Author Archives: Kevin Greene

Oct 6 2013 Worship Guide :: Inheritance

:::  Download the 10.6.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 10.6.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 10.6.2013 WepcKids Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 10.6.2013 Sermon

Found Objects 1968 by Patrick Caulfield 1936-2005

image  :: Found Objects, Patrick Caulfield (1968, British)

Preparation for Worship & Communion  :::  Inheritance

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 Zaccheus, 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)

::  Father Long Before Creation (Chinese Hymn, c.1952) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2817376614 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  My Lord I Did Not Choose You (Josiah Conder, 1836) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=4120016334 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=9]

:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2001) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1060200358 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=12]

::  All Must Be Well (Mary Bowley Peters, 1847) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1060200358 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=11]

:: Nothing But The Blood of Jesus (Robert Lowrey, 1876) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=4120016334 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=10]

Call to Worship ::: Psalm 2:7-8,11-12

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten You.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations Your heritage,
and the ends of the earth Your possession.

Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry, and you perish in the way,
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Declaration of Faith  ::: The Apostles’ Creed, 2nd century

We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

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.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 1:11-14

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[a] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[b] to the praise of his glory.

[a] Or down payment; [b] Or until God redeems his possession

We Confess Our Sin Together

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.

God Declares Our Forgiveness  :::  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.

Benediction

WEPC Stories :: Aaron Roth

Aaron-Roth-Edify.org_Thanks, Aaron Roth, for sharing the Gospel with us at the WEPC 20th Anniversary communion service!  Aaron serves with Edify in Peru helping small, low-cost Christian schools with micro loans to bring quality, Christ-focused education to economically poor areas.  Along with providing affordable financing, Edify provides business & administrative support and teacher training.

Here is a transcript of Aaron’s message and slideshow. You can also hear his message here:

 “In Christ Jesus… the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6)

Each one of us is looking for a place.  While this world is not our home, Jesus calls the Church His family.  And our Heavenly Father has graciously made room for us in His house.

At WEPC, we believe that God has given us a vision to be a Biblically authentic community of faith expressing itself through love.

 

Sept 29 2013 Worship Guide :: Predestined and Sealed

:::  Download the 9.29.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 9.29.2013 Bulletin

::: Download the 9.29.2013 Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 9.29.2013 Sermon Audio

Red Wall Destiny, Wassily Kandinsky (1909, Russian)

image :: Red Wall Destiny, Wassily Kandinsky (1909, Russian)

Preparation for Worship  ::: Predestined & Sealed

“The whole struggle was over, and yet there seemed to have been no moment of victory. You might say, if you liked, that the power of choice had been simply set aside and an inflexible destiny substituted for it. On the other hand, you might say he had delivered from the rhetoric of his passions and had emerged in unassailable freedom. Ransom could not for the life of him, see any difference between these two statements. Predestination and freedom were apparently identical. He could no longer see any meaning in the many arguments he had heard on the subject.”  (C.S. Lewis, Perelandra)

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”  (Revelation 21:5)

::  Jesus Savior Pilot Me (Edward Hopper, 1871)
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1193777015 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

:: He Loves Us (David Crowder) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 track=488626504 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

:: You’re Beautiful (Phil Wickham) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 track=2812602318 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

:: Before the Throne of God Above (Charitie Lees Bancroft, 1841-1923)[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=784345862 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=14]

:: In Christ Alone (Getty & Townend, 2001) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1060200358 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=12]

Call to Worship  ::: Psalm 134, 65:4

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth!

Blessed is the one You choose and bring near,
to dwell in Your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
the holiness of Your temple!

WEPC Stories ::: Healing for the Sick, Hope for the Hopeless

Old Testament Reading  :::  Isaiah 43:10-11,18-19

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
 I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.”

“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.”

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 1:3-14

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,to the praise of his glory.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Gracious Father, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo.  In our hostility toward You, we squandered life and inheritance.  Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment.  Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which Your Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Your Son; and grant us grace to grow more and more in Your image, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

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

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

Benediction