::: Download the 6.9.2013 Heart Prep Guide & Sermon Notes
::: Download the 6.9.2013 Bulletin
::: Download the 6.9.2013 WepcKids Parent Bulletin
::: Listen to the 6.9.2013 Sermon
image :: Plumb Line, Pat Calonne (2013)
Arise O God and Shine (William Hurn, 1815) [bandcamp track=2605083989 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Did Christ Over Sinners Weep (Benjamin Beddome, 1787) [bandcamp track=3528043466 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Psalm 130 / From the Depths of Woe (Martin Luther, 1524) [bandcamp track=762862813 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Jesus Whispers (Joseph Hart, 1759) [bandcamp track=1346965301 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Let Me Be (Aaron Senseman, 2006)
To Thee I Come (Samuel Medley, 18th century) [bandcamp track=3009654777 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=0687f5 size=venti]
Preparation for Worship ::: Amos, Does God Care?
“Nothing is more common than for men to make partial and absurd distinctions between vices of equal enormity, and to observe some of the divine commands with great scrupulousness, while they violate others, equally important, without any concern, or the least apparent consciousness of guilt.” (Samuel Johnson)
“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?” (Janis Joplin, Michael McClure & Bob Neuwirth)
Call to Worship ::: from Isaiah 35
Be strong, and do not fear! Your God will come to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf be unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Then will the wilderness rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice and shout for joy. And we, the ransomed of the Lord, will enter with singing. Everlasting joy will crown our heads. Open your eyes and see now the glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God.
Mission Update :: WEPC Neighborhood Outreach
Sermon ::: Amos 1:1-2; 2:6-11; 5:1-7; 9:9-15
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said:
“The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the top of Carmel withers.” (Amos 1:1-2)
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
a man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath.
10 Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for Nazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord. (Amos 2:6-11)
1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beersheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.”
6 Seek the Lord and live,
lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 O you who turn justice to wormwood
and cast down righteousness to the earth! (Amos 5:1-7)
9 “For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:9-15)
We Confess Our Sin Together
O Lord, we have not longed for Your coming nor for Your Kingdom. We have not denied ourselves, taking up Your Cross, following You. Instead, clinging to the things of this world and counting them dear, We have grown callous to the needs of the poor, the lonely and the suffering. We have not cried out for justice nor cared about those who are without Christ and without hope in this world. Lord, forgive us for our sins against You and grant that by the power of Your Spirit, we might live in light of Your coming again.
Words of Encouragement ::: II Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
New Testament Reading ::: Romans 8:18-21
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.