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:: Listen to the 11.17.2013 Sermon Audio
image :: Kabe (Wall), Kiyoshi Saito (20th century, Japan)
Preparation for Worship :: Brought Near
“When Christ saves a man he not only saves him from his sin, he saves him from his solitude.” (Frank Colquhoun)
“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.” (Miroslav Volf)
“In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’.” (Zechariah 9:23)
:: Come and Welcome (Thomas Haweis, 1792) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3165625088 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]
:: Every Ditch, Every Valley (Peter La Grand, 2008) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2929548631 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=3]
:: The Church’s One Foundation (Samuel J. Stone, 1866) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2284543217 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=14]
:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2001) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1060200358 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=12]
:: Father Long Before Creation (Chinese Hymn, c.1951) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2817376614 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]
:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1406506152 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=7]
Call to Worship :: Psalm 47:1-5
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us. That Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!
Old Testament Reading :: Isaiah 40:3-6,8
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
Sermon :: Ephesians 2:8-13
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
We Confess Our Sin Together
Gracious Lord, we confess that we have dishonored You in our words, thoughts and deeds. We have lived as a people without a God. Depending on our strength, we stumble in our pride. Glorying in our own righteousness, we reject You in our unbelief. Turning our faces from You, we worship created things in our rebellion. We pray for You to forgive us our sin against You; Lead us to rejoice that we been brought near by the blood of Christ. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: I Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.