Prepare your heart for Sunday by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.
You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and tangibly putting scripture to action in your personal life, and in our corporate body.
Carefully Think
- Click here to listen to the previous sermon on 1 and 2 Chronicles to review. Part 1 and Part 2
- Skim through all of 2 Chronicles. Notice the headings found in each chapter to discern the major sections and key people pointed out in the history of Israel.
- Remember the focus of the books of Chronicles is to record an optimistic history of Israel after coming out of exile. Look for emphases that reflect the focus of encouraging the people of God in his faithful and steadfast promises.
- Who and how does the end of 1 Chronicles end? What major events of Solomon are left out of 2 Chronicles?
- What kings and periods are emphasized throughout 2 Chronicles? Notice also the emphases on prayer, and the acts of the kings to restore temple worship back to Biblical standards.
- The last two paragraphs in 2 Chronicles 36:17-23 encapsulate a large time jump? What is the last emphasis in this chapter? Does it end with a note of oppression or hope for the future?
Prayerfully Meditate
- Reflect on how this recorded impacted Israel after they returned to their homeland. Why would God include this in the canon of Scripture? What purpose does it serve us?
- Pray God would help you reflect on His activity in your life and see the remarkable control and involvement God has over every detail of your life. Realize also that your life is a very small piece in a much, much larger plan God has for every person for all time to reveal and give glory and honor to the King of Kings.
- Pray God would show you how faithful he is and sovereign over every detail in every life, event throughout time and every part of creation in His grand plan. Reflect on how this is encouraging to us in suffering and persecution as we strive to remain faithful, while he is perfectly faithful to keep us.
Intentionally Act
- Thank God for faithful preaching through the entire corpus of Scripture.
- Look for ways to encourage one another in the sovereign events of their lives that have brought them to salvation and grow in their faith.
- Pray for your heart to become receptive to all circumstances God brings to you daily. Pray that in those circumstances He would bring opportunities for you to strengthen the church in unity and to evangelize the lost.
- Pray that the Lord would grant us understanding hearts and minds and that we would apply all that we learn through the preaching of his Word this coming Lord’s day.
- Pray that the Lord would use the preaching of his Word to restore his people.
- Rehearse the music and review the lyrics to see how we are reflecting on truths that have been preserved over thousands of years to encourage us as we praise our God and sing to one another to admonish and encourage one another.
- Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the book of 1 & 2 Chronicles is further explained and applied: Dawson Bryant, music; Todd Arnold, Elders' prayer and Scripture reading; Bret Capranica, teaching.
Songs for Sunday
- Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King (Video)
- Glorious Day (Video)
- Grace and Peace (Video)
- Nothing That My Hands Can Do (Video)
- Before the Throne of God Above (Video)