:: Download the 3.16.2014 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes
:: Download the 3.16.2014 Bulletin
:: Download the 3.16.2014 Parent Bulletin
:: Download the 3.16.2014 Sermon Audio
image :: Building a Schooner, Provincetown, Childe Hassam (1900, American)
Preparation for Worship :: Falsehood and Truth
“Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace.” (Zechariah 8:16)
“If they are truly persuaded that God is the common Father of them all, and Christ their common Head, they cannot but be united together in brotherly love, and mutually impart their blessings to each other.” (John Calvin)
Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs for March 16
:: In Tenderness (W. Spencer Walton, 1894) chart // audio
:: Hosanna (Brooke Fraser, 2010) chart // audio
:: Jesus I Come (William T. Sleeper, 1887) chart // audio
:: My Heart is Steadfast (Ellie Holcomb, 2011) chart // audio
:: How He Loves Us (John Mark McMillan, 2005) chart // audio
Call to Worship :: Psalm 63:1-4, 7
O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory. Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands. You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
Gospel Reading :: John 7:14-18
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
Sermon :: Ephesians 4:25-29
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
We Confess Our Sin Together
Gracious Lord, we confess that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, words and deeds. Depending on our own strength, we stumble. Glorying in our own righteousness, we mock You. Turning our faces from You, we desire the things of this world to satisfy us. We repent of our self-pity and pride, our cowardice and sloth, our anger and envy. We pray now, Lord, for You to forgive us; Let us hear Your voice saying: “His blood is your peace, His death is your freedom, His Spirit is your power.” We pray these things in the name of Your most precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: I Peter 2:22-24
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.