The Lord’s Day

Palm Sunday

April 5, 2009

 

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.

(Psalm 146:5)

 

 

 

Prelude

 

  Musical Offering   All Glory, Laud, and Honor   (text on facing page)

 

Apostolic Greeting

 

*Call to Worship Psalm 96:7–13

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering and come into His courts.

Worship the Lord in holy attire;

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains;

Let the field exult, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

 

*Gloria Patri        No. 734

 

*Prayer of Invocation

 

*Hymn I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art   No. 168

 

Public Confession

O Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, we confess to You our transgressions; we confess to You that we have fallen short of Your standard in our thoughts, our speech, and our conduct. We thank You, O God, for the gift of salvation that is ours in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Please do pardon our sins, for His sake; and equip us to walk rightly before You.

 

 

 

 

 

  Words of Comfort and Assurance      1 John 3:1, 2

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.

 

Response  Thou Art the Way No. 154

 

Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

 

Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

 

*Doxology           No. 731

 

*Declaring Our Faith[†]      The Creation of Man

What do we believe about the creation of man?

We believe that God created man from the dust of the earth and made and formed him in His image and likeness—good, just, and holy; able by his own will to conform in all things to the will of God.

What did the first man do by his own will?

He subjected himself willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending his ear to the word of the devil.

What specifically did the first man do?

He transgressed the commandment of life, which he had received, and by his sin he separated himself from God, who was his true life, having corrupted his entire nature.

As a result of his transgression, what is fallen man’s state?

He made himself guilty and subject to physical and spiritual death, having become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. He lost all his excellent gifts which he had received from God, and he retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make him inexcusable.

 

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   The Law of God Is Good and Wise No. 150

 

*Public Reading of the Word   Mark 10:32–11:10

 

*Hymn   Ride On, Ride On in Majesty! No. 237

 

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

 

Sermon

 

  Hymn   O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High!   No. 155

 

  Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+

 

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

 

*Benediction

 

*Threefold Amen       No. 740

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Congregation will please stand

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

 



[†] Based on The Belgic Confession (edited for use in the worship bulletin)