Daily Readings for Tuesday the 11th September 2023

Prayer
-Give thanks to God for those who have recently recovered from sickness.
-Pray for those who are sick or receiving treatment in our congregation.
-Pray that we each would walk close to God, putting off sins that easily beset us and that we would daily give thanks for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (1. John 1.3; Hebrews 12.1; 1 Thes 5.16.)

Church Services
Sermons
Sunday morning at 11:00am in church (also available online via Facebook)
Sunday evening at 6:30pm in church (also available online via Facebook)
Study bible and prayer
Wednesday evening at 7:00pm in church (also available online via Facebook)
Lunch hour service
Thursday afternoon between 1:00pm and 1:30pm in church (also available online via Facebook)
Outreach/witnessing
Saturday morning at Victoria Street (outside the big Boots store) for 10:30am (across the road from Town Hall - No. 64). Afterwards we go back to church for prayer.

Daily Readings
Preface - Nathan, fir approving David's purpose to build God an house, afterward by the word of the Lord forbiddeth it, but with assurance of favour, and a promise of especial blessings in his seed. David's prayer and thanksgiving.
2 Samuel 7
Preface - Paul saluteth the Corinthians; and blesseth God for the comforts and deliverances given him, not solely for his own sake, but for the comfort and encouragement of others also. He telleth them of a deliverance he had lately had from a great danger in Asia, and expresseth his trust in God's protection for the future through their prayers. He calleth both his own conscience and theirs to witness his sincerity in preaching the gospel; and excuseth his not coming to them, as not proceeding from lightness, but from lenience toward them.
2 Corinthians 1

A Puritans Catechism
Q74 - How do Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful?
A - Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful, not from any virtue in them, or in his who does administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of the Spirit in those who by faith receive them.

Robert Murray  M'Cheyne - God Makes A Path - Daily Devotional Readings
The believer's joy
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. -
Psalm 16 v 11.
The greatest joy of a believer in this world is to enjoy the presence of Christ - not seen, not feel, not heard, but still real - the real presence of the unseen Saviour. It is this that makes secret prayer sweet, and sermons sweet, and sacraments sweet, when we meet with Jesus in them: 'I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.'
Often Jesus hides His face, and we are troubled. We seek Him whom our soul loveth, but He is gone. We rise and seek, but find Him not. At the best, it is but half bliss to feel after an unseen Saviour. Suppose a husband and wife were parted by many seas. It is sweet to have letters and love tokens, and to see a friend who left him well; but this will not make up for his presence. So we mourn an absent Lord.
But when He comes we shall be with Him. 'In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore'. Here we have drops and gleams of pleasure. Christ could not be happy without us. We are His body. If one child of God were wanting, he would not be complete. We are His fulness. Hence His prayer: 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me' (John 17 v 24).
We could not be happy without Christ. Take us to the golden pavement, they pearly gates, the songs, the thrones, the palms, the angels, we would still say, Where is the God-man that died for me? Where is the Angel the redeemed me from all evil? Where is Jesus? Where is the side that was pierced? 'We shall see his face.' The Lamb is the light thereof. We shall stand with the Lamb upon mount Zion. We shall never be parted more.