Why do we sit under the preaching of the word? Why do we read the Bible and seek to understand it? Is it because that’s just what we’re supposed to do? Is it merely knowledge acquisition?
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.1
When God’s word is preached, it goes out. It is heard. It is seed being sown. When seed is sown, we expect it to take root and to produce fruit. The same is true of every Lord’s Day.
We listen to God’s word being proclaimed so that it might produce fruit in our hearts. Isaiah, even before he knows the message he will proclaim, answers the call to go and to speak for God to the people (Isaiah 6:8). He dedicates himself to doing what God has commanded him to do.
Each week, we sing a final song. The songs we sing are carefully and prayerfully chosen so that each gathering is a coherent, cohesive whole. And so as we sing at the end, we are not simply singing because that’s what feels right. This is an opportunity to marvel, examine, meditate, confess, repent, believe. Don’t neglect this opportunity, for it helps to unite us together and to glorify our Lord.
Notices
Just a couple of notices this week. First, as mentioned on Sunday, we will not have our usual Tuesday Night Prayer due to many people travelling for the October break. And second, The Journey will finally resume on the first Thursday of November (6 Nov, 7pm).
- The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, p. Is 55:10–11. ↩