Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Prayer will be held at the Noah home.

Please pray for the fathers and sons who are gathering on Friday and Saturday to consider the areas of stewardship God has given to them..

Our scripture study this week and on Sunday, will focus on Isaiah 56:8-57:14, where the prophet confronts lazy and self indulgent “watchmen.” Who are these watchmen? These watchmen refer primarily the leaders of the people of God, but they also refer to fathers and mothers, civil leaders and even those who provide leadership in companies and organizations. As we think of the terminology that the Lord provides to explain the life and role of the believer, we understand that all believers are priests, and that we are “a kingdom of priests.” In this sense, God makes all believers watchmen of sorts. We not only watch over our souls, but we have responsibility for watching over the souls around us. What we find in chapter 57, is that the consequences of lazy watchman is idolatry among the broader society. In the same way that breaking the sabbath deprives a culture of justice and righteousness, so do negligent shepherds deprive the people of godliness that leads to life… Rather, it plunges them into idolatry.

As we enter into the unsearchable treasures of the wisdom of God that we find in Isaiah 56:9-57:14, see an illustration on the harmful effects of self indulgent shepherds and the resulting idolatry of the people.

Isaiah 56 has two sides to it. First God speaks of an in gathering to a new and happy community of obedient sons and daughters who have experienced the joy of the mountain of the lord. They have heard the call to follow and obey God, take hold of his covenant in the form of the Ten Commandments, keeping the sabbath for worship,

Then in v9 the lord speaks of the danger that shepherds are in and how they have put His people into times of spiritual peril by opening doors for idolatry by their laziness, and refusal to bark when the intruders are infiltrating.

He contrasts the joys of Sabbath rest (1-8) to the harm that is done by sinful indulgence of the shepherds (9-12).

Isaiah 56 sets the tone for the rest of Isaiah. It speaks of the happy future that waits for those who love God.  56-59 explain the blessings that Jews and Gentiles will experience as they obey the Lord and keep His covenant and take hold of Him on His holy day

We will be singing the following songs on Sunday:

• Rejoice, the Lord Is King
• Holy, Holy, Holy!
• Not What My Hands Have Done
• I Will Glory in My Redeemer
• All I Have Is Christ