Call to Worship: Psalm 65:4
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!
Prayer of Adoration:
Confession of Faith: The Westminster Confession of Faith, 8.5
The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself—which He through the eternal Spirit once offered up to God—has fully satisfied the justice of His Father. He purchased not only reconciliation but also an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those whom the Father has given to Him.
Song: Sweet Comfort – CCLI #7041363
Whatever my God ordains is right, His holy will abides
I will be still whatever he does and follow where he guides
CHORUS:
Sweet comfort, sweet comfort, yet shall fill my heart
Sweet comfort, sweet comfort, sorrow shall depart
Whatever my God ordains is right, He makes my feet to stand
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, He holds me in his hand
He is my God though dark my road, He holds me, I shall not fall
Whatever my God ordains is right, to him I leave it all
The Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 55:10-13
Prayer of Confession:
Pastor: O most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; who pardons all such as truly repent and turn to You; we humbly confess our sins and implore Your mercy.
People: We have not loved You with a whole heart fervently; neither have we loved our neighbor as ourselves.
Pastor: We have not done justly, nor loved mercy, nor walked humbly with You, our God.
People: Have mercy upon us, O Lord, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out our iniquity.
Pastor: Create in us a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within us.
People: As you have generously poured out Your love upon us, may we freely share that love with others.
Assurance of Pardon: From Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
The New Testament Lesson: Romans 8:12-17
Prayer for the Church: Dr. Michael Calvert, Teaching Elder.
The Sermon: “The Cross, the Church, and the World.” Galatians 6:14. Dr. Michael Calvert, Teaching Elder.
Song: God of My Life, To Thee I Call – CCLI# 5397370
God of my life, to Thee I call, afflicted at Thy feet I fall
When the great water floods prevail, leave not my trembling heart to fail
CHORUS: Poor though I am, despised, forgot
Yet God, my God, forgets me not
And He is safe, and must succeed, for whom the Lord is sure to plead
Friend of the friendless and the faint, where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with Thee whose open door invites the helpless and the poor
That were a grief I could not bear didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer hearing, answering God supports me under every load
The Benediction: From Ephesians 5:1-2
May you be imitators of God, as beloved children, walking in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Amen!