:::  Download the 9.15.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 9.15.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 9.15.2013 Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 9.15.2013 Sermon Audio

image :: Sky Writing III, Seán Cotter (Irish, b.1969）

Preparation for Worship  ::: Blessed

“There is no end to the blessing which God gives to His chosen. He is always blessing us with blessings upon blessings, grace upon grace, and then there will be glory to crown it all…Christ bestows all the goodness of the past, the present, and the future upon His people. In the mysterious ages of the past the Lord Jesus was His Father’s first elect, and in His election He gave us an interest, for we were chosen in Him from before the foundation of the world.”  (Charles H. Spurgeon)

::  O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus (Samuel Trevor Francis, c.1890) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2284543217 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=9]

::  Faithful One (Randall Goodgame, 2007)

::  Give Me Jesus (Traditional African-American Spiritual) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1078636175 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=10]

::  Kyrie (Ancient Greek hymn, 4th century) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3447115104 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  Our God Our Hope In Ages Past (Isaac Watts, 1719)

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

Call to Worship  ::: Psalm 72:18-19

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. He alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen and Amen!

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 1:3-6

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.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Almighty God, to know You is Life itself, and the satisfaction of our most ardent desires.  Yet foolishly we have sought our pleasures elsewhere.  We have given ourselves to the devices and desires of our own hearts.  We have run after deadly idols of our own making, and forsaken You.  We have failed to love You with our whole heart, soul, and mind.  We have failed to love our neighbors as ourselves, and there is no health in us.  Forgive us our sins for the sake of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.  Renew Your Bride, Your Church, as You have redeemed her.  Amen.

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

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Old Testament Reading  :::  Deuteronomy 7:6-9

You are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.  The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God.

Benediction

:::  Download the 9.8.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 9.8.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 9.8.2013 WepcKids Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 9.8.2013 Sermon Audio

image ::  Lemniscate of Bernoulli (polar curve, two foci)

::  God Who Saves (Aaron Senseman, 2001)

:::  Be Thou My Vision (Irish Hymn, 8th century) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3401631397 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=5]

::  In Need (Ross King, 1996)

::  Amazing Grace (John Newton, 1779) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2679071235 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=1]

::  O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (George Matheson, 1882) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2284543217 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=5]

Preparation for Worship  ::: Grace & Peace

“Grace remits sin, and peace quiets the conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever… These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity.”  (Martin Luther)

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”  (Romans 16:20)

Call to Worship  :::  Psalm 86:8–10

Among the gods there is none like You, Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours. All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord; they will bring glory to Your name. For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 1:2

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come before You, unworthy of Your grace; We have forfeited Your love and peace. We are restless sinners. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Too often have we chosen the fruit over the garden. Too often have we bowed down to the golden calf. Too often have we begged for a sign. Too often have we declared Caesar to be Lord. Too often have we demanded to see the wounds in Your hands. Too often have we substituted our image of you, for You. Too often have we neglected Your call to be salt and light. Too often have we reduced Christianity to a moral code. Too often have we forgotten Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Too often have we acted on sight and not on faith. Lord, have mercy upon us; Grant us Your peace.

Words of Encouragement  :::  Colossians 1:19-20

God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the Cross.

Old Testament Reading  ::: Isaiah 26:12-13

O Lord, You will ordain peace for us, for You have indeed done for us all our works. O Lord our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone we bring to remembrance.

Benediction

:::  Download the 9.1.2013 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes

:::  Download the 9.1.2013 Bulletin

:::  Download the 9.1.2013 WepcKids Parent Bulletin

:::  Listen to the 9.1.2013 Sermon 

image  ::  Villagers and Saints, Stanley Spencer (1933, British)

:: All I Owe (Robert M. M’Cheyne, 1837, alt) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=4120016334 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=6]

::  For All The Saints (William How, 1864) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3957404521 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=14]

:: Depth of Mercy (Charles Wesley, 1740) 

::  May God Keep You (Peter La Grand, 2009) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2872026018 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=13]

::  Upon a Life I Did Not Live (Horatius Bonar, 1881) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2800896556 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=4]

::  All Creatures of Our God and King (Francis of Assisi, 1225) [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3593495658 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 t=10]

Preparation for Worship & Communion  :::  To The Saints

“I often wished I could see a saint. I pictured him as living in the wilderness, abstaining from meat and drink and living on roots and herbs and cold water. This weird conception of those awesome saints I had gained out of the books of the scholastics and church fathers. But we know now from the Scriptures who the true saints are. Not those who live a single life, or make a fetish of days, meats, clothes, and such things. The true saints are those who believe that they are justified by the death of Christ. Whenever Paul writes to the Christians here and there he calls them the holy children and heirs of God. All who believe in Christ, whether male or female, bond or free, are saints; not in view of their own works, but in view of the merits of God which they appropriate by faith. Their holiness is a gift and not their own personal achievement.” (Martin Luther, 1535)

Call to Worship ::: Psalm 30:4-5

Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints,
and give thanks to His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment,
and His favor is for a lifetime.

Old Testament Reading  ::: Psalm 4:1-3

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself;
the Lord hears when I call to Him.

Sermon  :::  Ephesians 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

We Confess Our Sin Together  :::  based on Exodus 20:1-17

O LORD, our God, You redeemed Your people out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. By Christ, You have delivered us from sin and set us apart as Your saints.  You have been faithful to keep every promise of Your covenant.

But we, O LORD, have been a stiff-necked people who love unfaithfulness. We have loved other gods before You and become their servants. We have not worshipped You in spirit and in truth, and so we have mocked Your glory in heaven. We have used Your name in vain and profaned Your reputation on earth. We have desecrated Your Sabbath because we have not trusted You to give us rest. We have not honored our fathers and mothers, and so we have proved ourselves rebels. We have hated our neighbors and murdered them in our hearts. We have made adulterers of ourselves in the lust of our eyes and in the deeds of our flesh. We have stolen honor and wealth and privileges that are not ours. We have lied and falsely accused, for we love gossip more than truth. We have coveted blessings You wisely and righteously gave to others. O LORD, have mercy on us for we have not kept Your law.

God Declares Our Forgiveness  :::  Heidelberg Catechism, 1 (1563)

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but belong — body and soul, in life and in death – to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.  He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven:  in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

Benediction