Preparing for Worship: Sixth Sunday before the Resurrection - March 4
God Calls Us to Worship Him
“Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.”
(Article V, “God’s Purpose in Grace” from The Baptist Faith and Message)
Hymn of Adoration: "I Stand in Awe"
You are beautiful beyond description Too marvelous for words Too wonderful for comprehension Like nothing ever seen or heard Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom Who can fathom the depth of Your love You are beautiful beyond description Majesty enthroned above And I stand I stand in awe of You I stand I stand in awe of You Holy God to whom all praise is due I stand in awe of You You are beautiful beyond description Yet God crushed You for my sin In agony and deep affliction Cut off that I might enter in
Who can grasp such tender compassion Who can fathom this mercy so free
You are beautiful beyond description Lamb of God who died for me
God Graciously Renews Us in Christ
Confession of Sin
Hymn of Confession: "Man of Sorrows, What a Name!"
Man of sorrows what a name for the Son of God, who came ruined sinners to reclaim: Hallelujah, what a Savior
Forgiveness of Sin through Christ
Hymn of Assurance: "In Christ Alone"
In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light my strength my song This Cornerstone this solid Ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love what depths of peace When fears are stilled when strivings cease My Comforter my All in All Here in the love of Christ I stand In Christ alone who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save Till on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ No guilt in life no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny No power of hell no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand Till He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I'll stand
Word of Assurance
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! (Psalm 67:1-3)
Thanking God for What He Has Done
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Giving of Tithes and Offerings
Approximately 11% of our church budget goes to outward ministries of evangelism and mission. This covers both local and international ministries from Indian ministries to missionaries overseas. These monies also allow church members to be apart of short mission trips. Your generous giving allows the gospel to go out beyond the walls of our church building.
Hymn of Petition: "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
Come Thou fount of ev'ry blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love Here I raise mine Ebenezer Hither by Thy help I'm come And I hope by Thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home Jesus sought me when a stranger Wand'ring from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed His precious blood O to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee Prone to wander Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart Lord take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above
God Instructs Us through His Word
God Feeds Us and Nourishes Us through His Supper
We unite in teaching all men to confess the one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is also actually God and actually man, with a rational soul and a body. He is of the same reality as God as far as his deity is concerned and of the same reality as we ourselves as far as his humanness is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin only excepted. Before time began he was begotten of the Father, in respect of his deity, and now in these "last days," for us and behalf of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of Mary the virgin, who is God-bearer in respect of his humanness. We also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son, Lord, only-begotten -- in two natures; and we do this without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories, without contrasting them according to area or function. The distinctiveness of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead, the "properties" of each nature are conserved and both natures concur in one "person" and in one reality. They are not divided or cut into two persons, but are together the one and only and only-begotten Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Symbol of Fathers has handed down to us.
(excerpt from the Chalcedonian Creed)
God Blesses Us and Send Us Out
“Go and let us enjoy all that pertains to our salvation.” (Gregory of Antioch, “On the Holy Theophany”)
