The Lord’s
Day
March 29, 2009
I will
praise the Lord while I live; I
will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
(Psalm
146:2)
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm
96:1–6
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the
earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His
name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord and
greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the
heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
*Gloria
Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymns Sing to the Lord, Sing His Praise No.
62
Psalm 148 (facing
page)
Public Confession
Heavenly
Father, have mercy on us. We have sinned by disobeying Your Word, and we seek
the forgiveness that You promise to those who repent and turn to You in faith.
Do not count our transgressions against us, but forgive us. Restore us so that
we might be at peace with You. We ask this in the name of Your Son and our
Savior, Jesus Christ.
Words of
Comfort and Assurance Ephesians
2:8–10
By grace you
have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand so that we would walk in them.
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 Doctrine of Providence
Following the creation of all things, what does God now do?
We believe that God, after He created all things, did not
abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to His
holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without His orderly
arrangement.
If nothing
happens in this world without God’s orderly arrangement, is He the Author of
sin?
God is not the Author
of, nor can He be charged with, the sin that occurs. For His power and goodness
are so great and incomprehensible that He arranges and does His work very well
and justly even when the devils and wicked men act unjustly.
What should be
our response to those things that we don’t understand?
We do not wish to
inquire with undue curiosity into what He does that surpasses human
understanding and is beyond our ability to comprehend. But in all humility and reverence
we adore the just judgments of God, which are hidden from us, being content to
be Christ’s disciples, so as to learn only what He shows us in His Word,
without going beyond those limits.
Of what benefit
is this doctrine to us?
This doctrine
gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us
by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father. He
watches over us with fatherly care, keeping all creatures under His control, so
that not one of the hairs on our heads nor even a little bird can fall to the
ground without the will of our Father.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive
Reading Psalm
33:13–22
The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
Behold, the eye of the Lord
is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord,
be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.
*Hymn O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright No. 58
Public Reading of the Word 1
John 1
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Final Exhortations James
5:7–20
*Hymn God, Be Merciful to Me No. 486
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn Now Blessed Be the Lord Our God No.
11
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No.
740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this
bulletin