Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Prayer will be held at the Burkes

Our scripture study this week will focus on Isaiah 5:8-30, where Isaiah describes in vivid detail the what has happened to the people of God. He has already declared them to be0 “stinky grapes.” Now, in our text for Sunday, Isaiah elaborates to give a definition of what it means to be “stinky grapes.” These descriptions are framed in the form of “woes,” very much like the “woes’ of false religion in Matthew 23, the five woes in Habakkuk 2:6-20. The term, “woe” appears 125 times in the Bible. Revelation 8:13, 11:15, 10:1, 21, Numbers 21, James 5:-6, Matthew 11:20-24 and many other places. This section exposes a people who are living in oblivion of God, going to sleep morally and drifting away from truth. They thought that they could receive some kind of satisfaction and happiness from the world. Isaiah now makes it clear that there was no value in it at all. After the woes, Isaiah explains the judgment coming upon them.

The songs we will be singing in order to raise our hearts together in joy are below, “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!,” Psalm 100:1

Rise Up, O Church of God #433
Rise up, O Church of God!
Have done with lesser things
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings

Rise up, O Church of God!
His kingdom tarries long
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong

Rise up, O sons of God!
The Church for you doth wait
Her strength unequal to her task
Rise up, and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod
As followers of the Son of Man
Rise up, O Church of God!

What God Ordains Is Always Good
What God ordains is always good:
His will is just and holy;
As He directs my life for me,
I follow meek and lowly.
My God indeed in every need
Knows well how He will shield me;
To Him, then, I will yield me.

What God ordains is always good:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather.
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

What God ordains is always good:
Though I the cup am drinking
Which savors now of bitterness,
I take it without shrinking.
For after grief God gives relief,
My heart with comfort filling,
And all my sorrows stilling.

What God ordains is always good:
This truth remains unshaken.
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
I shall not be forsaken.
I fear no harm, for with His arm
He shall embrace and shield me;
So to my God I yield me.

Psalm 87
Upon the holy hills the Lord
Has His foundation laid;
He loves the gates of Zion more
Than dwellings Jacob made.

O city of our God, there are
Things glorious said of Thee.
I’ll mention Egypt, Babylon,
Among those knowing me.

Be Still My Soul #712
Be still my soul! The Lord is on thy side
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain
Leave to thy God to order and provide
In every change He faithful will remain
Be still my soul! Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thro’ thorny ways leads to a joyful end

Be still my soul! Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake
All now mysterious shall be bright at last
Be still my soul! The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below

Be still my soul! The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored
Be still my soul! When change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah #682
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.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me through the swelling current,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side;