Trinity Season
LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
When the style of our music is always upbeat, loud, and ascending in enthusiasm, we miss the range of biblical teaching about God, ourselves, worship, and the Christian life. To be sure, the Bible in general and the Psalms in particular include zealous praise and thanksgiving. But an over-realized eschatology has caused much of contemporary worship to get stuck in the “victory” and “excitement” mode that down-plays the reality of ongoing sin, unbelief, and disappointment, as well as the attributes of God that are most disturbing to us. This cannot help but produce weak and immature Christians who cannot stand in times of trial and testing.
Michael Horton, A Better Way: Recovering the Drama of Christ-Centered Worship Baker Books 2002, p. 134
Good hymns are an immense blessing to the Church of Christ. I believe the last day alone will show the world the real amount of good they have done. They suit all, both rich and poor. There is an elevating, stirring, soothing, spiritualizing, effect about a thoroughly good hymn, which nothing else can produce. It sticks in men’s memories when texts are forgotten. It trains men for heaven, where praise is one of the principal occupations. Preaching and praying shall one day cease for ever; but praise shall never die. The makers of good ballads are said to sway national opinion. The writers of good hymns, in like manner, are those who leave the deepest marks on the face of the Church.
~ J.C. Ryle
The Lord’s Service
Grace and Peace Presbyterian Church
The Lord’s Day
November 11, 2012
Please program all communication devices to silent mode. Thank you.
Gathering to Worship
We worship one God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
*indicates standing for those who are able
Welcome
Choral Introit:
Apostolic Greeting and Call to Worship:
Minister: Grace and peace be yours in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
*Call to Worship (from Psalm 92:1-4)
Minister: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made us glad by your work; at the works of your hands we sing for joy.
All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
* Prayer of Adoration
Minister: All honor, glory and praise to you Triune sovereign God for rescuing and redeeming your people throughout history; and we gathered here in your name join with them as co-heirs and of this great salvation. Receive our praise and hear our prayers we beseech you through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Reconciliation with God (1 John 2:15-17)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Unison Prayer of Confession
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
Like lost sheep we have forsaken the whole counsel of your Word.
In these and all our sins we have offended you, grieved the Spirit of adoption and wounded our own conscience.
(Private confession in silence)
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
Through the redeeming work of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us; free us from our sins
that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Words of Comfort
Minister: Hear these words of comfort found in 1 John 3:1-3
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Declaration of Pardon
Minister: Brothers and Sisters, you have confessed your sins to almighty God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, by His perfect life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, has atoned for your sins and satisfied the wrath of God toward you? If this is your case, in the name of Christ and by the authority of His Word I declare to you that your sins are forgiven and you are not under condemnation of God. Amen.
“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20:22-23 ESV)
*Hymn 43 You Righteous, in the Lord Rejoice (Psalm 33:1-12) OLD 113TH
God Speaks to Us through His Word
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16
*Hymn 85 The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want EVAN
New Testament Letter Reading: 1 Peter 2:1-25
Gospel Reading: John 10:14-18
Minister: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God!
Prayer for Illumination
O Lord, we have read and sung portions of your holy Word. Help us now to truly understand it as you intended; that, understanding, we may believe and believing, we may follow in all faithful obedience, seeking your honor and glory in all that we do; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sermon: Our Good Shepherd The Rev. Dr. Edd Cathey
*Hymn 131 Children of the Heavenly Father TRYGGARE KAN INGEN VARA
The Westminster Confession V:V
The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.
We Offer our Gifts and Prayers
Offering God our wealth/Offertory The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want Goodall
*Doxology
Prayer of dedication
Items for Prayer
Call to Prayer
Minister: The Lord be with you
People: And also with you.
Minister: Let us pray.
(Offered in the Minister’s words and concluding together with the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
God Sends Us out to Serve
*Hymn 349 O Thou Who the Shepherd of Israel Art JOANNA
*Dismissal and Benediction
Go bearing the name into which you were baptized, the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God the Father, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you forever. Amen.
*Postlude
Monday Ezekiel 34
Tuesday Psalm 23
Wednesday Luke 18
Thursday Isaiah 43:1-21
Friday 1 Peter 2
Saturday 2 Samuel 7:1-17
Our Good Shepherd
1. Our Shepherd Provides.
2. Our Shepherd Leads.
3. Our Shepherd Restores, Defends and Comforts