:: Download the 3.20.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 3.20.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 3.20.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: Lord’s Entry Into Jerusalem, Andrei Rublev (1405, Russian)
Preparation for Worship :: Bear That Name
“When they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” (Acts 5:40-42)
“We cannot go to the Kingdom; it must come to us.” (Adolph Saphir)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Palm Sunday March 20 include ::
Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: O Worship the King (Robert Grant, 1826) [bandcamp track=7651308 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Rock of Ages (Augustus Toplady, 1776) [bandcamp track=3911198643 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: When Trials Come (Keith and Kristyn Getty, 2005) [bandcamp track=1422816822 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: All Must Be Well (Mary Bowley-Peters, 1813-1856) [bandcamp track=3952867341 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Behold Our God (Baird & Altrogge, 2011) [bandcamp track=4160179747 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
Call to Worship :: Zechariah 9:9-10,16-17
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of His people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great His beauty!
Prayer of Confession
King of Glory, You came to us as true Peace in the midst of our warfare, as true Freedom to release us from our bondage to sin, as true Refuge while we languished in a chaos of our own design. Though we know Jesus as Sovereign King, we have rebelled just as Israel did long ago, we have negotiated with the Enemy by our secret sins and proud skepticism, we have betrayed our Heavenly Father in our daily refusal of Peace, Freedom, and Refuge. For our treason, You died; For our restoration, You rose again. Draw us close to You in this week, that our eyes may catch the vision of Your tears, and our hearts, the wonder of Your grace. Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
Words of Encouragement :: from Psalm 118
In my anguish I cried to the Lord; and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me. The Lord is my Strength and my Song; He has become my Salvation.
Praying the Psalms :: Psalm 31-:1-19; Psalm 86:1 (refrain)
Hear me Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy
In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many— terror on every side!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
Sermon :: I Peter 4:12-19
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.