CALL TO WORSHIP – Psalm 90:1-2; 16-17
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of …
EXHORTATION
From time to time, you may hear one of the ministers end our prayer of confession with words like, “if we regard sin in our lives this prayer will be ineffectual…” What does it mean to “regard sin”? To regard sin is to respect sin. It means to let sin have some place in your heart or life. To regard sin is to make peace with sin—to invite it into your life and make …
COMMUNION
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
To be in Christ means something. First, it means that you belong to Jesus. His grace has sought you out and won your heart. He has taken ownership of you as your Lord. To be in Christ also means that you submit to him as Lord. Because he is your master and you are his servant, you behave under the sphere of his …
(Based on a prayer found in the Valley of Vision)
CONFESSION
Father,
As we have thought about your greatness and considered your almighty power—if we’re honest we all see places in our lives where we have diminished your greatness and inflated our own.
We confess that we have tried to live a life that satisfies ourselves without trying to satisfy you. We confess that even when we’ve tried to satisfy you, we have tried to …
CALL TO WORSHIP – Isaiah 12:1-6
“You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells …
CONFESSION
James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Let’s seek the grace of God together as we confess our sins.
Father,
It’s a great comfort to us that you already know our sin even before we confess it. It’s a comfort because it allows us to be honest with you, knowing we can’t conceal anything from your sight. Nonetheless, when we consider how kind you have been to us, …
Father,
We praise you because you are the God who comes down to be with your people.
You came down to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. You are the God who came down to dwell with Noah and his family in the Ark. When your people cried out in their bondage in Egypt, you heard your people and came down to save them by sending Moses as a deliverer. And …
Throughout the Old Covenant the children of Israel were instructed to keep, or maintain, the regular feasts and festivals of the Lord.
And when we turn the page to the New Covenant, the Lord requires us to keep, or maintain a feast as well. The early church referred to the Lord’s Table as a Love Feast, and Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 5:8, “Let us therefore observe the festival.”
But to our surprise, the …
Call to Confession
During the last 6 months, we have all paid more attention to cleanliness than ever before. Every time I go into a grocery store someone takes a rag and wipes out a buggy before giving it to me. Hand sanitizing stations are all over the place and people carry mini bottles in every vehicle, purse, or suitcase. And it’s all for good reason. We know there’s a virus that can make someone …
In Luke’s account of the Last Supper, he tells us that:
And when the hour came, [Jesus] reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And [Jesus] said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
As much as he didn’t want to suffer, he still looked forward with eager expectation to have this meal with his disciples. And I have to tell you that I have earnestly …
