Dear Brothers and Sisters, Prayer is at the Brown Barn.

The news headlines were everywhere this week reporting that the humanitarian organization, World Vision has embraced same sex marriage. How did this happen? How is it that part of the church becomes pagan? In our text this week, Isaiah 17, we learn how it happens. In this chapter, Isaiah delivers the burden against the Syrian city of Damascus. Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited city in history of the world. Today Syria is the center of Islamic terrorism and tumult in the Middle East. Just a few days ago a Syrian fighter plane was shot down by the Turkish military for violating its airspace.

What we find in Isaiah 17, is that somehow the fortunes of Damascus are the same as Israel itself. This is the beginning of the downfall of the people of God. It happens when alliances are made. Result: the fate of Israel became the same fate as those she had joined with. This is one of the great principles of this chapter – you will become like those with whom you enter alliances with. When your glory is the same, your destruction will also be the same.

The songs are as follows:

Come Thou Fount
Come, thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise,
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of God’s unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the fold of God:
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.

The Church’s One Foundation
The church’s one Foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav’n he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.

Elect from ev’ry nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food.
And to one hope she presses,
With ev’ry grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord to defend,
To guide, sustain and cherish
Is with her to the end;
Though there be those that hate her,
And false sons in her pale,
Against or foe or traitor
She ever shall prevail.

‘Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
With the God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with thee.

Psalm 83:13-18 (83B)
O Thou my God, make them to be
Like whirling dust that flies,
Like stubble blown before the wind
When winter storms arise.

As fire a forest burns, as flames
That blaze on mountains high,
So with Thy tempest them pursue,
With Thy storm terrify.

With shame their faces fill, O Lord,
That they may seek Thy name;
Disgraced and terrified be they
And perish in their shame.

So they shall know that Thou alone –
Jehovah is Thy name –
That Thou are the Most High, the One
O’er all the earth supreme.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come
Come, Holy Spirit, come;
Let thy bright beams arise;
Dispel the darkness from our minds,
And open all our eyes.

Cheer our desponding hearts,
Thou heav’nly Paraclete;
Give us to lie with humble hope
At our Redeemer’s feet.

Revive our drooping faith;
Our doubts and fears remove;
And kindle in our breasts the flames
Of never-dying love.

Convince us of our sin;
Then lead to Jesus’ blood,
And to our wond’ring view, reveal
The secret love of God.

‘Tis thine to cleanse the heart,
To sanctify the soul,
To pour fresh life in ev’ry part,
And new create the whole.

Dwell, therefore, in our hearts;
Our minds from bondage free;
Then we shall know and praise and love
The Father, Son, and Thee.

O Church Arise
O church arise and put your armour on
Hear the call of Christ our Captain
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies
An army bold whose battle cry is Love
Reaching out to those in darkness

Our call to war to love the captive soul
But to rage against the captor
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valour
When faced with trials on every side
We know the outcome is secure
And Christ will have the prize for which He died
An inheritance of nations

Come see the cross where love and mercy meet
As the Son of God is stricken
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet
For the Conqueror has risen
And as the stone is rolled away
And Christ emerges from the grave
This victory march continues till the day
Every eye and heart shall see Him

So Spirit come put strength in every stride
Give grace for every hurdle
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful
As saints of old still line the way
Retelling triumphs of His grace
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When with Christ we stand in Glory