Sermon Theme
BELONGING TO CHRIST!
Definition
The images always touch our hearts when we see them…
* A sobbing child in some desperate situation being comforted by a parent or some other person
* An aid worker in a war zone, consoling a parent who has lost everything, including his/her family
Both the LD section with which we deal & text speak of COMFORT the believer has in life & death.
But what is comfort?? “that process of reasoning in which we oppose something good to something evil that by a proper consideration of this good, we may ease the severity of our grief and patiently endure the evil.” (Ursinus)
As Paul says “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NIV84)
Sermon outline
- BELONGING TO CHRIST
- OUR ONLY COMFORT IN LIFE
- OUR ONLY COMFORT IN DEATH
Readings reproduced on this page:
The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1996, 1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Sermon Outline
Readings
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: Lord’s Day 1
QA.1 What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.
He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.
Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Text
Psalm 16 (NIV84)
1Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
3As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.
5Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
8I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
10because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
