260104: Worship Bulletin

“…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Prelude

Welcome and Announcements

The Voluntary for Silent Prayer

*Call to Worship: Psalm 16:5-11

Minister: The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

People: I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Minister: Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

People: You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

*Hymn of Adoration: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (No. 53)

1 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.

2 Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
how thy desires e'er have been
granted in what he ordaineth?

3 Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
ponder anew
what the Almighty will do,
if with his love he befriend thee.

4 Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,
decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee.
How oft in grief
hath not he brought thee relief,
spreading his wings to o'ershade thee!

5 Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him!
Let the amen
sound from his people again;
gladly fore'er we adore him.

*Prayer of Adoration and Congregational Invocation

Unison: Gracious God, we praise you that with confidence we can draw near your throne of grace. There we delight in our Savior’s love, experience the relief of repentance and reconciliation, and revel in the privilege of our sonship. Gracious Father, ignite our hearts with joy before you, quicken our deadness with thanksgiving, and strengthen us to cling to you, love you, and obey you. Fill us with the imagination of faith, which believes that with you all things are possible and knows that you delight to give far beyond all we could ask or think. May we grow to be persistent in prayer, until Christ is the pulse of our hearts, the spokesman of our lips, and the center of all our hopes and longings. In his name we pray. Amen.

Adapted from “Prayer” in Prone to Wander: Prayers of Confession and Celebration

*Affirmation of Faith: Westminster Larger Catechism 1

Minister: What is the chief and highest end of man?

People: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.

*Gloria Patri (Tune: “Gloria Patri, Greatorex”)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen. Amen.

The Revelation of God’s Will: Ex. 20:1-17; Mt. 22:37-40

Unison: “And God spoke all these words saying: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Minister: You shall have no other gods before me.

People: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Minister: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

People: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Minister: Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

People: You shall not murder.

Minister: You shall not commit adultery.

People: You shall not steal.

Minister: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

People: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’”

Unison: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, mind and strength…and your neighbor as yourself.”

Hymn of Confession: “God, Be Merciful to Me” (No. 486)

1 God, be merciful to me,
on thy grace I rest my plea;
plenteous in compassion thou,
blot out my transgressions now;
wash me, make me pure within,
cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

2 My transgressions I confess,
grief and guilt my soul oppress;
I have sinned against thy grace
and provoked thee to thy face;
I confess thy judgment just,
speechless, I thy mercy trust.

3 I am evil, born in sin;
thou desirest truth within.
thou alone my Savior art,
teach thy wisdom to my heart;
make me pure, thy grace bestow,
wash me whiter than the snow.

4 Broken, humbled to the dust
by thy wrath and judgment just,
let my contrite heart rejoice
and in gladness hear thy voice;
from my sins O hide thy face,
blot them out in boundless grace.

5 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.

6 Sinners then shall learn from me
and return, O God, to thee;
Savior, all my guilt remove,
and my tongue shall sing thy love;
touch my silent lips, O Lord,
and my mouth shall praise accord.

Corporate Confession and Silent Confession

Unison: O God of Grace, help me. I am slow to learn and prone to forget. I am pained by my graceless heart, my prayerless days, my poverty of love, my sloth in the heavenly race, my sullied conscience, my wasted hours, my unspent opportunities. I confess these to you and ask your forgiveness. And I plead that you will never let me lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of my sin, the exceeding righteousness of salvation, the exceeding glory of Christ, the exceeding beauty of holiness, and the exceeding wonder of grace. In the name of Jesus I come to you. Amen.

Adapted from The Valley of Vision

Pastoral Prayer

Assurance of Pardon

Minister: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

*Hymn of Thanksgiving: “Christ, of All My Hope the Ground” ( No. 518)

1 Christ, of all my hopes the ground,
Christ, the spring of all my joy,
still in you may I be found,
still for you my pow'rs employ,
still for you my pow'rs employ.

2 Let your love my heart inflame;
keep your fear before my sight;
be your praise my highest aim;
be your smile my chief delight,
be your smile my chief delight.

3 Fountain of o'erflowing grace,
freely from your fullness give;
till I close my earthly race,
may I prove it "Christ to live,"
may I prove it "Christ to live."

4 Firmly trusting in your blood,
nothing shall my heart confound;
safely I shall pass the flood,
safely reach Immanuel's ground,
safely reach Immanuel's ground.

5 Thus, O thus, an entrance give
to the land of cloudless sky;
having known it "Christ to live,"
let me know it "gain to die,"
let me know it "gain to die."

Worship of God through Tithes and Offerings

*Doxology (Tune: “Old Hundredth”)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication

*Reading of The Holy Scriptures: Psalm 37

Minister: This is the Word of God.

Unison: Thanks be to God for his Word!

*The Prayer for Illumination

Sermon: “Joy Full and Final” (Rev. Mike Allen)

*Hymn of Response: “Be Thou My Vision” (No. 642)

1 Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art -
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my great Father, I thy true son;
thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

3 Be thou my battle shield, sword for my fight;
be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tow'r;
raise thou me heav'n-ward, O Pow'r of my pow'r.

4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

5 High King of heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'n's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

*Benediction

Postlude

*Denotes congregation standing, if able.