::  Download the 9.20.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
::  Download the 9.20.2015 Bulletin 
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image :: Study for The Pilgrim of the Cross at the End of His Journey, Thomas Cole (1846, American)

Preparation for Worship :: Preservation & Perseverance

“We are not called to build the kingdom of glory, but to carry a cross in the kingdom of grace.” (Edmund Clowney)

“That doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints is, I believe, as thoroughly bound up with the standing or falling of the gospel as is the article of justification by faith. Give that up, and I see no gospel left.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday September 20 include ::

:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]::  Before the Throne of God Above (Charitie Lees Bancroft, 1863) CHART [bandcamp track=3844385493 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]::  Gloria Patri (2^nd century hymn; Henry W. Greatorex, 1851)  CHART [bandcamp track=3887420126 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Gather Them In (Peter La Grand 2009) CHART [bandcamp track=1336227612 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: We Are Not Overcome (Heiskell & Wardell, 2013) CHART [bandcamp track=3830598251 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923) CHART [bandcamp track=3717975761 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]

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.

Old Testament Reading :: Jeremiah 32:37-40

Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

Prayer of Confession

Pardon our sins, merciful Lord. We have been slow and superstitious in prayer, this sin leads to so many others. Keep us from withholding true worship from You, which Your glory is due, and which our hearts so urgently need. Wipe out our sins, known and unknown, felt and unfelt, remembered and forgotten. Grant us power to believe Your blood cleanses us from all sin, Your Spirit leads us in all prayer, Your grace overwhelms all evil, and Your Good News is our sole life and message, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Words of Encouragement :: Hebrews 7:25

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Sermon :: I Peter 1:2-9

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

::  Download the 9.13.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
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image :: John Donne Arriving in Heaven, Stanley Spencer (1911, British)

Preparation for Worship :: Inheritance

“Through the work of the Spirit, the heavenly Father gives you to Jesus and gives Jesus to you. You have Him.” (Sinclair Ferguson)

“The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His piercèd hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.” (Anne R. Cousin)

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday September 13 include ::

:: Be Thou My Vision  (8th Century Irish Hymn)  CHART [bandcamp track=3137703094 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]::  For All the Saints (William How, 1864) CHART [bandcamp track=3732410523 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]::  Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=1717027862 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: It Is Well (Horatio Spafford, 1873) CHART [bandcamp track=1579571203 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: All Must Be Well (Mary Bowley-Peters, 1847) CHART [bandcamp track=2424243148 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]

Call to Worship :: from Psalm 105

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Tell of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” So He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing. And He gave them the lands of the nations. Praise the Lord!

Old Testament Reading :: I Kings 8:56-60

Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

Prayer of Confession

Our Father, You are our Creator, and we are the work of Your hands; You are our Shepherd, and we are Your flock; You are our Redeemer, and we are the people You have purchased; You are our God, and we are Your inheritance. Yet we have lived as a people cut off from the Lord who loved us: Hard, cynical, defensive, proud and skeptical. We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. Purify for Yourself a people for Your own possession who are zealous for doing good. That the whole earth may see that You are our God and Savior.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Words of Encouragement :: Colossians 1:12-14

Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Sermon :: I Peter 1:2-9

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

::  Download the 9.6.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
::  Download the 9.6.2015 Bulletin 
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image :: Hope, Toko Shinoda (2005, Japanese)

Preparation for Worship :: Living Hope

“How fair and lovely is the hope which the Lord gave to the dead when He laid down like them beside them. Rise up and come forth and sing praise to Him who has raised you from destruction.” (from the Syrian Orthodox Liturgy)

“You thought God was an architect. Now you know He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow.” (Jason Isbell, “24 Frames”)

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday September 6 include ::

:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: 10000 Reasons (Redman & Myrin, 2011) CHART [bandcamp track=2659759028 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2002)  CHART [bandcamp track=676321818 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: None Other Lamb  (Christina Rossetti, b.1830)  CHART [bandcamp track=798046000 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]::  Love’s Redeeming Work Is Done (Charles Wesley, 1739) CHART [bandcamp track=135949962 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: My Heart is Steadfast / Psalm 108 (Ellie Holcomb, 2011) CHART  >>> AUDIO

Call to Worship :: Psalm 63:1-4

O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.

Old Testament Reading :: Jeremiah 17:12-14

A glorious throne set on high from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake You shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from You shall be written in the earth,
for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved,
for You are my praise.

Prayer of Confession :: Heidelberg Catechism, Q & A 3-8

How do you come to know your misery? The law of God tells me.

