The Lord’s Day
March 27, 2011
You are my rock and my fortress;
for Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
(Psalm 31:3)
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 67:4–7
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will judge the peoples with uprightness and guide the nations on the earth.
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.
God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn God, the Lord, a King Remaineth No. 64
Public Confession
O God, You have redeemed us in Christ Jesus. He has accomplished our salvation, and in that we rejoice. For His sake, forgive our many transgressions and work in us so that we walk humbly and rightly before You.
Words of Comfort and Assurance Isaiah 61:10
I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Response The Lord’s Prayer (facing page)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
*Declaring Our Faith2 Heidelberg Catechism
What do you believe concerning the Holy Spirit?
First, that He is true and co-eternal God with the Father and the Son; secondly, that He is also given to me, to make me by a true faith partaker of Christ and all His benefits, that He may comfort me and abide with me forever.
What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church of Christ?
That the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith; and that I am and forever shall remain a living member thereof.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading Psalm 84
How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
The bird also has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.
How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!
*Hymn Thy Mercy and Thy Truth, O Lord No. 60
*Public Reading of the Word Acts 16:6–34
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Ezra Declares the Law Nehemiah 8
*Hymn Here, O My Lord, I See Thee Face to Face No. 378
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
*Hymn O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright No. 58
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin
2 These questions and responses are based on the Heidelberg Catechism.