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:: Download the 1.4.2015 Bulletin
:: Download the 1.4.2015 Parent Bulletin
:: Download the 1.4.2015 Sermon Audio
image :: The Bread Basket, Salvador Dali (1926, Spanish)
Preparation for Worship on the Second Sunday after Christmas Day ::
“But faith must be taught correctly, namely, that by it you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person, which cannot be separated but remains attached to Him forever and declares: ‘I am as Christ.’ And Christ, in turn, says: ‘I am as that sinner who is attached to Me, and I to him.’ And by faith we are joined together in one flesh and one bone.” (Martin Luther, Works, 1535)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for January 4 include:
:: And Can It Be (Charles Wesley, 1738) CHART [bandcamp track=3382232877 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=1874779665 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: I Need Thee Every Hour (Annie Hawks, 1872) CHART [bandcamp track=110765075 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross (Isaac Watts, 1707) CHART [bandcamp track=3207629541 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Poor Sinner, Dejected With Fear (William Gadsby, 1838) CHART [bandcamp track=1797344181 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder (John Newton, 1774) CHART [bandcamp track=3505470677 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
Call to Worship :: Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to Your light, and kings to the brightness of Your dawn.
Gospel Reading :: Luke 7:11-15
Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Sermon :: I Kings 17:1-24
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
Confession of Sin :: by John Wesley (1703-1791)
Forgive them all, O Lord; Our sins of omission and our sins of commission; The sins of our youth and the sins of our riper years; The sins of our souls and the sins of our bodies; Our secret and our more open sins; Our sins of ignorance and surprise, and our more deliberate and presumptuous sin; The sins we have done to please ourselves, and the sins we have done to please others; The sins we know and remember, and the sins we have forgotten; The sins we have striven to hide from others and the sins by which we have made others offend You; Forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all for His sake, Who died for our sins and rose for our justification, and now stands at Thy right hand to make intercession for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Words of Encouragement :: John 1:29
Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!