"Amazing grace,

how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

was blind, but now I see."

--John Newton.

 

Join Us for Great Fellowship and Joyful Worship

 

Our morning worship service is a traditional, reformed worship service. We worship the one God who eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This one God knows us fully and completely, and has sovereignly called us into his presence for worship each Lord's day. Our focus is on the transcendent glory of our infinitely personal Creator and Redeemer, whom we approach through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit.

 

Our worship is a revelation of the God of grace, who does not treat us as our sins deserve, but freely receives all who repent of their sins and trust in his word. His amazing grace is seen in the gift of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in humility took on our humanity, and in that humanity he bled and died for the sins of his people. His sacrificial death fully atoned for all of their sin, eliminating the need for any further sacrifices or offerings for sin. What is more, his perfect righteousness has been credited to all who believe on him, so that they may enter the presence of the Father boldly in worship, knowing that in Christ they are now made perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect. We now live in hope of the glory of God, and await eagerly the revelation of his Son from heaven.

 

Our worship is spiritual and true, as we worship in the simplicity and purity of God's word and Spirit. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament reveal the mind and will of God for us, showing us how to be saved from the wrath of God and restored to his good favor. These Scriptures always focus on Jesus Christ in his work as our Prophet, Priest, and King. They provide the foundation for renewing us in Christ's image, making us mature and complete in him. They will transform our families, our church, and our world, until the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord "as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).

 

We value a traditional Reformed Liturgy that reminds us of our connections with the saints of the past, and points to our fellowship in heavenly places. We recite the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed to show our union with the historic Christian church and the faith that has been passed down for generations. We include the Lord's Prayer in our prayers as a part of worship so that we may learn how to pray more fully in private. We sing of God's glory and his work of redemption using psalms and hymns approved by our session and enjoyed by our congregation. They express a mature faith in Jesus Christ, and provide rich vocal and instrumental harmonies for our worship. We bring our offerings before the Lord for his blessing, so that his kingdom would advance in our community and throughout the earth.

 

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Sunday Worship Service

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April 24, 2022

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Prelude 

Silent Prayer

 

*Call to Worship:                                             Isaiah 58:13-14, p. 786

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

 

*Invocation 

*Salutation:                                                               1 Corinthians 1:3

 

*First Hymn:                                 “Safely Through Another Week,” #391

*Confession of Faith:                                                       The 23rd Psalm

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

 

*Gloria Patri:                                                                                       p. xv

“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.”

 

Scripture Readings:   Genesis 1:26-2:3; Acts 20:7-12; Revelation 1:9-20

 

Homily:                                                   “Deliver Us from Evil,” SC #106

Q. 106. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?
A. In the sixth petition, which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.

 

Congregational Prayer  

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional)  

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in 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:                                             “Light of Light, Enlighten Me,” #397

Sermon Text:                                                            Exodus 20:8-11 ESV

Sermon:                                                                       “The Sabbath” 

Offerings   

*Doxology:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavn’ly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”

 

Confession of Sin

Assurance of Forgiveness:                                            Micah 7:18-19 

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

 

*Final Hymn:                                   “O Day of Rest and Gladness,” #392

*Benediction:                                                           2 Corinthians 13:14

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”

 

Closing Anthem:                  “By All Let God Be Praised,” #112 (verse 5)

“By all let God be praised, for he alone is great; Above the earth and heav'n he reigns in glorious state; Praise him, ye saints, who know his grace and ever dwell before his face.”

 

Postlude  

 

(*Congregation Standing)