Service Preview for March 3

Service Preview for March 3

Call To Worship

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

Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 100 (NLT)

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!
Worship the LORD with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God!

He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Our Sung Call to Worship
O Shout for Joy (The New Hundredth)

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

Our Spoken Confession
Based on The New City Catechism (Q/A 7), Psalm 51:1-4 (CSB17)

What does the law of God require?

Personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience;
that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength;
and love our neighbor as ourselves.

What God forbids should never be done
and what God commands should always be done.

Are you personally, perfectly, and perpetually obedient?

No; I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.

Against God—God alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in his sight.

So he is right when he passes sentence;
he is blameless when he judges.

TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION

Our Sung Confession
Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul

Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
From Matthew 20:28; 11:28-30 (CSB17)

The Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Come to me, all of you are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take up my yoke and learn from me,
because I am lowly and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Psalm 62

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
Oh How Good It Is

Scripture Reading
Luke 11:29-12:12
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. 42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” 53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

1In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. 8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

This is the Good News of Jesus.
O come, let us adore him!

Sermon
Luke 11:29-12:12 – Beware of the Leaven of The Pharisees – Pastor Eric Schumacher

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
How Firm a Foundation

Blessing

Go in peace and serve the Lord!