Welcome
Call to Worship Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:1–2 (NKJV)
Hymn # 30 Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
1 Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home:
2 Under the shadow of your throne your saints have dwelt secure; sufficient is your arm alone, and our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame, from everlasting you are God, to endless years the same. 4 A thousand ages in your sight are like an evening gone; short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.
5 The busy tribes of flesh and blood, with all their lives and cares, are carried downward by your flood, and lost in foll'wing years.
6 Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away; they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the op'ning day.
7 Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come: O be our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home.
Call To Confession Our Lord Jesus says, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ And also, ‘Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.’ "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Let us, therefore, confess ours sins to the Lord, saying together: 1 John 1:8 (NKJV) Confession of Sins Almighty and Gracious Father, we confess to you that we have sinned by not loving you with our whole heart and by not loving our neighbor as ourselves. Our faith is weak and we easily give in to doubt. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness in thought, word and deed. For we ask this in the name of your Son, who is our sure Redeemer and our Savior. Amen. Word of Assurance Brothers and Sisters in Jesus, our Gracious Heavenly Father has forgiven us our sins. "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Colossians 2:13–14
Song of Renewal Thy cross, not mine, O Christ, has borne the awful load of sins that none in heav'n or earth could bear but God. To whom, save thee, who canst alone for sin atone, Lord, shall I flee? Hymn # 524 stanza 3 Scripture Lessons Psalm 146:1–10 (NKJV mod.): 1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 3 Do not put your trust in rulers, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, 7 Who does judgment for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases those who are bound. 8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He ruins. 10 The Lord shall reign forever Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! Romans 8:35–39 (NKJV mod.): 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:“ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” [Ps 44:22] 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers nor powerful ones, nor what is present nor what is to come, 39 nor what is above nor what is below, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sermon Hymn # 57 Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
1 Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, O my soul, Jehovah praise; I will sing the glorious praises of my God through all my days. Put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend; he shall die, to dust returning, and his purposes shall end.
2 Happy is the man that chooses Israel's God to be his aid; he is blessed whose hope of blessing on the Lord his God is stayed. Heav'n and earth the Lord created, seas and all that they contain; he delivers from oppression, righteousness he will maintain. 3 Food he daily gives the hungry, Sets the mourning prisoner free, raises those bowed down with anguish, makes the sightless eye to see. Well Jehovah loves the righteous, and the stranger he befriends, helps the fatherless and widow, judgment on the wicked sends.
4 Hallelujah, praise Jehovah, O my soul, Jehovah praise; I will sing the glorious praises of my God through all my days. Over all God reigns forever, through all ages he is King; unto him, your God, O Zion, joyful hallelujahs sing.
Prayer of the Church with the Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray together as Jesus taught us:
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Hymn # 498 Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners!
1 Jesus! what a Friend for sinners! Jesus! lover of my soul; friends may fail me, foes assail me, he, my Savior, makes me whole.
Refrain: Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, he is with me to the end.
2 Jesus! what a strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in him; tempted, tried, and sometimes failing, he, my strength, my vict'ry wins. [Refrain]
3 Jesus! what a help in sorrow! While the billows o'er me roll, even when my heart is breaking, he, my comfort, helps my soul. [Refrain]
4 Jesus! what a guide and keeper! While the tempest still is high, storms about me, night o'ertakes me, he, my pilot, hears my cry. [Refrain]
5 Jesus! I do now receive him, more than all in him I find; he hath granted me forgiveness, I am his, and he is mine. [Refrain]
Benediction