Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• This week we begin a short series through the end of the year centered on some Messianic Psalms. This Sunday we will focus on Psalm 22. Read it in its entirety.
• Read Matthew 27 in its entirety.
• Look for parallels between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27. You should be able to identify several. For example one of the more obvious ones is "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Ps 22:1; Mat 27:46)
• Who wrote the 22nd Psalm? Who was his original audience?
• What are some keywords you would use to describe in the scene in Matthew 27 regarding Jesus?
• The Sermon Study equipping class notes are available online for anyone wanting to dig deeper. Please review this week's notes to help study this passage. Click here for the notes.

Prayerfully Meditate

• Would the scene in Matthew 27 describe what Israel was looking for in the Messiah?
• According to Psalm 22, what should Israel have expected? Use some of the descriptive words in Psalm 22 to help illuminate what Israel should have looked for in a Messiah.
• When you think of Jesus Christ (Messiah) how do you identify him? By cultural needs like the Jews looking for a king to rule and defeat the Roman rule of the land? Someone who would feed all the homeless? How does Scripture define how he will return?
• How often do you transform Jesus into what you want and think you need versus the authoritative Word of God telling who He is and what He is going to do (Rev 14).
• Meditate on the awesome nature of God's Word to reveal the Messiah through the Old Testament psalms in glorious, clear, and articulate statements.