:: Download the 11.13.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 11.13.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 11.13.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: Naomi entreating Ruth and Orpah to return to the land of Moab, William Blake (1795, English)
Preparation for Worship on Nov 13 :: Where You…I Will
“If the common faith and hope is the theological bond of the Christian community, love is its practical bond. If faith and hope are what give the community its identity as God’s ‘chosen people’, love is the visible outworking of that identity.” (J. Ramsey Michaels)
“Our sorrows are all, like ourselves, mortal. There are no immortal sorrows for immortal souls. They come, but blessed by God, they also go. Like birds of the air, they fly over our heads. But they cannot make their abode in our souls We suffer today, but we shall rejoice tomorrow.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday November 13 include ::
:: Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners (John Wilbur Chapman, 1910) CHART [bandcamp track=3015739201 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=3887420126 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short] :: Heal Us, Emmanuel (William Cowper, 1799) CHART [bandcamp track=1545458693 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Abide With Me (Henry Francis Lyte, 1847) CHART [bandcamp track=1465399194 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Charles Wesley, 1740) CHART [bandcamp track=1085610574 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
Call to Worship :: Leviticus 26:12-13
I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the Lord your God.
Confession of Sin
Almighty and merciful Father, You have called us to be Your people and have made us one body. Yet we have not lived like we are one. We confess that we have not loved one another as we ought. Selfish ambition has gripped us, and we have failed to look out for others’ interests above our own. We confess that we have been ruled by pride, and we have separated from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have not treated one another as those in whom Christ dwells. We confess that our anger and fear has kept us from loving our enemies. Forgive us for these offenses against You, and go on to subdue everything in us that is contrary to Your purposes. By the power of your Spirit make us a community that shows forth Your courage, mercy and loving-kindness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: Titus 2:13,14
We wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us.
New Testament Reading :: II Timothy 2:8-13
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.
Sermon :: Ruth 1:6-18
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.