Service Preview for July 26

Service Preview for July 26

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

Our Spoken Call to Worship
From Psalm 131 (CSB)

Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I do not get involved with things
too great or too wondrous for me.

Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like a weaned child.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
both now and forever.

Our Sung Call to Worship
Be Still My Soul

Verse 1
Be still, my soul! the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Verse 2
Be still, my soul! thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Verse 3
Be still, my soul! when dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears.
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul! thy Jesus can repay;
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Verse 4
Be still, my soul! the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul! when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

By Katharina von Schlegel and Jean Sibelius, Public Domain.

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

Our Spoken Lament
From Habakkuk 1:2-3; Psalm 94:3-7;
Psalm 90:13-15

O LORD, we long for your kingdom to come
in its fullness.
We know that you are patient and faithful.
But as we look at the world,
at the prosperity of the wicked,
and the suffering of your people,
our souls grow faint with longing.
We cry out for relief,
asking you to hear and act.
Look upon us with favor.
And hear us, we pray!

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy on us!

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you, “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make us see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before us;
strife and contention arise.
Look upon us with favor.
And hear us, we pray!

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy on us!

O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O LORD,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and sojourner,
and murder the fatherless;
and they say, “The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
Look upon us with favor.
And hear us, we pray!

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord, have mercy on us!

Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as may days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Look upon us with favor.
And hear us, we pray!

Lord, have mercy!
Christ, have mercy!
Lord have mercy on us!

Time of silent lament.

Assurance and Peace
We profess our assurance of salvation and peace in Christ through both responsive reading and song.
Remember the Gospel
Reading from the Heidelberg Catechism (Q/A1)

What is your only comfort in life and death?

That I am not my own, but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head without
the will of my Father in heaven;
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

Our Sung Profession of Assurance
Where Is Room

Verse 1
Sinner, where is room for doubt?
Has not Jesus’ love been proved?
Did He not lay down His life
And the Father’s wrath remove?
Hear Him on the cross exclaiming,
“It is finished,” then He died;
Lose your doubts and fears forever
At His bleeding, loving side.

Verse 2
Sinner, where is room for guilt?
Has not Jesus borne your shame?
Was He not cut off that you
Might the Father’s honor gain?
See Him on the cross degraded,
Ridiculed and thrown away,
To receive the once rejected
And His pard’ning grace display.

Verse 3
Sinner, where is room for toil?
Has not Jesus won your rest?
Did he not obey the law,
Giving us His righteousness?
See Him on the cross fulfilling
Both your punishment and crown;
Lose your powerless religion,
Find yourself in His renown.

Verse 4
Sinner, where is room for pride?
Has not Jesus paid it all?
Did He not show charity
To one ruined from the fall?
On the cross He paid your ransom,
Ev’ry debt has been erased;
You had nothing, yet He gave you
Riches by His lavish grace.

Words by David L. Ward © 2012 ReformedPraise.org
Music adapted from the composition “Waves of Kilkee” by Joanie Madden and Brian Keane,© 1999

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.

Scripture Reading
1 Peter 3:8-12 (ESV)
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy,
brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling,
but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called,
that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

Sermon
1 Peter 3:8-12 – The Witness of Holy Suffering – 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
Living Hope

Verse 1
How great the chasm that lay between us.
How high the mountain I could not climb.
In desperation I turned to heaven,
And spoke Your name into the night.
Then through the darkness,
Your lovingkindness tore through the shadows of my soul.
The work is finished, the end is written.
Jesus Christ, my living hope.

Verse 2
Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame.
The cross has spoken, “I am forgiven.”
The King of kings calls me His own.
Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever.
Jesus Christ, my living hope. (Chorus 2 X’s)

Chorus
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free!
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me!
You have broken ev’ry chain,
There’s salvation in Your name.
Jesus Christ, my living hope!

Verse 3
Then came the morning that sealed the promise,
Your buried body began to breathe.
Out of the silence, the roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me.
Then came the morning that sealed the promise,
Your buried body began to breathe.
Out of the silence, the roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me.
Jesus, Yours is the victory! (Chorus 2 X’s)

Song Ending
Jesus Christ, my living hope!
God, You are my living hope!

Words and music by Brian Johnson and Phil Wickham
© 2018 Phil Wickham Music (BMI) Simply Global Songs (BMI) Sing My Songs (BMI) (admin at Essential Music Publishing.com)/Bethel Music Publishing (ASCAP) (admin by Bethel Music Publishing).

Blessing
From Romans 16:20 (ESV)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.