Welcome to Western Fairfax CBS! The mission of CBS is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in our community through caring, in-depth Bible study.

Welcome to Western Fairfax CBS!

The mission of CBS is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in our community through caring, in-depth

Bible study - available to all

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We Will Exalt You

We will exalt You, O LordWe will exalt You, O LordWe will exalt You, O Lord

Emmanuel

CCLI #2676577

You are the Child born to usYou are God’s Son given to us

Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty GodYou are the Child born to us

You are God’s Son given to usMerciful Savior of love

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, Emmanuel

CCLI #2676577

We will exalt You, O LordWe will exalt You, O LordWe will exalt You, O Lord

Emmanuel

CCLI #2676577

You are the Child born to usYou are God’s Son given to us

Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty GodYou are the Child born to us

You are God’s Son given to usMerciful Savior of love

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, Emmanuel

CCLI #2676577

Come Away From Rush and Hurry

Come away from rush and hurryTo the stillness of God’s peaceFrom our vain ambitions worryCome to Christ and find release

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Come away from noise and clamorLife’s demands and frenzied paceCome to join the people gatheredHere to seek and find God’s face

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In the pastures of God’s goodnessWe lie down to rest our soul

From the waters of His mercyWe drink deeply, are made whole

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At the table of His presenceAll His saints are richly fed

With the oil of His anointingInto service we are led

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Come, then, children with your burdensLife’s confusions, fears and painLeave them at the cross of JesusTake instead His kingdom’s reign

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Bring your thirsts, for He will quench them

He alone will satisfyAll our longings find attainment

When to self we gladly dieAll our longings find attainment

When to self we gladly die

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Welcome Joshua Han

Born to Min and Michael Han at 1:49 pm on Wednesday, November 12, 2014. He weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and

came out MUCH easier than his big brother.

Welcome Geneva Noelle Brunner

Born to Kathryn and Stanton Brunner on Wednesday, November 26 at 8:19 pm. She weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

I Samuel 15:3 “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to

destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey”.

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

“What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of

the oxen that I hear?” Saul says, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the

oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God.” ( (I Samuel15:22).

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as

in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than

sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” I Samuel 15:22

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Summary sentence: God tells His people to be less concerned with fasting and more concerned with

obeying.

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Central Idea: Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Aim: We would gain a greater desire to obey God’s Word.

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Chapter Divisions:I. Why are You Fasting?

(Zechariah 7)II. Better Days Are Coming (Zechariah

8:1-17)III. Love Truth and Peace

(Zechariah 8: 18-23)

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

I. Why are you Fasting –Zechariah 7

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

“When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the

seventh, for these seventy years, was it for Me that fasted?”

Zechariah 7:5

Fasts During Babylon

• 4/17: Mourning the capture of Jerusalem

• 5/9: Burning of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon's Temple

• 7/3: Assassination of Gedaliah and the massacre of 80 men

• 10/10: Beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's siege against Jerusalem

• Jeremiah 52:6-30

• 2 Kings 25:2-10

• Jeremiah 4:1-10

• 2 Kings 25:1

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice"There is no need to observe the sad anniversaries of our sins and

their accompanying punishment, if once we are assured of God's free forgiveness. When He forgives and restores, the need for dwelling on the bitter past is over … Too many of us are always dwelling beside

the graves of the dead past." (Meyer)

If you always do what you’ve always done,

you’ll

always get what you’ve always

gotten.

If you want something different to happen,

you’ve got

to make a change, not wait for someone else. Some folks never get

that figured out.

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

II. Better Days Are Coming-Zechariah 8:1-17

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Lord of Hosts: 53 times ZechariahChapter 8: 18 times:

Hosts-Tsava: means God as mightiest Warrior

Powerful KingRuler over entire universe

Ready to intervene

7 Promises

1. Care: jealous for Zion2. God’s Presence

3. Peace & Security4. God’s Power

5. Regathering of Israel6. God’s Blessing7. God’s Favor

Paul Gerhardt

. ‘Give to the winds thy fears; hope, and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy

tears; God shall lift up thy head. Through waves and clouds and

storms He gently clears the way. Wait thou His time, so shall the night soon end in joyous day.’

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

III. Love Truth and Peace – Zechariah 8:18-23

Campbell Morgan"None of these things had been in the

purpose of God for His people; they had resulted from their sins. The fasts

therefore were the result of their sins. In jealousy and fury, the outcome of love, Jehovah would put away their

sins, and so restore them to true prosperity. In that day, let them still remember and observe, only let the

observance be a feast in celebration of God's grace, instead of a fast in memory

of their sin."

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Thus says the LORD of HOSTS: ‘In those days ten men from every

language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man,

saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God IS with

you.” Zechariah 8:23

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

"We are all clinging to the seamless robe of that one Jew,

Jesus of Nazareth, who because of His work on the cross is the

only basis on which anyone may approach God and entreat Him for spiritual blessings." (Boice)

To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Missing Stars, Fallen Sparrows”Nick Palermo