Praise to God for His Majesty
Call to Worship
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
*Trinity Hymnal No. 6
O Come, My Soul, Bless Thou the Lord
O come, my soul, bless thou the Lord thy Maker,
and all within me bless his holy name;
bless thou the Lord, forget not all his mercies,
his pard'ning grace and saving love proclaim.Refrain:
Bless him forever, wondrous in might,
bless him, his servants that in his will delight.Good is the Lord and full of kind compassion,
most slow to anger, plenteous in love;
rich is his grace to all that humbly seek him,
boundless and endless as the heav'ns above.Bless him forever, wondrous in might,
bless him, his servants that in his will delight.His love is like a father's to his children,
tender and kind to all who fear his name;
for well he knows our weakness and our frailty,
he knows that we are dust, he knows our frame.Bless him forever, wondrous in might,
bless him, his servants that in his will delight.We fade and die like flow'rs that grow in beauty,
like tender grass that soon will disappear;
but evermore the love of God is changeless,
still shown to those who look to him in fear.Bless him forever, wondrous in might,
bless him, his servants that in his will delight.High in the heav'ns his throne is fixed forever,
his kingdom rules o'er all from pole to pole;
bless ye the Lord through all his wide dominion,
bless his most holy name, O thou my soul.Bless him forever, wondrous in might,
bless him, his servants that in his will delight.
Prayer of Invocation
*Trinity Hymnal No. 735
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
*Confession of Faith
-
The Westminster Shorter Catechism 13–15, p. 870
-
Q. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God. -
Q. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
-
Q. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.
Confession Before a Holy God
Reading of the Law
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;
there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers,
tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man,
so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to Shechem;
they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.
When I restore the fortunes of my people,
Confession of Sin
Assurance of Pardon
12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
The Means of Grace
Prayer of Intercession
*Scripture Reading and Text
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Sermon
The Golden Rule
Rev. James J. Alexander
Prayer of Application
*Trinity Hymnal No. 247
O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down;
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.What thou, my Lord, hast suffered
was all for sinners' gain:
mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
vouchsafe to me thy grace.
the Lord’s Supper
*Trinity Hymnal No. 247
-
What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest Friend,
for this, thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love to thee.
Thanksgiving and Blessing
Offering
*Trinity Hymnal No. 521
My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil.On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found;
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
*Benediction
*Trinity Hymnal No. 731
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heav'ly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.