Lenten Bible Study Series 2015

Norridgewock Congregational and Smithfield Baptist Churches

Wednesday February 25, 2015

Smithfield

Welcome and Call to Worship         Bert

Psalm 137: 1-6

In the face of great difficulty people have always sung their feelings, their pain and joy.

“To some degree or other

faith must always sing its song in the midst of

strangeness.

If Jesus could sing a hymn with his disciples on

the night of his betrayal and arrest; if Paul and Silas

could sing at midnight in a jail at Phillippi; if King

Gustavus Adolphus could have his entire army sing "Ein'

Feste Burg" on the eve of the battle of Leipzig when

the city was under seige; if martyrs could sing on

their final march to death; if Martin Rinkart could

write "Now Thank We All Our God," under the dark night

of the thirty years war; if Negro slaves could sing

under the lash of cruel servitude; then the faithful

can sing in any situation - hostile or no . The songs

of faith come from the inside out, not from the out-

side in.”

Dr. Ernest Campbell…Princeton Seminary 1972

Hymn Just As I Am, Without One Plea

Prayer                          Nate

Introduction to the Study       Bert and Nate

Sharing the stories that caused us to ask…”Where is God in the suffering I am experiencing?”

A time of sharing prayer for each other and for those who need God’s help to find meaning in the suffering they experience.

A shared blessing          Bert and Nate and the gathered community.