The Lord’s Day
April 1, 2007
Palm Sunday
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 145:1-3
Minister: I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Congregation: Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Minister: Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
Congregation: And His greatness is unsearchable.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymns All Glory, Laud, and Honor No. 235
Rejoice, the Lord is King No. 309
Public Confession
O God, we take refuge in Your name, and we confess that Your works are wondrous. Our sin is ever before us, but we are encouraged, nevertheless, by the knowledge of Your grace.
We ask for forgiveness as we remember the many hurtful words we have spoken. We pray that You would cause our speech to heal, rather than destroy.
We ask for forgiveness as we remember the lack of compassion in our lives. We pray that You would fill us with mercy, even as we have been shown mercy.
We ask for forgiveness as we remember those wicked thoughts we conceived. We pray that You would purify our minds and fill us with devotion to all that is good.
We ask for forgiveness as we remember our ill treatment of others. We pray that You would make us people eager to serve one another.
Words of Assurance Romans 8:9, 10
You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Response Amazing Grace (inside front cover)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
*Declaring Our Faith Westminster Confession (Church Censures)
What is the origin of Church government?
The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of His Church, has appointed a government, in the hand of Church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate.
What is the nature of the authority held by these officers?
To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the Gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.
Why are Church censures necessary?
Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren, for deterring of others from like offenses, for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump, for vindicating the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the Gospel, and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the Church, if they should suffer His covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading The Law of God
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:9, 10)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)
“You shall not murder.”
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Romans 13:8, 9)
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4)
“You shall not steal.”
Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)
“You shall not covet.”
Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (Ephesians 5:3)
*Hymn Forever Settled in the Heavens No. 59
*Public Reading of the Word Romans 12
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 20:17-28
Hymn Fairest Lord Jesus No. 170
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn All Praise to Christ (facing page)
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin