Getting Ready For Sunday: How To Prepare For The 7/5/09 Sojourn Gathered

This Sunday we’ll be diving into 2 Kings 22-23.  This passage records the major reforms of King Josiah, the most faithful of all Judah’s kings (2 Kings 23:25).

I’m excited to hear about how we Sojourners can learn and apply this story to our context in Germantown, St. Matthews and the Louisville region.  If you’ve not read the story of Josiah — or if it’s been awhile — then read up on it before Sunday.  Come to Sojourn Gathered, ready to engage with this text.

Our opening song this week is a brand new one called “Pride (Won’t Get Us Where We’re Going)” which is a solid illustration and lesson from the Israelites, for us.  The song comes from a worship leader at one of our sister churches in the Acts 29 Network, Vintage 21 Church in North Carolina.

If you have our new Over The Grave CD, sing along in your car or house this weekend to “Warrior,” which we’ll sing on Sunday.  We’ll also be singing “My Maker And My King” from Before The Throne.  If you don’t have these CDs yet, you can hear both of these songs on Facebook.com/sojournmusic.

Finally, when we look at the cycle of sin and destruction in the Old Testament, it can seem like a real downer.  This is why we work through these passages in the full context of God’s plan and our salvation through Christ.  It’s also why we will read the following passage together on Sunday.  Meditate on this truth, from the final book of the Bible, until then:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” – Revelation 21:1-5