:: Download the 3.12.2017 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 3.12.2017 Bulletin
:: Download the 3.12.2017 Sermon Audio
image :: Return Of The Prodigal Son, Guercino (1619, Italian)
Preparation for Worship on March 12 2017 :: Forgive
“The Cross guarantees that even in your darkest moment God will never turn in disgust and walk away. There is no rebellion, no weakness, no foolishness, no evil of heart that the Cross can’t defeat and grace can’t transform.” (Paul Tripp)
“Well may the vile Accuser roar of sins that I have done; I know them well, and thousands more; My God, He knows not one.” (Samuel Gandy)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for March 12 include ::
:: Come Ye Sinners (Joseph Hart, 1759) CHART [bandcamp track=3212643059 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Give Me Jesus (African-American Spiritual) CHART [bandcamp track=893825801 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (John Newton, 1774) CHART [bandcamp track=3647467981 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: The Church’s One Foundation (Samuel Stone, 1866) CHART [bandcamp track=4187815592 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: How Great Is Our God (Tomlin, Reeves & Cash, 2004) CHART // AUDIO
:: Kyrie (Greene, 2017) CHART
Call to Worship :: Psalm 116:5-9
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, He saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
Confession of Sin :: Psalm 32:1-5,10-11
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him. Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Words of Encouragement :: Isaiah 43:14,25
This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel… “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Old Testament Reading :: Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Sermon :: II Corinthians 1:23 – 2:11
23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
1 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.