78.3 We Preach Christ Crucified

(1 Corinthians 1:22-25)

Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

78.2 Preach At All Times

(2 Timothy 4:1-5)

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you to preach the message to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience. The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear. They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends. But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances; endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the Good News, and perform your whole duty as a servant of God.

78.1 No Need For Big Words

(1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

When I came to you, my brothers, to preach God's secret truth, I did not use big words and great learning. For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget every thing except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross. So when I came to you, I was weak and trembled all over with fear, and my teaching and message were not delivered with skillful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God's Spirit. Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.

77.4 Lord, Help Your People

(Psalm 44)

With our own ears we have heard it, O God-
our ancestors have told us about it,
about the great things you did in their time,
in the days of long ago;
how you yourself drove out the heathen
and established your people in their land;
how you punished the other nations
and caused your own to prosper.

Your people did not conquer the land with their swords;
they did not win it by their own power;
it was by your power and your strength,
by the assurance of your presence,
which showed that you loved them.

You are my king and my God;
you give victory to your people,
and by your power we defeat our enemies.
I do not trust in my bow or in my sword to save me;
but you have saved us from our enemies and defeated those who hate us.
We will always praise you and give thanks to you forever.

But now you have rejected us and let us be defeated;
you no longer march out with our armies.
You made us run from our enemies,
and they took for themselves what was ours.
You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep;
you scattered us in foreign countries.
You sold your own people for a small price as though they had little value.

Our neighbors see what you did to us,
and they mock us and laugh at us.
You have made us a joke among the nations;
they shake their heads at us in scorn.
I am always in disgrace;
I am covered with shame from hearing the sneers and insults of my enemies and those who hate me.

All this has happened to us,
even though we have not forgotten you or broken the covenant you made with us.
We have not been disloyal to you;
we have not disobeyed your commands.
Yet you left us helpless among wild animals;
you abandoned us in deepest darkness.

If we had stopped worshiping our God and prayed to a foreign God,
you would surely have discovered it,
because you know our secret thoughts.
But it is on your account that we are being killed all the time,
that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.

Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep?
Rouse yourself! Don't reject us forever!
Why are you hiding from us?
Don't forget our suffering and trouble!

We fall crushed to the ground;
we lie defeated in the dust.
Come to our aid!
Because of your constant love save us!

77.3 Paul Prays That We May Experience God's Love

(Ephesians 3:14-19)

For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love. Yes, may you come to know his love- although it can never be fully known- and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more that we can ever ask for, or even think of; to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.