:: Download the 11.2.2014 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 11.2.2014 Bulletin
:: Download the 11.2.2014 Parents Bulletin
:: Download the 11.2.2014 Sermon Audio
image :: The Village Choir, Anton Azbe (Slovenian, 1900)
Preparation for Worship :: Comfort and Song
“Who will comfort you?” (Isaiah 51:19)
“I was powerfully moved at the sweet sound of Your Church singing. These sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart.” (Augustine)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for November 2 include:
:: In Tenderness (W. Spencer Walton, 1894) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2679071235 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=2677147876]
:: Beams of Heaven (Charles Tindley, 1916) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3165625088 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=1471069642]
:: The House of God Forever/ Psalm 23 (Foreman, 2008)
:: Come Ye Sinners (Joseph Hart, 1759) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3401631397 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=4160694172]
:: On Jordan’s Stormy Banks (Samuel Stennett, 1787) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3572066182 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=1174694383]
Call to Worship :: Psalm 96:1-3
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!
Praying the Psalms :: Psalm 23
The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Sermon :: Isaiah 49:8-26
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you and give you
as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,
9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
They shall feed along the ways;
on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10 they shall not hunger or thirst,
neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them will lead them,
and by springs of water will guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a road,
and my highways shall be raised up.
12 Behold, these shall come from afar,
and behold, these from the north and from the west,
and these from the land of Syene.”
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.
17 Your builders make haste;
your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18 Lift up your eyes around and see;
they all gather, they come to you.
As I live, declares the Lord,
you shall put them all on as an ornament;
you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places
and your devastated land—
surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 The children of your bereavement
will yet say in your ears:
‘The place is too narrow for me;
make room for me to dwell in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart:
‘Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away,
but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
from where have these come?’”
22 Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
and raise my signal to the peoples;
and they shall bring your sons in their arms,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?
25 For thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
and I will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Confession of Sin
Merciful God, You pardon all who truly repent and turn to You. We humbly confess our sins and ask Your mercy. We have not loved You with a pure heart, nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have not done justice, loved kindness, or walked humbly with You, our God. Have mercy on us, O God, in Your loving-kindness. In Your great compassion, cleanse us from our sin. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation and sustain us with Your bountiful Spirit through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy upon us; upon us.
Words of Encouragement :: Heidelberg Catechism 1 (1563)
What is your only comfort in life and in 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 whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.