What does God’s law require of us? Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Can you live up to all this perfectly? No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor.

Did God create people so wicked and perverse? No. God created them good and in His own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their Creator, love Him with all their heart, and live with Him in eternal happiness for His praise and glory.

Then where does this corrupt human nature come from? From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise. This fall has so poisoned our nature that we are born sinners–corrupt from conception on.

But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? Yes, unless we are born again, by the Spirit of God.

Words of Encouragement :: John 5:24

Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Sermon :: I Peter 1:2-9

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

::  Download the 8.30.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
::  Download the 8.30.2015 Bulletin 

image :: A Breton Sunday, Paul Serusier (1890, French)

Preparation for Worship :: Church

“Satan is loath to part with a great sinner. He says…’Do you think that Christ will foul His fingers with you? It is enough to make angels blush to see one so vile knock at heaven’s gates for mercy.  Will you be so abominably bold to do it?’

Thus Satan dealt with me, when at first I came to Jesus Christ.

And what did you reply? Why, I granted the charge to be true.

And did you despair?

No.  I said, ‘I am Magdalene, I am Zacchaeus, I am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the publican, I am the prodigal, and one of Christ’s murderers; yea, worse than any of these; and yet God was so far off from rejecting me, as I found afterwards, that there was music and dancing in His house for me, and for joy that I was come home unto Him.’

O blessed be God for grace!  Such a one is a continual spectacle in the Church, in whom to behold God’s grace and wonder.”  (John Bunyan)

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday August 30 include ::

:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Father Long Before Creation  (Chinese Hymn, c.1951) CHART [bandcamp track=165182312 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Thy Mercy, My God, Is the Theme of my Song (John Stocker, 1776) CHART [bandcamp track=2834013035 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Give Me Jesus (African-American Spiritual) CHART [bandcamp track=893825801 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: His Love Can Never Fail (E.S. Hall, 1897) CHART [bandcamp track=1064820664 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber,1826) CHART [bandcamp track=3071271614 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]

Call to Worship :: Zephaniah 3:16-17, 19-20

“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. I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Old Testament Reading :: Isaiah 62:11-12

Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

Prayer of Confession

Our Father, You are our Creator, and we are the work of Your hands; You are our Shepherd, and we are Your flock; You are our Redeemer, and we are the people You have purchased; You are our God, and we are Your inheritance. Yet we have lived as a people cut off from the Lord who loved us: Hard, cynical, defensive, proud and skeptical. We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. Purify for Yourself a people for Your own possession who are zealous for doing good. That the whole earth may see that You are our God and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Words of Encouragement :: Colossians 1:12-14

Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Sermon :: I Peter 1:1-2

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

::  Download the 8.23.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
::  Download the August 23 2015 Bulletin
::  Download the 8.23.2015 Sermon Audio 

image :: Earth, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1984, American)

Preparation for Worship :: Elect Exiles

“The church exists today as resident aliens… a colony of heaven.”  (Stanley Hauerwas)

“He spares not His Son, but sends Him in quest of the exiles. He comes into the land of banishment, lies in an exile’s cradle, becomes a banished man for them, lives a banished life, endures an exile’s shame, dies an exile’s death, is buried in an exile’s tomb. He takes our place of banishment that we may take His place of honor and glory in the home of His Father and our Father. Such is the exchange between the exile and the exile’s divine substitute.”  (Horatius Bonar)

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday August 23 include ::

:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi, 1225) CHART [bandcamp track=3110760989 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Amazing Grace (John Newton, 1779) CHART [bandcamp track=2203479634 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=1717027862 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Come All Ye Pining, Hungry, Poor (Anne Steele, 19th cent.) CHART [bandcamp track=2538870965 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: The Church’s One Foundation (Samuel Stone, 1866) CHART [bandcamp track=4187815592 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: On Jordan’s Stormy Banks (Samuel Stennett, 1787) CHART [bandcamp track=1174694383 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]

Call to Worship :: Philippians 3:20-21

Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.

Old Testament Reading :: Jeremiah 29:4-7,10

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare…. For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

Prayer of Confession

O Lord, no day of our lives passes that does not prove us guilty in Your sight. Our best services are filthy rags.  All things in us call for our rejection. However, all things in Christ plead our acceptance.  Grant us to hear Your voice assuring us that by Your stripes we are healed, that You were bruised for our iniquities, that You became sin for us, that we might be robed in Your righteousness. Grant that we might walk in newness of life as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Words of Encouragement :: I Peter 2:9-10

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Sermon :: I Peter 1:1-2

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.