The Lord’s Day

February 17, 2008

“Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how transient I am.”

(Psalm 39:4)

  Prelude

  Apostolic Greeting

*Call to Worship                                                 Psalm 10:16–18

The Lord is King forever and ever;

Nations have perished from His land.

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart,

You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

*Gloria Patri                                                                      No. 734

*Prayer of Invocation

*Hymn          Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul     No. 57

  Public Confession

O Lord, please forgive our falsehoods, our sharp tongues, and our hasty words. We have thought wrongly about others who have also been redeemed by Christ. Please forgive us for not loving every brother and sister saved as we are by grace alone.

Forgive us for wavering in our faith, and make us strong in the days to come. And please forgive us for our lack of diligence in the use of all You have provided for us. Strengthen us, O God, so that we might honor You before all.

 Words of Assurance     1 John 5:9-12

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

  Response                         Lead Me, Lord    (inside front cover)

  Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

  Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

*Doxology                                                                          No. 731

*Declaring Our Faith           The Larger Catechism (153, 154)

What does God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse due to us by reason of the transgression of the law?

That we may escape the wrath and curse of God due to us by reason of the transgression of the law, He requires of us repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of His mediation.

What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of His mediation?

The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to His church the benefits of His mediation are all His ordinances; especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation.

  Pastoral Prayer

*Responsive Reading                                       Proverbs 21:1–15

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;

He turns it wherever He wishes.

Every man’s way is right in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the hearts.

To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.

Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage,

But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.

The violence of the wicked will drag them away, because they refuse to act with justice.

The way of a guilty man is crooked,

But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

It is better to live in a corner of a roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise;

But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

The righteous one considers the house of the wicked, turning the wicked to ruin.

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.

A gift in secret subdues anger,

And a bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.

The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous,

But is terror to the workers of iniquity.

*Hymn             All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!      No. 297

*Public Reading of the Word                                   Ephesians 3

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

  Sermon                                                            Matthew 15:1–20

  Hymn                       God, Be Merciful to Me                No. 486

  Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper⁺

*Hymn                    Faithful to All Generations       (next page)

*Benediction

*Threefold Amen                                                               No. 740

* Congregation will please stand

⁺ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin