms), Job 7:14 (nightmares), Job 19:17 (bad breath), Job 19:20 (undernourishment), Job 30:17 (unrelenting pain), and Job 30:30 (black peeling skin)
Job’s wife 2:9
Tasteless wife joke: Proverbs 21:9, 25:24.
Tasteless husband joke: Job 19:17
Job Responds to His Illness 2:8-10

Dialogues About Suffering
Job’s Three Comforters Mourn With Him 2:11-13
Shivah – 7 Day period of mourning
Job Curses the Day of His Birth 3:1-26
Eliphaz Responds to Job 4:1-5:27
Job Responds to Eliphaz 6:1-7:21
Bildad Responds to Job 8:1-22
Job Responds to Bildad 9:1-35
Job Pleads with God 10:1-22
Zophar Responds to Job 11:1-20
Job Responds to Zophar 12:1-25
Job Wants to Argue His Case 13:1-19
Job Asks How He Has Sinned 13:20-14:22
Eliphaz Responds to Job 15:1-35
Job Responds to Eliphaz 16:1-22
Job Defends His Innocence 17:1-16
Bildad Responds to Job 18:1-21
Job Responds to Bildad 19:1-29
Zophar Responds to Job 20:1-29
Job Responds to Zophar 21:1-34
Eliphaz Responds to Job 22:1-30
Job Responds to Eliphaz 23:1-17
Job Asks Why the Wicked Are Not Punished 24:1-25
Bildad Responds to Job 25:1-6
Job Responds to Bildad 26:1-14
A Hymn to God’s Wisdom 28:1-28
Job Speaks of Former Blessing 29:1-25
Job Speaks of Present Anguish 30:1-31
Elihu’s Speeches 32:1-22
Elihu Presents His Case Against Job 33:1-33
Elihu Accuses Job of Arrogance 34:1-37
Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Justice 35:1-16, 36:1-21
Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Power 36:22-33, 37:1-24

Job Gets His Chance to Curse the LORD to His face 38-41
The LORD Challenges Job

Job’s Responses
Job’s First Response 40:3-5
Job’s Second Response 42:1-6

Epilogue – The LORD’s Verdict and Job’s Restoration 42:7-16

Conclusion:

If you have been cursing God, you’ve done so in ignorance not fully understanding the full power of God. Job had a chance to meet God face to face through a storm and then understood the response that was required and the only one possible. The scriptures clearly say that we will all get this same chance: Romans 14:9-12, Phillipians 2:5-11.

The question is: will you praise God now while you still have a choice?

Introduction, Prayer, Announcements, and Administrative

Group Reading & Activity – The Stoning of Stephen (Acts Chapter 7)

Leader Reading – The First Stone Thrown (John 8:1-11) Reference: Lev 20:10 and Deut 22:22

Activity – Highs, Lows, and Stones Thrown

Conclusion – Lessons learned, benediction, and dismiss

1 Samuel, chapter 17, verses 1 through 50

Cast:

Narrator       Goliath        Jesse        Army Men        David        Eliab       Saul

Story:

Goliath Challenges the Israelites

Narrator: The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim.  Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah.  So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.

Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel.  He was over nine feet tall!  He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.  He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder.  The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds.  His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.

Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. 

Goliath: “Why are you all coming out to fight?  I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul.  Choose one man to come down here and fight me!  If he kills me, then we will be your slaves.  But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!  I defy the armies of Israel today!  Send me a man who will fight me!” 

Narrator: When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.

Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp

Narrator: Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah.  Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons.  Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines.  David was the youngest son.  David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.

For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.

One day Jesse said to David,

Jesse: “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers.  And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain.  See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.” 

Narrator: David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.

So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him.  He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries.  Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army.  David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers.  As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks.  Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel.

As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 

Army Men: “Have you seen the giant?  He comes out each day to defy Israel.  The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who defeats him.  He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”

Narrator: David asked the soldiers standing nearby,

David: “What will a man get for defeating this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel?  Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”

Narrator: And these men gave David the same reply.  They said,

Army Men: “Yes, that is the reward for defeating him.”

Narrator: But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. 

