Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Based on Psalm 118:1, 5, 14, 17, 22-24 (ESV)
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Out of our distress we called on the LORD;
the LORD answered us and set us free.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
The LORD is our strength and our song;
he has become our salvation.
O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
We shall not die, but we shall live,
and recount the deeds of the LORD.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Our Sung Call to Worship
Rejoice the Lord is King
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
From the Worship Sourcebook
Almighty God,
in raising Jesus from the grave,
you shattered the power of sin and death.
We confess that we often walk in doubt and fear,
following the ways that lead to death.
We overlook the poor and the hungry
and pass by those who mourn;
we are deaf to the cries of the oppressed
and indifferent to calls for peace;
we despise the weak
and abuse the earth you made.
Forgive us, God of mercy.
Help us to trust your power
to change our lives and make us new,
that we may know the joy of life abundant
given in Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.
Amen.
Our Sung Confession
Jesus What A Friend of Sinners
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
Based on 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (CSB17)
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
O the Deep, Deep Love of 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
My Jesus I Love Thee
Scripture Reading
Ecclesiastes 4:1-16 (ESV)
1Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under
the sun.
4Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
5The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.
6Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.
7Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
9Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
13Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. 14For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. 15I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. 16 There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him.
Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
This is the Word of the Lord.
The grass withers
and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen!
Sermon
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:16 – “Come Back Soon” – Pastor Michael Felkins
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
It is Well
Blessing
Based on 1 Timothy 1:17 (CSB17)
Now to the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only God,
be honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen.