:: Download the 3.29.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 3.29.2015 Bulletin
:: Download the 3.29.2015 Sermon Audio
image :: The Cascade in Spring, John Henry Twachtman (c.1899, American)
Preparation for Worship on Palm Sunday :: Jeered & Healed
“He cast the salt into the spring, and said, I have healed these waters.” II Kings 2:21
Jesus, Thy salvation bring,
Cast the salt into the spring,
In my heart Thy love reveal,
Nature’s bitter waters heal:
Let the principle of grace
Bring forth fruits of righteousness,
Then the barren curse is o’er,
Sin and death are then no more. (Charles Wesley)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for March 29 include ::
:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber,1826) CHART [bandcamp track=3071271614 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Streams of Living Water Flow (Thomas Kelly, d.1855) CHART [bandcamp track=2488897534 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Be Thou My Vision (8th Century Irish Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=3137703094 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: How High and How Wide (Mark Altrogge, 1990) CHART [bandcamp track=1890280234 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
Call to Worship :: Psalm 118:26-27; Zechariah 9:9
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless You from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and He has made His light to shine upon us.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He.
Gospel Reading :: John 7:37-41
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?”
Sermon :: II Kings 2:15-25
15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” 17 But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. 18 And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”
19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Prayer of Confession
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15)
King of Glory, You came to us as true Peace in the midst of our warfare, as true Freedom to release us from our bondage to sin, as true Refuge while we languished in a chaos of our own design. Though we know Jesus as Sovereign King, we have rebelled just as Israel did long ago, we have negotiated with the Enemy by our secret sins and proud skepticism, we have betrayed our Heavenly Father in our daily refusal of Peace, Freedom, and Refuge. For our treason, You died; For our restoration, You rose again. Draw us close to You in this week, that our eyes may catch the vision of Your tears, and our hearts, the wonder of Your grace.
Words of Encouragement :: from Psalm 118
In my anguish I cried to the Lord; and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me. The Lord is my Strength and my Song; He has become my Salvation.