The Lord’s Day
June 1, 2008
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.
A Father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
(Psalm 68:4, 5)
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 71:1-3
In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
Incline Your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymns Sing to the Lord, Sing His Praise No. 62
Psalm 148 (facing page)
Public Confession
We rejoice in Your goodness, O God; and we take courage in Your mercy toward us. Forgive those unholy thoughts we conceived, thoughts that defiled our hearts. Forgive those unholy words we spoke, words that brought grief to another. Forgive those unholy acts we committed, acts that took us far from You. We humbly make this confession through Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior.
Words of Assurance Romans 5:1, 2
Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Response The Lord’s My Shepherd (inside back cover)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (178, 179)
What is prayer?
Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit; with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.
Are we to pray to God only?
God only being able to search the hearts, hear the requests, pardon the sins, and fulfill the desires of all; and only to be believed in, and worshiped with religious worship; prayer, which is a special part thereof, is to be made by all to Him alone, and to none other.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading The Law of God
Then 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. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
“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 of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:9, 10)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)
“You shall not murder.”
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:8, 9)
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)
“You shall not steal.”
Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)
“You shall not covet.”
Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (Ephesians 5:3)
*Hymn Forever Settled in the Heavens No. 59
*Public Reading of the Word 1 Thessalonians 2
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 18:15-35 (part 1)
Hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross No. 252
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn O Jesus, We Adore Thee No. 255
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin