:: Download the 4.9.2017 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 4.9.2017 Bulletin
:: Download the 4.9.2017 Sermon Audio
image :: One Hundred and Twenty Vessels, Matt Klos (2013, American)
Preparation for Worship on April 9 2017 :: Treasure in Jars of Clay
“When I am converted by the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is present. He takes me as clay and makes of me a new creature, which is endowed with a different mind, heart, and thoughts, that is, with a true knowledge of God and a sincere trust in His grace. To summarize, the very essence of my heart is renewed and changed. This makes me a new plant, one that is grafted on Christ the Vine and grows from Him. My holiness, righteousness, and purity do not stem from me, nor do they depend on me. They come solely from Christ and are based only in Him, in whom I am rooted by faith, just as the sap flows from the stalk into the branches. Now I am like Him and of His kind. Both He and I are of one nature and essence, and I bear fruit in Him and through Him. This fruit is not mine; it is the Vine’s.” (Martin Luther)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for April 9 include ::
:: All Glory, Laud and Honor (Theodulf of Orléans, c.820) CHART [bandcamp track=236522930 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Jesus, I my Cross Have Taken (Henry Lyte, 1825) CHART [bandcamp track=1380076138 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: The Christian’s Hope Can Never Fail (Gadsby Hymnal, 1838) CHART [bandcamp track=2114191198 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: We Fall Down (Chris Tomlin, 2001) CHART >>> Audio
:: Better Is One Day (Matt Redman, 1997) CHART >>> Audio
:: Kyrie (Greene, 2017) CHART
Call to Worship :: Zechariah 9:9-10,16-17
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of His people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on His land. For how great is His goodness, and how great His beauty!
Confession of Sin
King of Glory, You came to us as true Peace in the midst of our warfare, as true Freedom to release us from our bondage to sin, as true Refuge while we languished in a chaos of our own design. Though we know Jesus as Sovereign King, we have rebelled just as Israel did long ago, we have negotiated with the Enemy by our secret sins and proud skepticism, we have betrayed our Heavenly Father in our daily refusal of Peace, Freedom, and Refuge. For our treason, You died; For our restoration, You rose again. Draw us close to You in this week, that our eyes may catch the vision of Your tears, and our hearts, the wonder of Your grace.
Words of Encouragement :: from Psalm 118
In my anguish I cried to the Lord; and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me. The Lord is my Strength and my Song; He has become my Salvation.
Old Testament Reading :: Isaiah 45:21-25
Declare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
“Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
all who were incensed against him.
In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
Sermon :: II Corinthians 4:7-12
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.