– – -Liturgy for Sunday, February 22, 2015- – –
“Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.”
― Tullian Tchividjian
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Psalm 84:2
Prelude: Revelation Song (Riddle)
Gathering Song: Come Away From Rush And Hurry*sung to the tune of Come Thou Fount* (Marva Dawn)
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…
Psalm 48:1, 8-10, 14
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever.
We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
…this is God, our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.
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…
Read aloud by All: Lord God,
we gather in this place
not because we are deserving of your love
and not because we have lived faithfully before your face.
We gather here because you have called us.
You loved us before we could love you.
You have given your Son for our salvation.
For this we join all creation
in blessing you, praising you, and thanking you.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!
You are great, and greatly to be praised.
As we offer our praise,
we long for you to mold us in the image of your Son,
whose death and resurrection gives us hope.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (from the Worship Sourcebook)
Adoration:
Holy, Holy, Holy (Dykes/Heber)
From The Inside Out (Joel Houston)
Call to Confession:
Excerpts from Job 31
“If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit…
“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman…
“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant…
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it…
“If I have made gold my trust…
“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me…
“If my land has cried out against me…
(time of silent confession)
Assurance: (Heidelberg Catechism Question #1)
Leader: What is your only comfort
in life and in death?
All: That I am not my own,
but belong— body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven;
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
Song of Response: Before The Throne Of God Above ( Bancroft/Cook)
(Prayers for our City, Offering, and Doxology/Word of Praise)
Hearing the Word: Galatians 5:13-15 (sermon audio posted separately)
Celebration of Communion
Sending: How Firm A Foundation (John D. Creswell)
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!