:: 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, 5th 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, 18th 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.