Eliab: “What are you doing around here anyway?  What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of?  I know about your pride and deceit.  You just want to see the battle!”

David: “What have I done now?  I was only asking a question!” 

Narrator: He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer.  Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.

David Kills Goliath

Narrator: David told Saul, 

David: “Don’t worry about this Philistine, I’ll go fight him!”

Saul: “Don’t be ridiculous!  There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win!  You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”

Narrator: But David persisted. 

David: “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats.  When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth.  If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it silly.  I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!  The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

Narrator: Saul finally consented. 

Saul: “All right, go ahead.  And may the Lord be with you!” 

Narrator: Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail.  David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.

David: “I can’t go in these.  I’m not used to them.” 

Narrator: So David took them off again.  He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag.  Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.

Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.

Goliath: “Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick?” 

Narrator: And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 

Goliath: “Come over here, and I’ll give your food to the birds and wild animals!” 

David: “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will defeat you.  And then I will give the food of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!  And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear.  This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

Narrator: As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.  Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead.  The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.

*Words in italics are texts that have been modified for age appropriateness.

Worship lead by Joe, Nick, and Alex

Introduction – Welcome, Prayer, Announcements, and Administrative

Sermon – The LORD’s name – Know it (Exodus 3:15) Praise it (Psalm 113)

Discussion – Highs and Lows – Prayers of Blessing

Activity – More worship?

Conclusion  – Lessons learned, benediction, and dismiss

Blessed be Your Name

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name

Exodus 3:15

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name,

my name to remember for all generations.

Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH. This name is probably a form of the Hebrew verb “to be,” so it could mean “he causes to be,” or “he who is,” or “I am.” Later Jews were not permitted to speak God’s name aloud, so the Hebrew text supplies the vowels from the word ’adonay (which means “lord” or “master”) whenever God’s proper name, YHWH, appears. In oral reading, the Hebrew reader would pronounce ’adonay, even though the written text is YHWH. We do not know the pronunciation of the divine name. The widely used Yahweh is an informed guess. The English word “Jehovah” is an artificial term made by combining the vowels of ’adonay with the consonants Y-H-W-H. In the NLT, this name is usually translated “LORD” (with small capitals), but it is transliterated “Yahweh” in the few instances, like this verse, where a point is made about the name itself. Also in 6:2-3; 15:3; 33:19; 34:5-6.

Psalm 113

^1fPraise the Lord!

Yes, ^fgive praise, O servants of the Lord.

^fPraise the name of the Lord!

²Blessed be the name of the Lord

now and forever.

³Everywhere—from east to west—

praise the name of the Lord.

⁴For the Lord is high above the nations;

his glory is higher than the heavens.

⁵Who can be compared with the Lord our God,

who is enthroned on high?

⁶He stoops to look down

on heaven and on earth.

⁷He lifts the poor from the dust

and the needy from the garbage dump.

⁸He sets them among princes,

even the princes of his own people!

⁹He gives the childless woman a family,

making her a happy mother.

Praise the Lord!

The name of the LORD (Hebrew Yahweh; see Exod 3:15) reveals his being, character, and reputation. He is exalted in time (now and forever) and in space (from east to west).

Worship lead by Nick and Joe?

Introduction – Prayer, Announcements, and Administrative

Discussion – Pass the Keys, Highs and Lows

Group Reading – Matthew Chapter 16, Revelations Chapter 1

Activity – Drawing Doors

Conclusion – What did we learn? And Dismiss

Group Reading – 1 Timothy, Chapters 1, 2, and 3

Activity – Who wants to be a 10 dollionair, round 1?

Group Reading – 1 Timothy, Chapters 4, 5, and 6

Activity – Who wants to be a 10 dollionair, round 2?

Continue Reading – 2 Kings, Chapter 2: Elisha Picks up the Mantle

Creative Activity – Draw and Share (What Mantle will you pick up?)

Activity – Evidence of the Holy Spirit (Charades)

Activity – Highs and Lows (Passing the Mantle)

Reading – 2 Kings, Chapter 2: Elisha Picks up the Mantle

Creative Activity – Draw and Share (What Mantle will you pick up?)