The Lord’s Day

April 18, 2010

 

Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

(Psalm 147:1)

 

Prelude

 

Apostolic Greeting

 

*Call to Worship                                                            Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the Lord Himself is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

 

*Gloria Patri                                                                                  No. 734

 

*Prayer of Invocation

 

*Hymn                                    Psalm 98A                        (pp. 4, 5)

 

Public Confession

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always behaved as saints in our words and deeds. We have not spoken with grace, as we are commanded. We have not kept our minds pure. For these things, we ask forgiveness. For our weaknesses, we ask for strength.

 

  Words of Comfort and Assurance                  Colossians 3:4-7

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

 

Response                        Thou Art the Way              (facing page)

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

 

Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

 

*Doxology                                                                          No. 731

 

*Declaring Our Faith[†]    The Catechism of the Church in Geneva

When we pray, should we have confidence that God hears us?

The foundation of our prayer should always be that the Lord will hear us, and that we shall obtain whatever we ask, in so far as is for our good. For this reason Paul tells us that true prayer flows from faith.

What about those who are uncertain whether their prayers will be heard by God?

Their prayers are vain and void, not being supported by any promise. For we are ordered to ask with sure faith, and the promise is added, that whatever we shall ask, believing, we shall receive.

Are we to pray in the name of Christ only?

Yes, it is commanded and the promise is added that He will by His intercession obtain what we ask.

 

Pastoral Prayer

 

*Responsive Reading                                                        Psalm 54

Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power.

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen against me

And violent men have sought my life; they have not set God before them.

Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

He will recompense the evil to my foes;

Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

Willingly I will sacrifice to You;

I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good.

For He has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

 

*Hymn                         Jesus, Lover of My Soul                  No. 508

 

 

 

 

 

*Public Reading of the Word           The Gospel of John 17:1–26

 

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

 

Sermon  The Doctrine of Salvation: Justification ( part 1)         

    Rom. 5:18, 19; Gal. 3:10ff.; Col. 2:13, 14; Rom. 8:1, 2; etc.

 

  Sacrament of Baptism                                Lilly Reagan Verduin

 

  Hymn                       Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me                No. 500

 

  Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+

 

*Hymn                 Fountain of Never-Ceasing Grace          No. 519

 

*Benediction

 

*Threefold Amen                                                                 No. 740

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Congregation will please stand

+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



[†] These questions and responses are based on the text of the Catechism of the Church in Geneva.