Friday, April 05, 2024

PCC ONLINE

DEVOTIONAL

A production of the Secretary, Committee of the

Ministry. 1
 Salutation
Opening
My dear Brothers and Sisters, the night is
gone, the day has come. Let us keep
awake and be sober and lay aside every
weight and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race
that is set before us, looking to Jesus the
pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
O Lord, open our lips and let our mouths
proclaim your praise. O God make speed
to save us, O Lord make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the be-
ginning, it’s now and ever shall be, world
without end. Amen.
(BODS Pew Edition Pg. 142)

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 Let us pray
Lord our God, we thank you for the rest
of the night and for the light of this day.
Make us ready to serve you, make us vig-
ilant to do your will, O Lord, our heavenly
Father, Almighty and everlasting God,
who hast safely brought us to the begin-
ning of this day; Defend us in the same
with thy mighty power; and grant that
this day we fall into no sin, neither run in-
to any kind of danger; but that all our do-
ings, being ordered by thy government,
may be righteous in thy sight; through Je-
sus Christ our Lord; through Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Lord. Amen

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 Psalm 22:19-23
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You
are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword, my precious
life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me
from the mouth of the lions; save me from
the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare
your name to my people; in the assembly I
will praise you. You who fear the Lord,
praise him! All you descendants of Jacob,
honor him! Revere him, all you descend-
ants of Israel.
Glory be to the Father, …

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 Prayer of Confession
O Father, we are gathered before you, the
Maker of Heaven and Earth, whose chosen
dwelling place is with the broken and con-
trite, to confess that we have sinned in
thought and word and deed; we have not
loved you with all our heart and soul, we
have not loved you with all our mind and
strength; we have not even loved our
neighbor as ourselves. Purge us from
selfishness, the fear of man, and the love
of praise. In your mercy, deepen our sor-
row for the wrong we have done and for
the good we have left undone, so that we
may hate our sin with a holy hatred. But,
please Father, do not leave us in sorrow.
With you, O Lord, there is forgiveness. In
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your mercy, restore the joy of our salva-
tion; so that we may love you with a holy
love. Amen

CHB 210
1. Lord, Thy word abideth,
And our footsteps guideth
Who its truth believeth
Light and joy receiveth.

2. When our foes are near us,

Then Thy word doth cheer us,
Word of consolation,
Message of salvation.

3. When the storms are o’er us,

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 And dark clouds before us,
Then its light directeth,
And our way protecteth.

4. Who can tell the pleasure,

Who recount the treasure,
By Thy word imparted
To the simple-hearted?

5. Word of mercy, giving

Succour to the living;
Word of life supplying
Comfort to the dying!

6. O that we, discerning

Its most holy learning,
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 Lord, may love and fear
Thee, Evermore be near Thee!
AMEN

Prayer of the Day

Heavenly Father, you raised Jesus your
Son from the death on the cross to the
glory of the resurrection. May our faith in
the risen Lord bring new meaning to our
daily life; through the same Jesus Christ,
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns
together with you, O Father, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen
(Book of Divine Services Vol. I, Pg. 212)

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 Meditation
Text: 1 Corinthians 15: 29-34
Now if there is no resurrection, what will
those do who are baptized for the dead? If
the dead are not raised at all, why are
people baptized for them? And as for us,
why do we endanger ourselves every
hour? I face death every day—yes, just as
surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus
our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus
with no more than human hopes, what
have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company cor-
rupts good character.” Come back to your
senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for
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there are some who are ignorant of God—
I say this to your shame.”

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Theme: “More Evidence for the Resur-
rection”
Some Corinthian believers claimed there
was no such thing as a resurrection of
the body. They seemed to have carried
some old ideas and philosophies into
their new faith. They had been taught
the humanistic philosophy that matter is
bad, that the physical world was a lower
existence and less desirable, and that at
death we are released from the physical
and taken into a spiritual existence—a
much better life. They tried to incorpo-
rate this idea into their Christian faith.
This led them to think that a future bodi-
ly resurrection was not simply impossi-
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ble, it was undesirable. As time went on,
Paul's teaching on bodily resurrection
began to gain grounds. Some Corinthian
believers began to take baptism in the
place of their family members who had
died before the coming of Jesus Christ.
While all these were going on, those of
the anti-resurrection party began to cor-
rupt them with their humanist philoso-
phy. Paul warned, “bad company corrupt
good manners”.
What causes us to doubt the resurrec-
tion? Why are we so scared of death as if
there is no resurrection? What contrary
arguments do we have against bodily
resurrection?
The French mathematician, Auguste
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Comte was talking about religion one day
with the Scottish essayist, Thomas
Carlyle. Comte suggested that they start
a new religion to replace Christianity,
based on positive thinking and mathe-
matical principles. Carlyle thought about
it a moment and replied, "Very good, Mr.
Comte, very good. All you will need to do
will be to speak as never a man spoke,
and live as never a man lived, and be cru-
cified. And rise again the third day, and
get the world to believe that you are still
alive. Then your religion will have a
chance to get on". Comte couldn't speak
as never a man, nor could he live as nev-
er a man lived, he could speak well, he
could even die, but was he sure of being
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raised from the dead? It is the resurrec-
tion which makes the difference.
John Macarthur, like other Christian
thinkers, believe that "Without the resur-
rection, Christianity would be so much
wishful thinking, taking its place along-
side all other human philosophy and reli-
gious speculations". The great apostle
Paul in Philippi told the Philippians, "I
want to know Christ and the power of
his resurrection ..." (Phil 3:10). What is
this power? The power of the resurrec-
tion is that life conquers death, truth
conquers lies, light dispels darkness, true
spirituality conquers man-made religiosi-
ty, and political systems bow to the Spirit
of Yahweh. C. W. Hall puts this in a better
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way when he says, Easter teaches us that
"you can put truth in a grave, but it won't
stay there, you can nail it to a cross, wrap
it in winding sheets and shut it up in a
tomb, but it will rise." Our conclusion is
that the resurrection is real and the vic-
torious and risen Jesus Christ is the hope
of Easter and the answer to all human
need.
Amen

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 Let us Pray
Mighty God we bless your name for this
day. Thank you that because Christ is risen
from the dead. Our earthly, corrupted mor-
tal body will be raised as a heavenly and in-
corruptible body, that will not fade away.
Help us to remain steadfast and immovable
- always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Thank you for the reward you promised to
those who live according to your will. May
all that we do, be done to your praise and
glory; through Christ we pray. Amen

Further Prayers Points

• Pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom.
• Pray for those who have lost their loved
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 one(s) to death.
• Pray for God to give us strength and fore-
sight in the face of persecution and wrong
teachings.
• Pray and renounce idolatry such as invok-
ing the dead, praying to the dead and an-
cestral sacrifices.

The Lord’s prayer

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 Benediction
Let us go with the blessings of God to do
our daily work, and whatever your task,
work heartily, as serving the Lord and not
men. The blessings of God Almighty, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, come
on us and remain with us always. Amen

Daily readings
• Lev. 16: 1-10
• Jn. 21: 15-25

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