The Lord’s Day
November 25, 2007
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.
(Psalm 145:18, 19)
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 117
Minister: Praise the Lord, all nations;
Congregation: Laud Him, all peoples!
Minister: For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting.
Congregation: Praise the Lord!
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymns For All That Dwell below the Skies No. 7
Give Praise to God (facing page)
Public Confession
All: As Your redeemed, O God, we acknowledge our call to holiness, and we acknowledge that we often stumble in our efforts. Please forgive us for sins we have committed deliberately. Forgive us for knowing what is right, but choosing what is wrong.
Please forgive us for sins we have committed by neglecting our duty. Forgive us for failing to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Children: We thank You, heavenly Father, for the forgiveness of our sins and for our place in Your Church. Please forgive all our sins and help us to live according to Your holy Word every day.
Words of Assurance Romans 6:4
We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Response In Thee, O Lord, I Put My Trust (page 4)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (76, 77)
What is repentance unto life?
Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with Him in all the ways of new obedience.
How do justification and sanctification differ?
Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that God in justification imputes the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification His Spirit infuses grace, and enables to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned; in the other, it is subdued; the one does equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation; the other is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading Proverbs 16:23-33
The heart of the wise instructs his mouth
And adds persuasiveness to his lips.
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on.
A worthless man digs up evil,
While his words are like scorching fire.
A perverse man spreads strife,
And a slanderer separates intimate friends.
A man of violence entices his neighbor
And leads him in a way that is not good.
He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;
He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.
A gray head is a crown of glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord.
*Hymn Wondrous King, All-Glorious No. 166
*Public Reading of the Word 2 Corinthians 11:1-16
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 12:46-50
Hymn As the Hart Longs for Flowing Streams No. 662
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn Lift High the Cross No. 263
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin
