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We hope these readings, prayers, songs, sermon notes + quotes are beneficial to you this week. See you next Sunday at 9 or 11 am, 10 am on TVC Online or anytime!
Sermon Notes for July 12, 2026
Ruth 2
Providence in a Field of Barley
Pastor Matt Pierson
1. Surprised by Hope
“For the Christian believer, hope is not a shallow ‘hope-so feeling’ generated by optimistic fantasies. Hope is an inner sense of joyful assurance and confidence as we trust God’s promises and face the future with His help.”
Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary
2. Character Matters
“Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.”
Proverbs 3:3-4
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.”
Proverbs 31:30-31
3. God in Happenstance
“You might say, ‘Well, I don’t see much evidence of God’s providence at work in my life.’ I’m tempted to reply, ‘Of course you don’t. God is more subtle than that.’ He wants you to think, search, ponder, and, as we sometimes say, exegete your circumstances. Look at them carefully and scour them a bit, so that you’ll see there’s been a lot of ‘just happens’ that will lead you to praise. Even walking into a particular barley field can be a step into providence.”
Dale Ralph Davis, No Hopeless Future
4. Curious Hearts See God’s Hand at Work
“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:16
“In the midst of our confusion and the happenstances and surprises of life there is a sovereign God in heaven whose hand is upon us every moment of the day, a God who reigns over every inch of the universe in which we live.”
Sinclair Ferguson, Faithful God
Songs, Readings & Prayer for July 12, 2026
Songs
“Holy Holy Holy“ by John Bacchus Dykes and Reginald Heber
“Our Great God“ by Fernando Ortega and Mac Powell
“How Deep The Father’s Love For Us“ by Stuart Townend
“He Will Hold Me Fast“ by Ada Ruth Habershon and Matthew Merker
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used with permission. CCLI License no. 2003690
Looking for our Hymns of the Week or resources to worship anytime? We’ve curated a playlist of hymns TVC Worship has led on our YouTube Channel!
Call To Worship: How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place
Leader: How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
People: Our souls long, yes faint for the courts of the Lord; Our hearts and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Leader: Who is like You, O Lord, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
People: It is good to be near God; Make the Lord God our refuge And tell of all His works.
Leader: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things.
All: Blessed be His glorious name forever; May the whole earth be filled with His Glory! Amen and Amen!
Confession of Faith: New City Catechism
Leader: Since no one can keep the law, what is its purpose?
People: That we may know the holy nature and will of God, and the sinful nature and disobedience of our hearts; and thus our need of a Savior. The law also teaches and exhorts us to live a life worthy of our Savior.
Classic Prayer: Thomas Lye, 1621-1684
Lord God, You and You alone should be the sole object of our trust. May there be but one string to the bow of our faith: that is You, our Lord. May we not rest in anything other than You. Forgive us when we trust in our heads, for our own understanding is an unsafe place to lean. Forgive us when we trust in our hearts, for they are so deceitful and wicked. Forgive us when we trust in our vigor, for our hands will soon hang down and faint. Forgive us when we trust in any excellences, for the best of us in our best state is altogether vanity. Forgive us when we trust in riches, for riches are fair-faced nothings, taking flight like birds. Forgive us when we trust in human allies, for they prove not to be staffs but broken reeds. But on this the arm of trust may safely lean: Your almighty arm and power; and Your infinite goodness, mercy, and bounty.
TVC Prayer Ministry
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Vocation: Engineers
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Praying for the Persecuted Church: Sudan
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Discussion Questions for July 12, 2026
- Boaz stood out as a man of righteousness during a time when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” What did he do that set him apart? How did he treat people? How is he an example of a Proverbs 3 man?
- How does Ruth’s character tie into the character of the “Proverbs 31 woman”?
- In what way is our modern-day context similar or different to that of Boaz and Ruth’s time? How can we similarly live in a distinctively Christ-like kind of way?
- How often do you exegete your own life and circumstances? Do you regularly recognize you are stepping into the holy ground of God’s providence in your day-to-day life? How could the providence of God be at work in your current situations and happenstances towards His gracious ends? Do you take comfort in the fact that God oversees every inch of the universe?
- How is the story of Ruth a microcosm of the whole arc of Redemption? How does God startle and surprise the world?
- When you look back on your life, are there areas where you recognize the Ruth-like providence of God at work?
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