The Lord’s Day
June 8, 2008
God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
(Psalm 68:6)
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 72:18, 19
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone works wonders.
And blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymns God Himself Is with Us No. 382
God of Gods, We Sound His Praises No. 23
Public Confession
We make this confession without reservation, O God, knowing You will hear us and forgive our sins. Forgive us for straying from the path of righteousness by taking steps that were wrongly motivated at times. Forgive us for using our words to tear down as we sometimes spoke without patience and charity.
Forgive us for our lack of compassion, kindness, and longsuffering. We have not always honored our Savior by following His example. We confess that we have sinfully questioned Your purposes and given way to irreverent speculation. Therefore, we are most grateful for our Savior. And we thank You for accepting His payment for our sin.
Words of Assurance John 1:10–13
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Response The Lord’s My Shepherd (inside front cover)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (180, 181)
What is it to pray in the name of Christ?
To pray in the name of Christ is, in obedience to His command, and in confidence on His promises, to ask mercy for His sake; not by bare mentioning of His name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and His mediation.
Why are we to pray in the name of Christ?
The sinfulness of man, and his distance from God by reason thereof, being so great as that we can have no access into His presence without a mediator; and there being none in heaven or earth appointed to, or fit for, that glorious work but Christ alone, we are to pray in no other name but His only.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading Proverbs 26:1–14
Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight.
A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes.
He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence who sends a message by the hand of a fool.
Like the legs which are useless to the lame, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like an archer who wounds everyone, so is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.
Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!”
As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed.
*Hymn The Ends of all the Earth Shall Hear No. 368
*Public Reading of the Word 1 Thessalonians 3
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 18:21-35
Hymn How Blest Is He Whose Trespass No. 550
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn Now Blessed Be the Lord Our God No. 11
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin