Worship Devotional LXXV
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 5/29/2021.
Worship Devotional for 5/30/21
~ Trinity Sunday ~
Last week on Pentecost Sunday we celebrated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This week we celebrate the deep and wonderful mystery of the Trinity following Pentecost, since it can only be understood through faith by the work of the Holy Spirit. Our God is One, yet He manifests Himself in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We cannot fully wrap our minds around this, since we are talking about the very essence and nature of our God, the eternal Creator of all things, who is holy and who reigns above all. Yet He has revealed Himself to us in this way.
Each Person of the Trinity works for the salvation of those who have faith. The Father, according to His foreknowledge and His perfect will from before time began, sent His Son into the world to take on human flesh and live a blameless life on earth in perfect righteousness and obedience, to suffer and die though He had done no wrong, to bear the wrath of God's punishment for sins, and to rise from the grave after three days. The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, then ascended into heaven to sit at the Father's right hand on His glorious throne. God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within the hearts of His people who believe in His name, to fill and sanctify and lead and protect and guide and teach us in all His ways, that we may be justified and sanctified through faith by the working of God's Spirit, that we may have eternal life in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we may become one in eternal fellowship with the one and only true and living God.
This week, as we reflect on our great God and what He has done for us and who He is, let us praise His name with all our hearts for the grace He has given us, and the salvation and life that we have in Him. Praise be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
Songs:
1) This I Believe (The Creed) by Hillsong
This song is based on the Apostle's Creed, which was written to summarize the apostles' teachings to the church. It is one of three main creeds (the other two being the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed) which summarize foundational doctrinal points of the Christian faith.
The Apostle's Creed:
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell[1]. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic[2] church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen."
Things to note:
[1] - Hell in this case is meant to refer to Hades/Sheol meaning the realm of the dead, and not the lake of fire or place of eternal punishment
[2] - Catholic in this case simply means "universal" and refers to the whole church, not the Roman Catholic denomination
2) Grace Alone by Dustin Kensrue
Ephesians 1:3-2:10
"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.
We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him for the administration of the days of fulfillment — to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.
This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.
He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens — far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And 'He put everything under His feet' and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them."
3) My One Comfort by Dustin Kensrue
This song is based on the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism, which was born out of the Reformation and was used to teach reformed doctrine:
“Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own, but belong — body and soul, in life and in death — to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the Devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to Him, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.”
4) We Believe by Travis Ryan and Matt Hooper
In these desperate times and in this broken world, where so much deception is being spread everywhere like wildfire, it is vital that we as a church stand on the truth. We must be confident and steadfast in sound doctrine, knowing what we believe and why we believe it, and take our stand to be a shining beacon in the darkness around us. There is only one name by which we are saved: Jesus Christ. Through Him and through what He has done, we are reconciled to the Father and made new by the Holy Spirit. Therefore let us praise God with every part of our lives and proclaim the gospel of His salvation among all the nations that they may repent and believe in Him, for our God is worthy of all glory and honor and praise!
2 Corinthians 13:13:
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you."
Theme(s): The Holy Trinity, Creed, Faith, Grace
Scripture references:
Genesis 1:26
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Isaiah 9:2-7
Matthew 3:16-17, 28:18-20
Luke 1:26-35, 3:21-22
John 3, 10:25-30, 14-16
Romans 5:1-11, 8
1 Corinthians 2, 8:6, 12 (esp. vv. 4-6)
2 Corinthians 1:3-22, 3, 13:13
Galatians 2:15-21, 4:1-7
Ephesians (esp. 1-2, 3:14-21, 4:1-6)
Colossians 1:9-20
1 Peter 1
1 John (esp. 4-5)