This Week at Hope: The Perils of Compromise – The Church at Pergamos
Dear Church Family,
As we continue our study of the churches in Revelation, we providentially come to Pergamos on the first Sunday of 2019 (Revelation 2:12-17). We find this church in crisis beneath the surface. As we evaluate this church, it is critical to consider that every single person, family, and the church is on a spiritual trajectory in its relationship to the world and sin. We are either becoming more ensnared or freer. How would you describe your current trajectory? How would Christ?
This church had proved itself by standing firm for the faith even to death, but now they were being attacked by a more subtle device of Satan – a call to friendship with the world. A spirit of toleration of sin reigned. Never be deceived: Christ is intensely concerned with the moral purity of His church. With much grace, He calls them to repentance – the best thing that can happen to a church becoming increasingly linked with the world.
Our Prayer Meeting this week will be at the Browns’ Barn.
In the Sunday afternoon teaching, Freddy Molina will be teaching on the “Truthfulness of God”.
The songs we will be singing on Sunday are:
- Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-6PMvgJHG0)
- Jesus, Lover of My Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsXcCdWjsmg)
- Not What My Hands Have Done (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCyYe1CyZs4)
- Reformation Hymn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6lMC75e8uU)
- It Is Well with My Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F6azNajlxg)
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav’n, to earth come down!
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling;
All Thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion;
Pure, unbounded love Thou art.
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find the promised rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be.
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty, to deliver;
Let us all Thy life receive.
Suddenly return, and never,
Nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing
Glory in Thy perfect love
Finish then Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee:
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise.
Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Aberystwyth)
Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!
Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find:
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name;
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within:
Thou of life the Fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.
Not What My Hands Have Done
Not what my hands have done
can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne
can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do
can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears
can bear my awful load.
Your voice alone, O Lord,
can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God,
can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours,
no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine
can bear me safely through.
Thy work alone, O Christ,
can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,
can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God,
not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest,
and set my spirit free.
I bless the Christ of God;
I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart
I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
each lingering shade of gloom.
I praise the God of grace;
I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine,
My God, my joy and light.
’Tis He Who saveth me,
and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me,
I live because He lives.
Reformation Hymn
We will trust God’s Word alone,
Where His perfect will is known;
Our traditions shift like sand
While His Truth forever stands.
We will live by faith alone,
Clothed in merit not our own;
All we claim is Jesus Christ
And His finished sacrifice.
Glory be, glory be to God alone
Through the church He redeemed
and made His own.
He has freed us, He will keep us
till we’re safely home
Glory be, glory be to God alone!
We are saved by grace alone –
Undeserved, yet freely shown;
No accomplishment on earth
Can achieve the second birth.
We will stand on Christ alone,
The unyielding Cornerstone;
Nations rage and devils roar,
Still He reigns forevermore!
Glory be, glory be to God alone
Through the church He redeemed
and made His own.
He has freed us, He will keep us
till we’re safely home
Glory be, glory be to God alone!
It Is Well with My Soul
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll –
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control –
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul !
My sin – O the bliss of this glorious tho’t –
My sin – not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul !
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend;
“Even so” – it is well with my soul !
May the Lord bless the rest of your week.
Your brother in Christ,