:: Download the 8.13.2017 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 8.13.2017 Bulletin
:: Download the 8.13.2017 Sermon Audio
image :: The Meals, Andre Masson (1923)
Preparation for Worship on August 13 2017 :: Grace, Love & Fellowship
“Christianity entered history as a new world order, a new social dimension. From the very beginning Christianity was not primarily a doctrine, but a community. There was not only a Message to be proclaimed, there was a New Community, distinct and peculiar, in the process of growth and formation, to which members were called. Indeed, ‘fellowship’ (koinonia) was the basic category of Christian existence.” (Georges Florovsky)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for August 13 include ::
:: Heal Us, Emmanuel (William Cowper, 1799) CHART [bandcamp track=1545458693 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: May the Mind of Christ My Savior (Kate B. Wilkinson, 1925) CHART [bandcamp track=383595627 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2002) CHART [bandcamp track=676321818 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Kindness (Giglio, Reeves, Tomlin, 2000) CHART // AUDIO
:: Rejoice The Lord Is King (Charles Wesley, 1744) CHART
Call to Worship :: Psalm 65:1-4
Praise awaits You, our God, in Zion;
to You our vows will be fulfilled.
You who answer prayer,
to You all people will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
You forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those You choose
and bring near to live in Your courts!
We are filled with the good things of Your house,
of Your holy temple.
Confession of Sin
Almighty and merciful Father, You have called us to be Your desired followers and have made us one family. Yet we have not lived as one. We have not loved You and one another as You command. Selfish ambition has gripped us, and we have failed to look out for others’ interests above our own. We have not treated one another as those in whom Christ dwells. Conceit has gripped us, and we have failed to associate with and care for those who are different from ourselves. Pride has gripped us, and we sought to control You, the Lord. Forgive us for our sins against You. Go on to subdue everything in us that is contrary to Your purposes. By the power of your Spirit make us a community that is eager to do Your will and walk in Your ways. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: Ephesians 2:12-13
Remember that you were once separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Old Testament Reading :: Deuteronomy 7:6-10
You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.
Sermon :: II Corinthians 13:11-14
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.