This Week at Hope – Avoiding Vanity in the House of God
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Solomon has spent four chapters demonstrating to us the vanity of a life without God. As he comes to chapter 5, he begins dealing with the frightening possibility of finding vanity within the walls of the church. Has Solomon gone a bit too far with this ‘vanity discovery’ mission of his? Is it really possible to discover vanity in the very worship of the triune God? And in a reformed baptist congregation like ours?? The disappointing reality is that, yes, it is possible. It is possible for us to engage in a worship without or apart from God – a vain and futile worship. And when that happens, God calls us fools.
Solomon, in the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 5, exhorts us to consider how we approach the house of God, how we engage in the worship of God once there, and how we respond to that time of worship as we leave His house. May God grant us grace to heed these words of Solomon. And a greater than Solomon has come – even Jesus Christ. This is what He said: “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him… My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
And Solomon boils it all down for us: just fear God; be in awe of Him. He is in heaven; you are on earth. God will be seeking worshippers at Hope this Sunday morning. When He gets to you, what will he find?
Prayer this Wednesday is at the Brown’s barn.
Sunday afternoon we will continue our series Pulling Down Strongholds, as Paul begins to open up what the Bible has to say about gender and where autonomous man has sought to break God’s bonds asunder.
Songs for Sunday are as follows:
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
- When Morning Guilds the Skies
- How Firm a Foundation
- To God All Praise and Glory