:: Download the 5.21.2017 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 5.21.2017 Bulletin
:: Download the 5.21.2017 Sermon Audio
image :: Temple Garden, Paul Klee (Swiss, 1920)
Preparation for Worship on May 21 2017 :: We Are The Temple
“Only humanity in its entirety– as one complete organism, summed up under a single head, spread out over the whole earth, as prophet proclaiming the truth of God, as priest dedicating itself to God, as ruler controlling the earth and the whole of creation– only it is the fully finished image, the most telling and striking likeness of God. Scripture clearly teaches all this when it says that the church is the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the dwelling of God, the new Jerusalem to which all the glory of the nations will be brought… a kingdom of God, a holy humanity, in which God is all in all.” (Herman Bavinck)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for May 21 include ::
:: My Jesus, I Love Thee (Featherstone, 1864) CHART [bandcamp track=3323684158 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Jesus Paid It All (Elvina M.Hall, 1865) CHART [bandcamp track=3006749555 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: All Ye Refugees (Scott, Haddock & Paris, 2015) CHART [bandcamp track=281721869 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Lord I Need You (Matt Maher, 2013) CHART [bandcamp track=3529900075 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Sovereign Grace O’er Sin Abounding (John Kent, b.1766) CHART
Call to Worship :: Psalm 99:1-3, 5
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; He is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is He! Exalt the Lord our God; worship at His footstool! Holy is He!
Confession of Sin
Heavenly Father, not one day of our lives has passed that has not proved us guilty in Your sight. We have sinned against You in our thoughts, words and deeds. All things in us call for rejection. Yet, all things in Christ plead our acceptance. And so, You have claimed us as your own. Though we were guilty, in Jesus we are forgiven. Though we were wandering, in Him we are found. Though we have sinned, in Him we are cleansed. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, You shattered the power of sin and death. Help us to live for You as dead to sin and alive to righteousness through Jesus our Redeemer. Renew us continually in His grace. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: I John 1:5-9
God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Old Testament Reading :: Zephaniah 3:14-19
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Sermon :: II Corinthians 6:14-7:1
6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.