Service Preview for May 20

Service Preview for May 20

Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.

Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 27:1, 4-6

The Lord is my light and my salvation
—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
—whom shall I dread?

Women:
I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
gazing on the beauty of the Lord
and seeking him in his temple.

Men:
For he will conceal me in his shelter
in the day of adversity;
he will hide me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.

Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;
I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Our Sung Call to Worship
I Stand In Awe

Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.

Our Spoken Confession
Based on Luke 18:9-12

He also told this parable to some who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous,
and treated others with contempt:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus:

‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

Lord, we confess that we approach you like this Pharisee.

We trust in ourselves that we are righteous:
we trust in our comparison to others;
we trust in our spiritual disciplines;
we trust in our orthodox doctrine;
we trust in our changed lives;
we trust in our reputations;
we trust in ourselves.

When we trust in Christ plus any of these things,
we are not trusting in Christ alone.

TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION

Our Sung Confession
Not in Me

Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
From Luke 18:12-14

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying,

‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
The Gospel Song

There is No Sin That I Have Done

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
Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)

Scripture Reading
Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:8
1Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on
earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
4 He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes
to the bones in the womb of a woman with child,
so you do not know the work of God who makes
everything.
6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening
withhold not your hand, for you do not know
which will prosper, this or that, or whether both
alike will be good.
7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes
to see the sun.
8 So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in
them all; but let him remember that the days of
darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your
heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk
in the ways of your heart and the sight of your
eyes. But know that for all these things God will
bring you into judgment.
10 Remove vexation from your heart, and put away
pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of
life are vanity.

1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

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 11:1-12:8 – “O Death”- 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
Abide With Me

Blessing
From Ephesians 1:18-19

As you leave here today,
may you know the hope of his calling,
the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
and the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.