The Lord’s Day
September 2, 2007
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 92:5-9
Minister: How great are Your works, O Lord!
Congregation: Your thoughts are very deep.
Minister: A senseless man has no knowledge, nor does a stupid man understand this: that when the wicked sprouted up like grass and all who did iniquity flourished, it was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.
Congregation: But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
Minister: For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord, for, behold, Your enemies will perish;
Congregation: All who do iniquity will be scattered.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn Hallelujah! Hallelujah! No. 10
Public Confession
All: We do long to be with You, O Lord. And we gladly declare that You are our God. As we contemplate Your goodness, we are reminded of our sin. We know we are easily led astray by the desires of our flesh.
Forgive us, therefore, heavenly Father, of all our transgressions. Forgive our sins of word and deed. Forgive our frequent disregard for purity, and our lack of concern for our own testimonies.
Cause us to find no comfort in sin. Instead, cause us to desire what is holy and edifying.
Children: Our Father in heaven, we love You and want to please You at all times. Forgive us when we sin in our actions or by our words. Help us to be good examples to others.
Words of Assurance 1 John 3:2-5
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
Response My Faith Looks Up to Thee (inside front)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (48-50)
How did Christ humble Himself in His life?
Christ humbled Himself in His life by subjecting Himself to the law, which He perfectly fulfilled; and by conflicting with the indignities of the world, temptations of Satan, and infirmities in His flesh, whether common to the nature of man, or particularly accompanying His low condition.
How did Christ humble Himself in His death?
Christ humbled Himself in His death in that, having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken by His disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by His persecutors; having also conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God’s wrath, He laid down His life an offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.
Wherein consisted Christ’s humiliation after His death?
Christ’s humiliation after His death consisted in His being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which has been otherwise expressed in these words: He descended into hell.
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 Jesus Lives, and So Shall I No. 706
*Public Reading of the Word 1 Corinthians 15:39-58
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 10:28-33
Hymn Who Trusts in God No. 668
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn O Savior, Precious Savior No. 159
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin