:: Download the 4.3.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 4.3.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 4.3.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: The Good Shepherd, Henry Ossawa Tanner (1902-03, American)
Preparation for Worship :: Shepherd
“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
“O Lord teach me to seek You,
and reveal Yourself to me when I seek You.
For I cannot seek You unless
You first teach me,
nor find You unless
you first reveal Yourself to me.
Let me seek You in longing,
and long for You in seeking.
Let me find You in love,
and love You in finding.” (Ambrose of Milan, 4th century)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday April 3 include ::
:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=2010286176 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Poor Sinners, Dejected with Fear (William Gadsby,1838) CHART [bandcamp track=1797344181 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: I Need Thee Every Hour (Annie Hawks, 1872) CHART [bandcamp track=3567125128 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Your Great Name (Natalie Grant, 2008) CHART
:: Rejoice the Lord is King (Charles Wesley, 1744) CHART
:: All The Way My Savior Leads Me (Fanny Crosby, 1875) CHART
>>> AUDIO
Call to Worship :: Psalm 95:6-7
Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Old Testament Reading :: Ezekiel 34:25-31
“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”
Prayer of Confession :: from The Book of Common Prayer
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone what we ought to have done,
and we have done what we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us. Yet, good Lord, have mercy on us: restore those who repent, according to Your promises declared to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. And grant, merciful Father, for His sake, That we may live a godly, righteous, and obedient life, to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: I Peter 2:24-25
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. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Sermon :: I Peter 5:1-5
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”