Welcome
Call to Worship
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Psalm 100:1–2 (NKJV):
Hymn # 198 Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates!
1 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates! Behold, the King of glory waits; the King of kings is drawing near, the Savior of the world is here.
2 A helper just he comes to thee, his chariot is humility, his kingly crown is holiness, his scepter, pity in distress.
3 O blest the land, the city blest, where Christ the Ruler is confessed! O happy hearts and happy homes to whom this King in triumph comes!
4 Fling wide the portals of your heart; make it a temple, set apart from earthly use for heav'n's employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy.
5 Redeemer, come! I open wide my heart to thee; here, Lord, abide! Let me thy inner presence feel; thy grace and love in me reveal.
6 So come, my Sovereign, enter in! Let new and nobler life begin! Thy Holy Spirit, guide us on, until the glorious crown be won.
Call To Confession
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:9–14 (NKJV):
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You that You may be feared.
Psalm 130:1–4 (NKJV)
Confession of Sins
Let us, therefore, confess our sin, saying together:
Merciful Heavenly Father, pardon us our many sins; the sins we know and the sins hidden from our conscience. Cleanse us from wrong motives and forgive us for feeble obedience. By your Spirit renew our hearts to love you, our minds to know you, and our wills to obey you. For we ask this mercy in the name of your Son who shed his blood for us. Amen.
Word of Assurance
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Romans 5:8–9 (NKJV)
Song of Renewal
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
Trinity Hymnal # 521, stanza 1
Scripture Lessons:
Daniel 9:1–27 (NKJV):
9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.
6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.
7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.
12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.
14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.
17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God,
21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.
23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
24 “Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”
Sermon
Hymn # 291 See, the Conqueror Mounts in Triumph
1 See, the Conqu'ror mounts in triumph; see the King in royal state, riding on the clouds, his chariot, to his heav'nly palace gate: Hark! the choirs of angel voices joyful alleluias sing, and the portals high are lifted to receive their heav'nly King.
2 Who is this that comes in glory, with the trump of jubilee? Lord of battles, God of armies, he has gained the victory; he who on the cross did suffer, he who from the grave arose, he has vanquished sin and Satan, he by death has spoiled his foes.
3 You have raised our human nature in the clouds to God's right hand; there we sit in heav'nly places, there with you in glory stand: Jesus reigns, adored by angels, man with God is on the throne; mighty Lord, in your ascension we by faith behold our own.
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.”
Hymn (insert) In Christ Alone (1-2)
1 In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song This Cornerstone, this solid Ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love of Christ I stand.
2 In Christ alone! - who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save: Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied - For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live.
Apostles’ Creed page 845
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord's Supper
Hymn (insert) In Christ Alone (3-4)
3 There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain: Then bursting forth in glorious day Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine- Bought with the precious blood of Christ
4 No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!
Benediction
