The Lord’s Day

June 24, 2007

  Prelude

  Apostolic Greeting

*Call to Worship                                                     Psalm 68:1-5

Leader: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered,

Congregation: And let those who hate Him flee before Him.

Leader: As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

Congregation: As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God.

Leader: But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;

Congregation: Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

Leader: Sing to God, sing praises to His name; lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.

Congregation: A Father of the fatherless and a Judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

*Gloria Patri                                                                      No. 734

*Prayer of Invocation

*Hymns             Stand Up, O God, Be Present Now         No. 71

  Public Confession

Our praise of You, O Lord, brings to mind our struggles with sin. We so easily manifest the very characteristics You forbid. So we ask for forgiveness; we ask for mercy. We ask You to pardon our sins for Christ’s sake.

For our sinful speech and thoughts, we seek forgiveness. For our sinful attitudes and actions, we ask forgiveness. We rejoice in our Savior, and we rest in Him alone. We give thanks for His work on our behalf.

Restore to us the joy of our salvation, and sustain us with willing spirits. Cause us to pursue righteousness all the days of our lives. May our lives be tributes to Your grace, for Your glory.

  Words of Assurance                                                  Titus 3:3-7

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 Response                         Lead Me, Lord    (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 The Larger Catechism (23-25)

Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?

The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

What is sin?

Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.

Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate into which man fell?

The sinfulness of that estate into which man fell consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of that righteousness in which he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually; which is commonly called original sin, and from which do proceed all actual transgressions.

  Pastoral Prayer

*Responsive Reading                                    Proverbs 10:13-23

On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,

But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.

Wise men store up knowledge,

But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand. 

The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,

The ruin of the poor is their poverty. 

The wages of the righteous is life,

The income of the wicked, punishment. 

He is on the path of life who heeds instruction and he who ignores reproof goes astray. 

He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who spreads slander is a fool. 

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,

But he who restrains his lips is wise. 

The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,

The heart of the wicked is worth little. 

The lips of the righteous feed many,

But fools die for lack of understanding. 

It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,

And He adds no sorrow to it. 

Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,

And so is wisdom to a man of understanding. 

*Hymn                       Jesus, Lover of My Soul                No. 508

*Public Reading of the Word                             1 Corinthians 7

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

  Sermon                                                                                          

  Hymn                                Rock of Ages                         No. 500

  Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper⁺

*Hymn         O Christ, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire  No. 161

*Benediction

*Hymn                                    Blessed the Man        (inside back cover)

* Congregation will please stand

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