The Word
of God for This Month
Rev. J. I. Minor
Preaching Theme for
October – Insights for Living in the Presence of God
October is insight for
living in the presence of God. We spent a month seeking revelation on
living in God’s grace. It follows that if we are to position ourselves to
receive God’s grace we may want to know something about living in the
presence of God. Psalm 91 reads, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Much of what
God promises comes in the presence of God. As we seek to live by the grace
of God we want to know how to live in the presence of God.
First Sunday –
October 2 – – 16th Sunday in Kingdomtide
Break, Smash, & Burn Them All– Deuteronomy 12:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46
In the natural we clear an area and level the ground if we want to establish
a place to live. The same is true in our spiritual lives. If we want to
establish a place to live in the presence of God we have to level the area
of all the things that would hinder the presence of God. We break, smash,
and burn it all so the way might be clear for God. We cannot expect to live
in the presence of God with all manner of other idols present in our lives.
Second Sunday –
October 9– – 17th Sunday in Kingdomtide
Only At the Place He Chooses – Deuteronomy 12:13-18; Matthew 22:1-14
Living in the presence of God is about recognizing God’s presence. It is
not like God is not present. It is more like we are not paying attention.
We must seek the place where he is. To be present with someone in the room
is to turn and fix you eyes and mind on them. We can be present with God
only at the place he chooses not the one we desire.
Third Sunday –
October 16 – – 18th Sunday in Kingdomtide
God’s Holy Blowout – Deuteronomy 14:22-27; Matthew 22:15-22
God gives us directions concerning being with Him. We are not to hinder the
work of God in seeking to draw us into his presence by disobedience. His
instructions are to take what has been set aside specifically for him and go
with family and workers and friends and enjoy community for he is in the
midst of the celebration done to His glory.
Fourth Sunday –
October 23 – – 19th Sunday in Kingdomtide
Your Best or Nothing At All – Deuteronomy 15:19-23; Matthew 22:34-46
To be in ones presence is a communion of spirits. It is a giving of all
one’s self. What we do for God to be with God has to be the best or we have
not sought God but our own way.
Fifth Sunday –
October 30 – – 20th Sunday in Kingdomtide
Remember God – Deuteronomy 18:1-8; Matthew 23:1-12
God instructions for being in his presence are to remember his anointed.
The Levites represented the sacred of God. Living in the presence of God is
remembering to give time to God. It is remembering that to be in God’s
presence is to remember God’s presence in all we do.
The NIB Commentary on
Deuteronomy notes that chapters 12-26, contain an extensive collection of
laws and legislative prescriptions. They can be outlined as follows:
12:1-14:21, these laws
deal with unity and purity of worship;
14:22-16:17, regulations
concerning the sacred divisions of time;
16:18-18:22, order within
the community and the officials of the state;
19:1-21:9, matters of
life and death;
22:1-30, boundaries of
life and society;
23:1-25:19, matters of
general conduct;
26:1-15, first fruits and
tithes.
Deuteronomy
12
1 These are
the rules and regulations that you must diligently observe for as long as
you live in this country that God,
the God-of-Your-Fathers, has given you to possess.
2-3 Ruthlessly demolish all the
sacred shrines where the nations that you're driving out worship their
gods—wherever you find them, on hills and mountains or in groves of green
trees. Tear apart their altars. Smash their phallic pillars. Burn their
sex-and-religion Asherah shrines. Break up their carved gods. Obliterate the
names of those god sites.
4 Stay clear of those
places—don't let what went on there contaminate the worship of
God, your God.
5-7 Instead find the site that
God, your God, will choose and mark it with his name as a
common center for all the tribes of Israel. Assemble there. Bring to that
place your Absolution-Offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and
Tribute-Offerings, your Vow-Offerings, your Freewill-Offerings, and the
firstborn of your herds and flocks. Feast there in the Presence of
God, your God. Celebrate
everything that you and your families have accomplished under the blessing
of God, your God.
Message Scripture Deuteronomy 12:1-7
1
These are the
statutes and ordinances that you must diligently observe in the land that
the
Lord,
the God of your ancestors, has given you to occupy all the days that you
live on the earth. 2 You
must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about
to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and
under every leafy tree.
3Break
down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles*
with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their
name from their places.
4You
shall not worship the
Lord
your God in such ways.
5But
you shall seek the place that the
Lord
your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his
name there. You shall go there,
6bringing
there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your
donations, your votive gifts, your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of
your herds and flocks.
7And
you shall eat there in the presence of the
Lord
your God, you and your households together, rejoicing in all the
undertakings in which the
Lord
your God has blessed you.
Luke 2:40
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the
grace of God was upon him.
John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Acts 20:32
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which
is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which
are sanctified
1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God:
Traditional Morning
Worship
Every Sunday at 10:45
