::  Download the 12.8.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

::  Download the 12.8.2013 Bulletin

::  Download the 12.8.2013 Parent Bulletin

::  Download the 12.8.2013 Sermon Audio

image :: Golden Door, Richard Pousette-Dart (1989, American)

Preparation for Worship  ::  Access

“Because God’s promises seemed impossible to men– equality with the angels in exchange for mortality, corruption, poverty, weakness, dust and ashes– God established a Mediator, not a prince or angel or archangel, but His only Son. He wanted, through His Son, to show us and give us the way He would lead us to the goal He has promised. It was not enough for God to make His Son our guide to the way; He made Him the Way itself. Therefore, the only Son of God was to come among men, to take the nature of men, and in this nature to be born as a man. He was to die, to rise again, to ascend into heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father, and to fulfill His promises among the nations, and after that to come again.”  (Augustine of Hippo, 5^th century)

“He deigns in flesh t’appear, widest extremes to join; To bring our vileness near, and make us all divine: And we the life of God shall know, for God is manifest below.” (Charles Wesley, 18^th century)

:: Rejoice the Lord Is King (Charles  Wesley, 1744)

:: This is the Christ (Martin Luther, 1531) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=748307140 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=8]

:: Creator of the Stars of Night (7th century Latin Hymn) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2254475816 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  A Baby is Born (Bill Wolf, 2008)

::  O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Latin Antiphons, 8th century) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3797952345 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

Call to Worship  ::  Haggai 2:7-8

“In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the LORD Almighty.

Confession of Faith ::  from the Belgic Confession (1561), Article 18

We profess that God fulfilled the promise that He had made to the early fathers by the mouth of His holy prophets when He sent His only and eternal Son into the world at the time set by Him. The Son took the “form of a servant” and was made in the “likeness of man,” truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin; being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order that he might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, He had to assume them both to save them both together. In this way he is truly our Immanuel— that is: “God with us.”

Old Testament Reading  ::  Zechariah 2:10-13

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 2:11-22

¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Good and gracious God, we lay our sins before You, confessing the ways we have not lived in light of Your coming. We have lived in fear by not trusting You in our relationships and circumstances, by putting our hope in our finances or accomplishments, and by demanding comfort. We have sought to control our lives by attempted to forge a peace apart from You, by refusing to listen to Your voice, and by our cynicism and anger. We have tried to pay for our own sins by being dominated by shame and guilt, by not believing that we are forgiven, and by seeking to do good works to gain access to You. We have only lived for this life, by centering our lives on created things, by demanding more riches, and by disregarding those around us. Because Jesus was made incarnate, lived, died, was raised, and ascended into heaven, we confess our sins with the great confidence that You will forgive, accept, and renew us.

Words of Encouragement  ::  Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.    

Benediction

:::  Download the 12.1.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 12.1.2013 Bulletin

::: Download the 12.1.2013 Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 12.2.2013 Sermon Audio

image :: Peace, William Turner  (English, c.1842)

Preparation for Worship  :::  Peace

“God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature.” (C.S. Lewis)

“If you are a Christian, the story that tells you who you are is not the story of your parents, ancestors, ethnic group, or social class. It is instead, the story of the Bible– the promise to Abraham, the deliverance from slavery to Egypt and sin, the gift of land to landless Israelites, and life to dead sinners. This story of promise, deliverance, and gift is your family history, the story that defines you.” (Graham Tomlin)

 “‘Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 57:19)

:: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3505305395 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

:: O Come, O Come Emmanuel [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2254475816 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=2]

:: Narrow Little Road [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3654011050 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

:: Amen, Amen [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=4102113113 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=7]

:: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2254475816 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

Call to Worship  ::: Psalm 29:1-4,11

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

May the Lord give strength to His people!
May the Lord bless His people with peace!

Old Testament Reading  :::  Micah 5:4-5

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Heavenly Father, You have prepared Your salvation in the presence of all peoples. Your Son reconciled us to God through the Cross. Now give us to die to our sin in repentance, so we may live as one with You and with one another. We have not trusted Your Good News to be good; We have not availed ourselves of Your nearness; We have refused the peace of Christ; We have hoped for little from You; We have nursed our hostilities; And the very thoughts of our hearts are revealed in the light of the glory of Your great mercy toward us. Forgive our unbelief, and renew us by Your Holy Spirit that we might eagerly worship You, that we may once more find the Gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to be our greatest joy. Amen.

Words of Encouragement  :::  Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Benediction

:::  Download the 11.24.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 11.24.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 11.24.2013 Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 11.24.2013 Sermon Audio

image :: Lonely Stranger, Nicholas Roerich (1931, Russian)

Preparation for Worship  ::: No Longer Aliens

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.  (G. K. Chesterton)

They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.  (Hebrews 11:16)

::  Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3957404521 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=11]

::  All Things New [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2826557878 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  Before the Throne of God Above [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=784345862 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=14]

::  Upon a Life I Did Not Live [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2800896556 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

::  Dearly We’re Bought [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2189898526 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  The Gospel Is Good News Indeed [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2144117063 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=14]

Call to Worship  ::: Psalm 68:4-6, 32-33, 35

Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides through the deserts; His name is the Lord; exult before Him! Father of the fatherless and Protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, To Him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, He sends out His voice, His mighty voice. Awesome is God from His sanctuary; the God of Israel— He is the one who gives power and strength to His people. Blessed be God!

Old Testament Reading  :::  Zephaniah 3:17-20

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 gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and 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.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

We Confess Our Sin Together ::: based on “Love Shines at Calvary” from The Valley of Vision

Almighty God, You grace removes my burdens and heaps them on Your Son. made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me; Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best, stripped that I might be clothed, wounded that I might be healed, thirsty that I might drink, tormented that I might be comforted, made a shame that I might inherit glory, experienced reproach that I might receive welcome, closed His eyes in death that I might forever live. O Father, who did not spare Your only Son that You might spare me, All this Your love designed and accomplished: Help me to adore You with my words and my life, Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the Cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

Words of Encouragement  :::  Colossians 1:21-22        

You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.                               

Benediction