Tag Archives: Missional Community Groups

Have Salt

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Table Salt 1922 by Kurt Schwitters 1887-1948

image:  Table Salt, Kurt Schwitters (Germany, 1922)

Preparation for Worship

Made, and bought by Love divine, Thine I am, and doubly Thine:
Lest through me Thou suffer loss, Nail me to Thy bleeding cross;
Farther to secure Thine own, Fix me on Thy glorious throne.
Charles Wesley, from “You Belong to Christ” (Mark 9:41)

Call to Worship Psalm 86:8-12

There is none like You among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like Yours.
All the nations You have made shall come
and worship before You, O Lord,
and shall glorify Your name.
For You are great and do wondrous things;
You alone are God.
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in Your truth;
unite my heart to fear Your name.
I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify Your name forever.

Come and Welcome (Thomas Haweis, 1792) [bandcamp track=2905232559  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

We Confess Our Sin Together  Book of Common Prayer; Psalm 139:23-24

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden:
“Search us and know our hearts!
Try us and know our thoughts!
And see if there be any offensive way in us,
and lead us in the way everlasting.”

God Declares Our Forgiveness Romans  8:1

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Ministry of Prayer   Psalm 13.  A Psalm of David

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
(Silent prayers for those in sorrow and despair, that Jesus Christ might lift their heads.)
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
(Silent prayers for all who suffer injustice and disgrace, that Jesus Christ might redeem, protect and restore them.)
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
(Silent prayers for the Church and for those the Holy Spirit is drawing to believe in Jesus Christ)

None Other Lamb (Christine Rossetti, 1892) [bandcamp track=798046000  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Sermon Mark 9:38-50

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

The Church’s One Foundation (Samuel Stone, 1866) [bandcamp track=3890947056  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi, 1225) [bandcamp track=3110760989  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Crown Him With Many Crowns (Matthew Bridges 1851) [bandcamp track=594463031  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Benediction

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Transfiguration

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The Transfiguration, Raphael (1516-20)

image :  The Transfiguration, Raphael (1516-20)

Preparation for Worship

“Worship is a meeting at the center so that our lives are centered in God and not lived eccentrically. We worship so that we live in response to and from this center, the living God. Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives. We move in either frightened panic or deluded lethargy as we are, in turn, alarmed by spectres and soothed by placebos. If there is no center, there is no circumference. People who do not worship are swept into a vast restlessness, epidemic in the world, with no steady direction and no sustaining purpose.”  —Eugene H. Peterson

“Look at Him… A friend of sinners!”  —Luke 7:34

Call to Worship  Psalm 99:1-3,9

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble;
He sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.
Great is the Lord in Zion; He is exalted over all the nations.
Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Joachim Neander, 1680) [bandcamp track=1956047333  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Old Testament Reading   Exodus 33:18-23

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Behold Our God (Baird & Altrogge, 2011) [bandcamp track=4160179747  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

We Confess Our Sin Together 

Holy God, when You call us to follow You with great boldness, we tremble at Your presence and cover our eyes. We are afraid of what we will see for Your greatness unveils our weakness, Your justice unveils our iniquity, and Your holiness unveils our stained hearts and minds. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus Christ, Giver of all grace,  forgive us our sins. Give us the strength to renounce that which hides You from us. Give us the wisdom to trust Your atoning sacrifice. We believe; help our unbelief, that we might know the freedom and power of Your Cross.

God Declares Our Forgiveness  from Colossians 2:13-15

When you were dead in your sins God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the Law that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the Cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.

Before the Throne of God Above (Bancroft, 1841-1923) [bandcamp track=4120787669  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Sermon   Mark 9:1-37

1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”

14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Uncreated One (Walt & Tomlin, 2006)  >>>audio>>>

Holy Holy Holy (Reginald Heber, 1826) [bandcamp track=2796283475  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

We Will Glorify (Paris, 1982) [bandcamp track=2156561497  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Benediction

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Follow Me

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You Are The Christ, Sanzio Raffaello (1515)

image :  You Are The Christ, Sanzio Raffaello (1515)

Preparation for Worship

“Christ says… I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down… the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked–the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.” —C.S. Lewis

Satisfied (Clara T. Williams, 1875) http://www.redmountainmusic.com/alb/DOMclips/Track10_128cut.mp3

Rock of Ages (Augustus Toplady, 1776)
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In The House of God Forever/Psalm 23 (Jon Foreman, 2008)

Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709)
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When I Survey (Isaac Watts, 1707)
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Jesus, I my Cross Have Taken (Henry F. Lyte, 1824)
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Jesus Savior Pilot Me (Edward Hopper, 1871)
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Call to Worship  Revelation 5:11-12; 15:3-4; 1:5-6

I looked, and I heard around the throne… the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the ages.

Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your name? For You alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.

To Him Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom of priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 53:10-11

It was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

We Confess Our Sin Together  from The Heidelberg Catechism

Christ teaches us that the law is summarized by this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” This is the first and the great commandment; and the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Can you keep these commands perfectly?

In no way, for I am prone by nature to despise God and my neighbor.

And the prophets and apostles have told us:“Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Is there no way by which we may escape that punishment and be again received into favor?

God will have His justice satisfied; and therefore we must make this full satisfaction, either by ourselves or by another.

Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction?

By no means; but on the contrary, we daily increase our debt.

What sort of mediator and deliverer, then, must we seek?

We must seek for one who is truly man and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also truly God. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

God Declares Our Forgiveness  II Corinthians 5:17-18

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.

Sermon   Mark 8:22-38

22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Benediction

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Bread In This Desolate Place

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Garden of Signs, Silviu Oravitzan (1998)

image :  Garden of Signs, Silviu Oravitzan (1998)

Preparation for Worship

“People who are no longer sure that God loves them and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons…Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others.”  —Richard Lovelace

“What more can He say than to you He hath said?”  —John Rippon

Jesus Lover of My Soul (Charles Wesley, 1740) [bandcamp track=1026515912  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

All Things New (Horatius Bonar, 1846) [bandcamp track=2373436171  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Give Me Jesus (Traditional African-American Spiritual)  [bandcamp track=893825801  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Abide With Me (Henry Francis Lyte, 1847) [bandcamp track=1465399194  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

In The Hours (H .L. Parmelee, 1871) [bandcamp track=1747787770  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Call to Worship   Psalm 36:7-9

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!  The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 51:1-3

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.

Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.

For the Lord comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Sermon   Mark 8:1-21

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Preparation for the Lord’s Supper   I Corinthians 11:23-26

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

We Confess Our Sin Together

Almighty God, We seek blessings, but have not sought You.  You love us, but we have not loved You.  We demand a sign, but miss Your compassion.  We are unable to perceive or understand You unless You graciously give us new eyes, new ears and new hearts. Heavenly Father, help us to admit our sin and need of You.  Teach us to trust and remember our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  By Your Holy Spirit, teach us to rest in You and receive forgiveness and freedom.  Amen.

God Declares Our Forgiveness   Ephesians 1:7

In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Benediction

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He Could Not Be Hidden

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Christ and the Canaanite Woman, Rembrandt Van Rijn (1650)

image: Christ and the Canaanite Woman, Rembrandt Van Rijn (1650)

Preparation for Worship

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Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

— Matthew 5:8

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In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing by comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God.

— C.S. Lewis

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Come and Welcome (Thomas Haweis, 1792) [bandcamp track=2905232559  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Clean Am I (Aaron Tate, 1994)

Lord Speak to Me (Francis Havergal, 1872) — audio

Narrow Little Road (Leverett, 1995)

You Are My King (Foote, 1997)

Call to Worship — Psalm 98:1-3

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done marvelous things!  His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.  The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.  He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

The Ministry of Prayer

Old Testament Reading — Isaiah 35:3-6, 9-10

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Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
‘Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.’

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
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We Confess Our Sin Together — Thomas Cranmer (1549)

Almighty Gods our Heavenly Father: in Your tender mercy You gave Your only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; He made there a full atonement for the sins of the whole world, offering once for all His one sacrifice of Himself; We do not presume to come to Your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Your table. But You are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy.

God Declares Our Forgiveness — Romans 5:1-2

Since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Sermon — Mark 7:24-37

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Benediction

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Clean

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The Heart, Henri Matisse (1943)

image : The Heart, Henri Matisse (1943)

All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi, 1225) [bandcamp track=3110760989  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Yes, God is Good (John H. Gurney, 1825) [bandcamp track=1502063583  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

There is a Fountain Filled with Blood (William Cowper, 1772)

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Wilt Thou Forgive (John Donne, 1633) [bandcamp track=1206600735  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Jesus, I Come (William Sleeper, 1887) [bandcamp track=1190898373  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

From Depths of Woe/Psalm 130 (Martin Luther, 1524) [bandcamp track=762862813  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]

Preparation for Worship

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“One night, a [Pharisee] came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn’t get bogged down in the kind of isolated approach of what he shouldn’t do. Jesus didn’t say, ‘Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying.’ He didn’t say, ‘Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you are doing that.’…He didn’t say, ‘Nicodemus, now you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively.’ He said something altogether different, because Jesus realized something basic—that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So, instead of just getting bogged down in one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, ‘Nicodemus, you must be born again.’ He said, in other words, ‘Your whole structure must be changed.’ ”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Call to Worship —Hebrews 10:19-23

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Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

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The Ministry of Prayer

Old Testament Reading — Isaiah 29:13-14

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And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
therefore, behold, I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

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We Confess Our Sin Together

Most merciful Father, we have sinned against and are guilty before You. Forgive us the sins of our tongues:

For deception and untruthfulness in our dealings with others; for resentment, coldness, impatience, and tempers out of control.

Forgive us for the sins of our eyes:

For impurity in our glances and imagination; for pining after more beauty, comfort, status, and wealth than You have given us.

Forgive us the sins of our hearts:

For hard-heartedness toward You and our neighbors; for pride, self-absorption, self-pity; and above all for rebelling against Your Lordship and doubting Your love. Now, Holy Father, kill our envy, remove our pride, melt our hearts. Give us grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, to labor for You and not for ourselves, to be transformed into Your likeness, to live wholly for Your glory. Take away our mourning and give us music; remove our sackcloth and give us Your beauty. In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

God Declares Our Forgiveness — II Corinthians 5:21

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sermon — Mark 7:1-23

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”(Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Benediction

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