:: Download the 5.1.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 5.1.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 5.1.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: Confirmation Day, Childe Hassam (1889, American)
Preparation for Worship :: Confirm
“How we give the impression that to be Christian means that you display in your life a kind of general belief of faith, and then you add to it virtue and knowledge and charity. [As if] the Christian message is an exhortation to us to live a certain type of life, and an exhortation to put these things into practice. But that is an utter travesty of the Gospel. The Christian Gospel in the first instance does not ask us to do anything. It first of all proclaims and announces to us what God has done for us. The first statement of the Gospel is not an exhortation to action or to conduct and behavior. Before man is called upon to do anything, he must have received something. Before God calls upon a man to put anything into practice, He has made it possible for man to put it into practice.” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday May 1 include ::
:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townend, 1995) CHART [bandcamp track=4169581556 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Be Thou My Vision (8th Century Irish Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=1801427840 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: ‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus (Louisa Stead, 1882) CHART [bandcamp track=3021677932 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Father Long Before Creation (Chinese Hymn, c.1951) CHART [bandcamp track=165182312 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Behold Our God (Baird & Altrogge, 2011) CHART [bandcamp track=4160179747 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Better Is One Day In Your Courts (Matt Redman,2005) CHART // AUDIO
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!
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.”
Confession of Sin
Gracious Father, our sins are too heavy to carry, too great to cover, and too deep to undo. In our hostility toward You, we squandered life and inheritance. Forgive our forgetfulness, blindness, and rebellion against You. May Your Spirit who is at work in us transform us into the likeness of Your Son; and grant us grace to confirm our calling and election, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: II Timothy 1:9
God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
Sermon :: II Peter 1:5-11
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.