:: Download the 9.13.2015 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 9.13.2015 Bulletin
:: Download the 9.13.2015 Sermon Audio
image :: John Donne Arriving in Heaven, Stanley Spencer (1911, British)
Preparation for Worship :: Inheritance
“Through the work of the Spirit, the heavenly Father gives you to Jesus and gives Jesus to you. You have Him.” (Sinclair Ferguson)
“The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His piercèd hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.” (Anne R. Cousin)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Sunday September 13 include ::
:: Be Thou My Vision (8th Century Irish Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=3137703094 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: For All the Saints (William How, 1864) CHART [bandcamp track=3732410523 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Gloria Patri (2nd Century Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=1717027862 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: It Is Well (Horatio Spafford, 1873) CHART [bandcamp track=1579571203 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: All Must Be Well (Mary Bowley-Peters, 1847) CHART [bandcamp track=2424243148 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
Call to Worship :: from Psalm 105
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Tell of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” So He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing. And He gave them the lands of the nations. Praise the Lord!
Old Testament Reading :: I Kings 8:56-60
Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.
Prayer of Confession
Our Father, You are our Creator, and we are the work of Your hands; You are our Shepherd, and we are Your flock; You are our Redeemer, and we are the people You have purchased; You are our God, and we are Your inheritance. Yet we have lived as a people cut off from the Lord who loved us: Hard, cynical, defensive, proud and skeptical. We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. Purify for Yourself a people for Your own possession who are zealous for doing good. That the whole earth may see that You are our God and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: Colossians 1:12-14
Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Sermon :: I Peter 1:2-9
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.