Evening Worship for June 7, 2020

Seacrest Evening Worship Service, June 7, 2020

Call to Worship:  On your own, or together with your family, read the call to worship.  You may find it beneficial to read it out loud.  Let the words of the Scripture draw your heart and mind near to God.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36 ESV)

Invocation:  Spend a few minutes in prayer.  The word invocation comes from a Latin word invocare which means to call upon or to appeal to.  So in the invocation, we call upon our Father (Matthew 6:9), acknowledging that He is God, confessing that we trust Him.  Ask Him to lead you by his Spirit in worship through the intercession of Jesus Christ.

Sing:  Singing is an important part of worship.  God desires it, (Psalm 96:1-2).  We will be including the words of several familiar hymns.  I urge you to lift up your voice and Sing to the Lord, bless his name, tell of his salvation from day to day.

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this
Barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy Pow’rful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more, feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing
Stream doth flow; let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my Journey through;
strong Deliv’rer, strong Deliv’rer,
Be thou still my strength and shield,
be thou still my strength and shield.

Prayer:  Take time for extended prayer.  Don’t forget, prayer is talking with God just as you would talk with an earthly parent who loves you, (See Matthew 6:9-15).  There is a model that God’s people have used for may years that gives a helpful outline for your prayer.  It has been called the ACTS Model:  Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

• Adoration: Begin your time of prayer by praising God.  Praise Him for who he is and for all that he has done. (See Psalm 150 for an example)
• Confession: Confession is the act of agreeing with God about the things that we have done wrong.  It is acknowledging what we have done that is displeasing to God.  It includes things done, and things left undone.  It includes our words, thoughts, and actions.  Confess them and ask God to forgive you.  Be assured of his promise:  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9 ESV)
• Thanksgiving: Take time to be thankful to God.  Sometimes in times of crisis such as these we forget to thank God for his many blessings.  Thank him for your salvation, for his steadfast love, for his protection, his peace and provision, for our Seacrest Church family, to suggest a few things.
• Supplication: This is when you pray regarding your needs and the needs of others.  Prayer for your family, your friends, your pastor, elders and deacons, missionaries, those who are ill.  Pray for the spread of the gospel, and the building up of followers of Christ.  This is also a time when you would pray concerning what is going on in the world, praying for those in authority, the Coronavirus pandemic.  This is also a time to pray for God’s guidance, wisdom, protection, and opportunities to serve Him.

Give:   God calls upon his people to give at least a tithe of our income and other offerings to the work of the Lord through the Church of Jesus Christ.  By doing so we acknowledge that God is the Lord of our life, and that all that we have has come from his hand.   We have recently made available Online Giving at Seacrest.  You can do so by going to    seacrest.breezechms.com/give/online, and following the directions.

Scripture Reading:    We will be posting the Scripture passage that the sermon will be drawn from.  Don’t forget, as I have often reminded you, God speaks most directly to his people when His Word is read.  Take your time as you read the Scripture.  You may find it helpful to read it out loud, (See Psalm 1).

Exodus 18:1-17 

Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. ² Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, ³ along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), ⁴ and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). ⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. ⁶ And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” ⁷ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. ⁸ Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. ⁹ And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” ¹² And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God. ¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; ¹⁶ when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹ Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, ²⁰ and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. ²¹ Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²² And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. ²³ If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” ²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. ²⁵ Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²⁶ And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

Click HERE to listen to the sermon.

The Text: Exodus 18:1-17
The Title:  Moses Has Family Trouble Too

Pray:  Pray for your understanding of God’s Word and for wisdom and ability to believe what the Word of God says we should believe, and to do what the Word of God says we should do.

Sing:                              

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain,
Free to all – a healing stream –
flows from Calv’ry’s mountain.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Close your time of worship with prayer.

We will post the Sunday Worship Service on the Web-site on Friday for your use on the Lord’s Day.

Please remember that you are deeply loved by God, (see Romans 8:35-39) and by us, (see Philippians 1:3-10).  If you have particular needs, prayer requests, ideas, or just want to talk, I can be reached either at the church (561) 276-5533, or on my cell phone (561) 704-8333.  If you would like a pastoral visit, please call and we will be happy to set up a time to get together.

May the Lord bless you during these difficult days!