The Lord’s Day
July 15, 2007
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 71:1-3
Minister: In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Congregation: Let me never be ashamed.
Minister: In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
Congregation: Incline Your ear to me and save me.
Minister: Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come;
Congregation: You have given commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength No. 40
Public Confession
All: Your presence, O God, fills all the earth. We receive Your care and blessings daily. We thank You for loving and preserving us; and we thank You for Your willingness to hear our confession.
We seek forgiveness for every expression of disobedience, whether bold and deliberate, or due to neglect of duty. Forgive us for thinking, speaking, and acting contrary to the righteous standard You have so graciously provided.
We seek forgiveness for every offense we have caused, whether to those in our household, or to those we know as friends. Forgive us for not leading our homes according to our calling; forgive us for opposing what You have ordained by open defiance or hidden reluctance.
We seek forgiveness for allowing opportunities to pass unused when we could have spoken of our Savior and when we could have extended help to one in need. Forgive us for thinking too highly of ourselves when we should have considered another of greater importance.
Children: As Your covenant children, we ask that You would forgive us for doing what we knew was wrong. Forgive us for complaining and for not being quick to obey the words of our parents. Thank You, heavenly Father, for making us part of Your family. Keep us from sin, we pray.
Words of Assurance Colossians 1:19-22
It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Christ, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.
Response Searcher of Hearts (inside front)
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 The Larger Catechism (30-32)
Does God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
God does not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery, into which they fell by the breach of the first covenant, commonly called the covenant of works; but of His mere love and mercy delivers His elect out of it, and brings them into an estate of salvation by the second covenant, commonly called the covenant of grace.
With whom was the covenant of grace made?
The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in Him with all the elect as His seed.
How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant in that He freely provides and offers to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by Him; and requiring faith as the condition to interest them in Him, promises and gives His Holy Spirit to all His elect, to work in them that faith, with all other saving graces; and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness to God, and as the way which He has appointed them to salvation.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading Proverbs 11:1-15
A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight.
When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
The integrity of the upright will guide them,
But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But righteousness delivers from death.
The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.
When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,
And the hope of strong men perishes.
The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.
With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,
But a man of understanding keeps silent.
He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.
Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.
He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,
But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.
*Hymn My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less No. 522
*Public Reading of the Word 1 Corinthians 10
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 9:9-13
Hymn How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place No. 469
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn All Praise to Christ (inside back)
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin