:: Download the 2.21.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 2.21.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 2.21.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: At The Park, Maurice Prendergast (c.1897, American)
Preparation for Worship :: Called to Bless
“The truth that makes us free is always ticking away like a time bomb in the basement of everybody’s church. And that truth isn’t a bunch of ideas. It’s Jesus. Sooner or later, if we just sit still and listen, he’ll blow the lid off any prison we’ve built.” (Robert Farrar Capon)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday February 21 include ::
:: Father Long Before Creation (Chinese Hymn, c.1951) CHART [bandcamp track=165182312 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short] :: May the Mind of Christ My Savior (Kate B. Wilkinson, 1925) CHART [bandcamp track=383595627 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short] :: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
:: Better Is One Day In Your Courts (Matt Redman,2005) CHART // AUDIO
:: Kindness (Giglio, Reeves, Tomlin, 2000) CHART // AUDIO
:: How Great Is Our God (Tomlin, Reeves & Cash, 2004) CHART // AUDIO
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!
Praying the Psalms :: Psalm 84; Psalm 3:3 (refrain)
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Prayer of Confession :: based on Matthew 5:1-12
Lord Jesus, You offered us all Your blessings when You proclaimed: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”— but we have been rich in pride. “Blessed are those who mourn”— but we have not known much sorrow for our sin. “Blessed are the meek”— but we are a stubborn people. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”— but we are filled to the full with created things. “Blessed are the merciful”— but we are harsh and impatient. “Blessed are the pure in heart”— but our hearts love all the wrong things. “Blessed are the peacemakers”— but we have not sought reconciliation. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness”— but our lives do not challenge the world. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”— but we have hardly made it known that we are Yours. Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
Words of Encouragement :: Romans 4:7-8
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.
Sermon :: I Peter 3:8-12
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”