– – – -Liturgy for Sunday, March 22nd, 2015- – – –
“For Jesus is not merely someone who once loved us enough to die for us. His love for us is the infinite love of God, which is stronger than all evil and cannot be touched by death. Suffering, therefore, can only be consecrated to God by one who believes that Jesus is not dead. And it is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning.”
– Thomas Merton
So he saved them from the hand of the foe
and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
Psalm 106:10
Prelude: Hear The Call Of The Kingdom (Townend/Getty)
Gathering Song: Indescribable (Laura Story)
Call to Worship – We believe God is who calls and enables us to worship Himself rightly, in Spirit and truth, so we go to His word in seek of that…
(Passages from Psalm 68 & 106)
Leader: Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
his name is the LORD; exult before him!
All: Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Leader: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.
All: Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
Leader: O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord
All: to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. We proclaim together: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.
Prayer of Invocation – We pray each week asking God to direct our hearts, “prone to wander” as they are, to Himself as we sing, speak, and listen in our worship gathering…
Adoration:
Agnus Dei (Smith)
The Wonderful Cross (Isaac Watts, Mason/Reeves/Tomlin/Walt)
Call to Confession:
Mark 38:34-36
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
(time of silent confession)
Assurance In Christ
Adapted from Micah 7:8-9, 18-19
Leader: I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.
All: Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?
Leader: He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
All: Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Song of Response: This Is Amazing Grace (Riddle/Wickham)
(Prayers for our City, Offering, and Doxology/Word of Praise)
Psalm 126(All Those Who Are Weeping) (Bifrost Arts)
Doxology
Doxology(Romans 11) (Andrew Peterson)
Hearing the Word: Galatians 6:11-18 “Boast Only In The Cross” (sermon audio posted separately)
Celebration of Communion
Sending: Hear The Call Of The Kingdom (Townend/Getty)
Benediction: (Numbers 6:24-26)
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Go in that peace!