The Lord’s Day

March 1, 2009

 

God will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

(Psalm 145:19)

 

 

Prelude

 

Apostolic Greeting

 

*Call to Worship                                                 Psalm 77:11–15

I shall remember the deeds of the Lord;

Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

I will meditate on all Your work,

And muse on Your deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy;

What god is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

You have made known Your strength among the peoples.

You have by Your power redeemed Your people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph.

 

*Gloria Patri                                                                      No. 734

 

*Prayer of Invocation

 

*Hymn               The Praises of Thy Wonders, Lord        (facing page)

 

Public Confession

Almighty God, nothing is hidden from Your sight. All our sins are known to You. We confess that we have not known the deceitfulness of our own hearts and have wandered from the path of righteousness. We know that You are a most merciful heavenly Father; we know that You have promised forgiveness to those who are in Jesus Christ. For His sake, we pray, forgive our transgressions and enable us to live according to righteousness hereafter.

 

Words of Assurance                                        Hebrews 8:10–12

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

 

Response                         Lead Me, Lord          (following page)


Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

 

Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

 

*Doxology                                                                          No. 731

 

*Declaring Our Faith[†]                                                 The Trinity

What do we believe about the nature of God?

In keeping with the Word of God, we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Does the distinction between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit mean that God is divided?

The distinction does not divide God into three, since Scripture teaches us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each has His own subsistence distinguished by characteristics—yet in such a way that these three persons are only one God.

 

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 Heavens Declare Your Glory, Lord    No. 138

 

*Public Reading of the Word                                           1 Peter 5

 

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

 

Sermon                  The Nature of Biblical Faith  James 2:14–26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Hymn                      Take My Life, and Let It Be               No. 585

 

Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+

 

*Hymn                      Faithful to All Generations (following page)

 

*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)