The Lord’s Day

January 3, 2010

 

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

(Psalm 63:3, 4)

 

Prelude

 

Apostolic Greeting

 

*Call to Worship                                                          Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the Lord Himself is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

 

*Gloria Patri                                                                                 No. 734

 

*Prayer of Invocation

 

*Hymn                                    Psalm 98A                    (pages 5, 6)

 

  Public Confession 

We know that nothing is hidden from You—not our thoughts, not our words, not our steps. We know also that we have sinned against You this past week. We have sinned on purpose and we have sinned through ignorance. Forgive our many transgressions, O Lord. Remember the One who gave Himself for us. Enable us to live for His glory.

 

Words of Assurance                                           John 3:14-16

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

Response                             Psalm 136B                 (facing page)

 

 

Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

 

Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

 

*Doxology                                                                          No. 731

 

*Declaring Our Faith[†]   The Catechism of the Church in Geneva

What is the chief end of human life?

To know God by whom men were created.

What reason do we have for this statement?

Because God created us and placed us in this world to be glorified in us. And it is indeed right that our life should be devoted to His glory.

Why do we consider this our highest good?

Because without it our condition is worse than that of unbelievers. Therefore, we clearly see that nothing worse can happen to a man than to live without God.

What is the true and right knowledge of God?

We have the true and right knowledge of God when we perceive our duty to honor Him.

 

  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 Heavns               No. 59

 

*Public Reading of the Word        The Gospel of John 10:22–42

 

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

 

Sermon                   The Simplicity of the Gospel 1 Corinthians 2

 

 

 

Sacrament of Baptism                                Terrel Anthony Bradley

 

Hymn          I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art     No. 18

 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

 

*Hymn                And Can It Be That I Should Gain         No. 455

 

*Benediction

 

*Threefold Amen                                                                 No. 740

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Congregation will please stand

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



[†] Some minor modifications have been made for use in this bulletin.