:: Download the 3.23.2014 Worship Study Guide & Sermon Notes
:: Download the 3.23.2014 Bulletin
:: Download the 3.23.2014 Parent Bulletin
:: Download the 3.23.2014 Sermon Audio
image :: The Ninth Wave, Ivan Aivazovsky (1850; Crimea, Ukraine)
Preparation for Worship :: Be Angry & Do Not Sin
“The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20)
“I find nothing that promotes work better than angry fervor. For when I wish to compose, write, pray and preach well, I must be angry. It refreshes my entire system, my mind is sharpened, and all unpleasant thoughts and depression fade away.” (Martin Luther)
“The conscience, spurred by the devil, the flesh, and the fallen world, says, ‘God is your enemy. Give up in despair.’ God, in His own Fatherly love and through His Son’s grace and through His Word and through the witness of His Spirit and His people, says, ‘I have no wrath. You are accepted in the beloved. I am not angry with you. We are reconciled!” (Martin Luther)
Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs for March 23
:: Rock of Ages (Augustus Toplady 1776) chart // audio
:: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townend, 1995) chart // audio
:: The Church’s One Foundation (Samuel Stone, 1866) audio // chart
:: Jesus Lover of My Soul (Charles Wesley, 1740) audio // chart
:: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (George Matheson, 1882) audio // chart
Call to Worship :: Revelation 15:3-4; 1:5-7
Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear You, O Lord, and bring glory to Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed. To Him Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom of priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.
Old Testament Reading :: Psalm 4
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.
Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.
There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Sermon :: Ephesians 4:25-29
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
We Confess Our Sin Together
Our gracious Father, You sent your Son to die and rise to new life in order that Your just wrath might be satisfied and that we, too, might live a new life. Yet foolishly, we have chosen death over life, and our passion over Yours. In our thoughts, words and deeds we have rebelled against You and Your intentions for us. In so doing, we have broken our fellowship with You whose love is better than life and Whom to know is Life itself. In so doing, we have nursed anger and hurt others sometimes unintentionally and sometimes deliberately, and have diminished their lives. In so doing, we have damaged ourselves who have been created to reflect Your beauty. Father, forgive us our sin for Jesus’ sake. And grant that we might walk in Your ways to the glory of Your name. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not retain His anger forever,
because He delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.