Worship Service for May 5, 2024

Updated: May 6

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Welcome

Call to Worship

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!2 Serve the Lord with gladness;Come before His presence with singing.

Psalm 100:1-2

Hymn # 1 All People That on Earth Do Dwell

1 All people that on earth do dwell,

sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;

him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,

come ye before him and rejoice.

2 The Lord ye know is God indeed;

without our aid he did us make;

we are his folk, he doth us feed,

and for his sheep he doth us take.

3 O enter then his gates with praise,

approach with joy his courts unto;

praise, laud, and bless his name always,

for it is seemly so to do.

4 For why? The Lord our God is good,

his mercy is forever sure;

his truth at all times firmly stood,

and shall from age to age endure.

Call To Confession

And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image...5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

12 Honor your father and your mother.

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not desire...anything that is your neighbor’s.

I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You

In a time when You may be found.

Psalm 32:5–6 (NKJV)

Confession of Sins

Let us, therefore, confess our sin, saying together:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me... Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” through Jesus your Son. Amen.

Word of Assurance

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

Psalm 103:11–13 (NKJV)

Song of Renewal

Gracious God my heart renew,

Make my spirit right and true;

Cast me not away from thee,

Let thy Spirit dwell in me;

Thy salvation's joy impart.

Steadfast make my willing heart.

#486, stanza 5 (Ps 51:10-11)

Scripture Lesson: Philippians 3:1-21

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Sermon

Hymn # 707 Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

1 Jesus, I my cross have taken,

all to leave, and follow thee;

destitute, despised, forsaken,

thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish ev'ry fond ambition,

all I've sought or hoped or known;

yet how rich is my condition,

God and heav'n are still my own.

2 Let the world despise and leave me,

they have left my Savior too;

human hearts and looks deceive me;

thou art not, like man, untrue;

and, while thou shalt smile upon me,

God of wisdom, love, and might,

foes may hate and friends may shun me;

show thy face, and all is bright.

3 Man may trouble and distress me,

'twill but drive me to thy breast;

life with trials hard may press me,

heav'n will bring me sweeter rest.

O 'tis not in grief to harm me

while thy love is left to me;

O 'twere not in joy to charm me,

were that joy unmixed with thee.

4 Take, my soul, thy full salvation,

rise o'er sin and fear and care;

joy to find in ev'ry station

something still to do or bear;

think what Spirit dwells within thee,

what a Father's smile is thine,

what a Savior died to win thee:

child of heav'n, shouldst thou repine?

5 Hasten on from grace to glory,

armed by faith, and winged by prayer;

heav'n's eternal day's before thee,

God's own hand shall guide thee there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;

hope shall change to glad fruition,

faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Prayer of the Church and the Lord’s Prayer

“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.”

The Nicene Creed – page 846

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of his Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light,

very God of very God,

begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

by whom all things were made;

who for us and for our salvation

came down from heaven,

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,

and was made man;

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered and was buried;

and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures,

and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead;

whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son;

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified;

who spoke by the prophets;

and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church;

we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;

and we look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Special Music

The Lord’s Supper

Hymn – His Mercy is More (lyrics provided)

What love could remember no wrongs we have done

Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum

Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore