ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS OMNIPOTENT
God is all-powerful. He spoke all things into being, and all things— every cell, every breath, every thought—are sustained by Him. Nothing is too difficult for Him.
Jeremiah 32:17-18 & 26-27
Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty,
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Praise the Omnipotent God
Praise God because: He created every living thing from nothing. He sustains everything by his power. He never grows tired. He broke the curse of sin and death. He has the power to create a new heaven and earth and one day he will reveal his new creation.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for Youth Horizons
- Pray for the youth in Youth Horizon’s ministry to find peace in Christ.
- Ask God to raise up mentors for the Youth Horizons kids waiting for mentors.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 Corinthians 8 English Standard Version
Food Offered to Idols
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
You may have heard of “Situational Ethics.” It is not the same as applying wisdom to a situation as to know what is best to do. It means that “love” determines what is right. That sounds familiar to Paul but it is the exact opposite of what he believed and taught. Truth determines what is right and it is true that love is more important than exercising your own freedoms. We are to determine what love looks like in a variety of situations but God’s word not our own ideas tells us what love is. Biblical Ethics is truth applied in love to all of life’s various situations.