Baptism
We will begin our service this coming Sunday with a baptism. Sydney Knight has trusted Christ as her Lord and Savior so we celebrate her faith in Christ this Sunday. This is one of those rare Sundays when we get to see visual displays of the gospel in both baptism and Lord’s Supper. We thank God for this grace.
Confession of Faith in Christ at Baptism:
We have recently added a short confession of faith when we baptize. Here are the questions we will ask her just before her baptism.
Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of evil that rebel against God?
Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
Do you turn to Jesus Christ?
Do you intend to be Christ’s faithful disciple, trusting his promises, obeying his Word, honoring his church, and showing his love, as long as you live?
Call To Worship
We confess the supremacy of God in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Call to Worship
Psalm 8
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
ESV
Our Sung Call to Worship
Confession
We confess our need for mercy through both responsive reading and song.
Our Spoken Confession
Father, you have made known to us how great the riches of your glory are for us in Christ. Yet we fail daily to recognize Christ’s preeminence.
Instead of boasting in Christ’s righteousness, we boast in our own.
Instead of resting in Christ’s death for us, we trust in our works.
Father, we confess we are often bored with what Christ has done to save sinners.
Instead of amazement at the mystery of Christ in us, we numb our souls with entertainment.
Father, we confess that we have not desired to present everyone mature in Christ.
Instead of proclaiming him, we have sought praise for ourselves.
Instead of warning others, we have protected our own reputations.
Instead of teaching everyone in your wisdom, we have counseled with our own.
Father, we confess that we grow weary in doing good.
Instead of toiling, we are idle.
Instead of struggling with all your energy, we labor in our own strength.
Father — be merciful to us, for we are sinners!
Amen!
Confession based on Col. 1:27-29
Our Sung Confession
Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
“And we, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
Col. 1:21–22 ESV
Our Sung Profession of Assurance
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.
We Worship and Give Thanks in Song
Scripture Reading
We hear the scripture text of the sermon read.
Colossians 1:24-29
Sermon
The Gospel-Centered Ministry of the Church (Part 2)
Colossians 1:28-29
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
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.
Benediction
May you know the hope to which God has called you,
May you experience the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
May you trust his incomparably great power for you.
Amen.
—based on Ephesians 1:18-19