This Sunday we will be covering Colossians 1:9-12. We will see how Paul prayed for the Colossians Christians to have spiritual wisdom from God. The Colossians valued wisdom but many in the church were beginning to value the wrong kind of wisdom, the world’s wisdom and false religious wisdom based on works and not grace. Yet Paul argued very powerfully that the “dead man’s cross, live man’s empty tomb” gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which the world sees as utter foolishness, is in fact the wisest of wisdom. Corporate worship reminds us that life has at its center a dead man’s cross and a living man’s empty tomb. May the gospel of Jesus Christ fill us with the fullness of His life and with the richness of His grace and beauty of His wisdom (New Morning Mercies, April 7).
Call To Worship:
Confession:
Our Prayer of Confession we Pray together
Almighty and merciful God,
we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much
the devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against your holy laws.
We have left undone those things, which we ought to have done;
and we have done those things, which we ought not to have done.
Forgive us we pray through Jesus Christ your Son.
We Sing our Prayer of Confession
Assurance and Peace:
We sing of our assurance of forgiveness and peace with God for what Christ has done on our behalf.
Thanksgiving and Petition:
During Thanksgiving and Petition we sing of our gratitude to God for Christ’s work on the cross for us. We give tithes and 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. We also prepare our hearts to hear instruction from the word of God.
May the song Show Us Christ be your prayer to prepare your heart to hear the word of God preached.
Sermon: The Great Work of the Gospel: Prayer, Colossians 1:9-12
The main Point of the message is that the great work of the gospel should cause us to labor for one another in prayer.
Sending:
Sending is not being dismissed. Sending is what Jesus does with His disciples. At the close of the worship service the church is sent out into the world after being refreshed by the gospel. The gospel has shaped our hearts and is on our lips to share with our neighbors, friends and family. May the Lord use our witness this week to bring others the refreshment of Christ through His saving grace. May we, as Christians, live our lives in a manner consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When we sing Not for a Moment remember the character of our God that we saw in the book of Ruth. God is both sovereign and kind. This is one of the few songs that reminds of the the sovereignty of God and sets His kindness beside it. I hope this song helps us to be reminded that God never breaks His promises. He never forsakes us because he is both sovereign and good and we see that most clearly in Christ’s work on the cross.
Benediction Blessing:
May you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Amen (Adapted: Col 1:10–12)
Blessings!
Pastor Michael