The Lord’s Day • January 22nd,  2012

           

            “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,            the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8 ESV)

 

Prelude

 

Apostolic Greeting

 

*Call to Worship      Psalm 104.1-9

 

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

            O LORD my God, you are very great!

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,        

covering yourself with light as with a garment,

stretching out the heavens like a tent.

He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

            he rides on the wings of the wind;

he makes his messengers winds,

            his ministers a flaming fire.  

He set the earth on its foundations,

            so that it should never be moved.     

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

            the waters stood above the mountains.   

At your rebuke they fled;

            at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

            to the place that you appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass,

            so that they might not again cover the earth.

 

*Gloria Patri   No. 734

 

*Prayer of Invocation

 

*Hymn O Worship the King   No. 2

 

Public Confession of Sin         

When we consider You, the only living and true God, we are struck by your glory, perfection and holiness. Like the prophet Isaiah we confess that we have no place in your presence for we are a people of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips. Like the Pharisees we have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness while busying ourselves with matters of less importance. Please be merciful to us, Father, and forgive us for our sins based solely on the righteousness of Christ our Savior imputed to us.

 

Words of Assurance    Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

 

Response         Jesus, Lover of My Soul   No. 508

 

Prayer for Tithe and Offerings

 

Collection of Tithe and Offerings

 

*Doxology         No. 731

 

*Old Testament Lesson     Isaiah 61.1-7

 

*Declaring Our Faith Heidelberg Catechism

 

Question 69. How is it signified and sealed unto you in holy baptism that you have part in the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross?


Answer:  Thus, that Christ has appointed this outward washing with water and added the promise that I am washed with his blood and Spirit from the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, as certainly as I am washed outwardly with water, by which the filthiness of the body is commonly washed away.

 

Question 70. What is it to be washed with the blood and Spirit of Christ?

Answer:  It is to have the forgiveness of sins from God through grace, for the sake of Christ’s blood, which he shed for us in his sacrifice on the cross; and also to be renewed by the Holy Spirit, and sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die unto sin and lead holy and unblamable lives.

 

Pastoral Prayer

 

*Responsive Reading      Psalm 104

           

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

            they flow between the hills;        

they give drink to every beast of the field;

            the wild donkeys quench their thirst.            

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;

            they sing among the branches.            

From your lofty abode you water the mountains;

            the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.            

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth

and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine

            and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,

            the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.    

In them the birds build their nests;

            the stork has her home in the fir trees.         

The high mountains are for the wild goats;

            the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.            

He made the moon to mark the seasons;

            the sun knows its time for setting.          

You make darkness, and it is night,

            when all the beasts of the forest creep about.  

The young lions roar for their prey,

            seeking their food from God.     

When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.  

Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.         

 

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.      

Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable,

            living things both small and great.

There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.      

These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.          

When you give it to them, they gather it up;

            when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

            when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.     

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

            and you renew the face of the ground.   

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

            may the LORD rejoice in his works,           

who looks on the earth and it trembles,

            who touches the mountains and they smoke!           

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

            I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.           

Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more!

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Praise the LORD!

 

*Hymn   Let All Things Now Living No. 125

 

*New Testament Lesson         Matthew 5.1-12

 

Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

 

Sermon    Blessed are the Merciful – Matthew 5.7

 

Hymn Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands (Luther, 1524)   No. 279

 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper            

 

*Hymn   We Lift Up as Our Shield God’s Name (5th century)     No. 104

 

*Benediction

 

*Threefold Amen           No. 740