:::  Download the 9.22.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 9.22.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 9.22.2013 Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 9.22.2013 Sermon

image :: Union, Sean Scully (1984, American)

Preparation for Worship  ::: In Christ

“The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. What is the real story of which my life is part?”  (Lesslie Newbigin)

“In Him, we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)

:: Behold Our God [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=427149551 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=12]

:: Grace Upon Grace  audio

:: Great Is Thy Faithfulness [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2527737183 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=10]

:: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3840211666 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

:: Psalm 130 (From the Depths of Woe) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2800896556 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

Call to Worship  :::  Romans 11:33-36

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever. Amen.

Mission Update :::  World Harvest Mission, South Sudan

Old Testament Reading  :::   Isaiah 49:1-6

Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”

And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

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

Father in heaven, You have ushered in a new creation in Your Son, yet we draw back. You tell us to humbly come to You, yet we attempt to avoid You while we try to patch up our lives. You long for us to come to You that you might show us mercy, yet we come seeking to impress You. You tell us to come to You trusting in Your love, yet at times we have stayed away because we are suspicious. This day, convince us of Your love, overwhelm us with Your grace, and melt our hearts with Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Words of Encouragement  :::  Psalm 130:3-4

If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.

Benediction