Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Lament
Reading from Lamentations 1:1-11
How lonely sits the city that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.
She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers she has none to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude;
she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival;
all her gates are desolate; her priests groan;
her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.
Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper,
because the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed.
Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture;
they fled without strength before the pursuer.
Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering
all the precious things that were hers from days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her,
her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.
Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy;
all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans and turns her face away.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter.
“O LORD, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”
The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things;
for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.
All her people groan as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength.
“Look, O LORD, and see, for I am despised.”
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
Hebrews 8:8-12; 9:11-12 (ESV)
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord;
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
When Christ appeared as a high priest,
he entered once for all into the holy places,
not by means of the blood of goats and calves
but by means of his own blood,
thus securing an eternal redemption.
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
All I Have is Christ
Jesus Loves Me
I Must Tell Jesus
Thanksgiving and Petition
We Give Thanks in Prayer and Offer Petitions to God
We express our gratitude to God our Father for Christ’s work on the cross for us and bring our requests before him. In bringing our requests, we confess that we believe God truly is a good father, who cares about our needs and gives us what he knows is best.
We Give Thanks by Giving
We give financial offerings to support the work of the church because of our gratitude to God. By giving we confess we are trusting in God’s provision for us as well.
On the first Sunday of each month we have two offerings—one for the general fund and a second one for the benevolence ministry of our church.
We Give Thanks in Song
Speak O Lord
Scripture Reading
Lamentations 1:12-22 (ESV)
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the LORD inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
13 “From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back;
he has left me stunned, faint all the day long.
14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke;
by his hand they were fastened together;
they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail;
the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord rejected all my mighty men in my midst;
he summoned an assembly against me to crush my young men;
the Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah.
16 “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit;
my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her;
the LORD has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes;
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18 “The LORD is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men have gone into captivity.
19 “I called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
my priests and elders perished in the city,
while they sought food to revive their strength.
20 “Look, O LORD, for I am in distress; my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.
21 “They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
22 “Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them
as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions;
for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.”
Sermon
Lamentations 1:1-22 – Nobody’s Fault But Mine – Pastor Michael
The Lord’s Supper
This morning we will be celebrating the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.
If you have trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, have been baptized and are a member in good standing of a local church we invite you to share in this covenant meal with us.
If you are not able to receive the Lord’s Supper with us, please use this time to meditate on one of the following prayers.
PRAYER FOR THOSE SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH
Lord Jesus, You claim to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. If what You claim is true, please guide me, teach me and open me to the reality of who You are. Grant that I might be undaunted in my pursuit of knowing You. Give me an understanding of You that is coherent and convincing, and that leads me to the life in You. Amen.
PRAYER OF BELIEF
Lord Jesus I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever dared admit, but through You I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank You for paying my debt on the cross, taking what I deserve in order to purchase my complete forgiveness. Knowing that You have been raised form the dead, I turn form my sins and receive You as My Savior and Lord. Amen.
PRAYER OF COMMITMENT
Lord Jesus, You have called us to follow You in baptism and in a life of committed discipleship in Your church. Grant that I may take the necessary steps to be the one with Your people, and live in the fullness of Your Spirit in a local community of Christ followers. Amen.
adapted from D. A. Carson, ed., Worship by the Book (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002)
Gluten Free Lord’s Supper: The elements of our Lord’s Supper are gluten free.
Sending
Having heard and confessed the Gospel, we are sent into the world on mission in Christ, which we express in both song and spoken word.
Sending Song
All I Have Is Christ (verse 3 and chorus, see video above)
Blessing
From Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen