Chapel Worship Guide 9.16.2012

Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell

Welcome—Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park

Reading of Scripture:  (NIV)

Genesis 21:12 “But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'”

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Romans 9:7 “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'”

Exodus 3:6 “Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.'”

Prayer—Barbara Shafer

Message— “The Curved Line of Promise”  by Barbara Shafer

We tend to think of curved lines as being less productive, filled with digressions, failures, wasted time, and mistakes.   Straight lines and logical paths are what we typically choose to get us to our destination quicker.

But God doesn’t value the same priorities we do.  He isn’t looking for the quickest arrival at a destination.  Rather, He cares about our best arrival at the perfect destination–Christ Himself.   The spiritual journey’s twists and turns, the sufferings, the setbacks, the wilderness of waiting, the failures, and the digressions form our character so that we may be presented as faithful, holy, and perfect when we arrive.

Our Messiah, Jesus Christ, did not come to us by the quickest, most straightforward, or predictable of man-made ways.  He came to us by the Curved Line of Promise as the fullest expression of God’s love.

Benediction—Barbara Shafer