The Lord’s Day
May 27, 2007
Prelude
Apostolic Greeting
*Call to Worship Psalm 37:16-19
Minister: Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.
Congregation: For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord sustains the righteous.
Minister: The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.
Congregation: They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they will have abundance.
*Gloria Patri No. 734
*Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn God of Gods, We Sound His Praises No. 23
Public Confession
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing our redemption. We know we have a Savior who gave Himself for us.
Forgive us for our arrogance and lack of forethought. We confess that we have spoken boldly when we should have remained silent. Forgive us for our hasty judgments and lack of patience. We confess that we have been quick to speak, but slow to listen.
Forgive us for our lack of grace and compassion. We confess that we have not loved as we have been loved. Above all, forgive us for offending You. We confess that our thoughts and words have, at times, displeased You.
Words of Assurance Ephesians 2:8-10
For 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 O Thou That Hear’st When Sinners Cry (inside front)
Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings
Collection of the Tithe and Offerings
*Doxology No. 731
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (12-14)
What are the decrees of God?
God’s decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of His will, whereby, from all eternity, He has, for His own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time, especially concerning angels and men.
What has God especially decreed concerning angels and men?
God, by an eternal and immutable decree, out of His mere love, for the praise of His glorious grace, to be manifested in due time, has elected some angels to glory; and in Christ has chosen some men to eternal life, and the means thereof: and also, according to His sovereign power, and the unsearchable counsel of His own will (whereby He extends or withholds favor as He pleases), has passed by and foreordained the rest to dishonor and wrath, to be for their sin inflicted, to the praise of the glory of His justice.
How does God execute his decrees?
God executes His decrees in the works of creation and providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will.
Pastoral Prayer
*Responsive Reading Proverbs 8:22-36
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.”
“From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.”
“When there were no depths I was brought forth,”
“When there were no springs abounding with water.”
“Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth”;
“While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world.”
“When He established the heavens, I was there,”
“When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He made firm the skies above,”
“When the springs of the deep became fixed, when He set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress His command,”
“When He marked out the foundations of the earth; then I was beside Him, as a master workman”;
“And I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him,”
“Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons of men.”
“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways.”
“Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.”
“Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.”
“For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.”
“But he who sins against me injures himself”;
“All those who hate me love death.”
*Hymn The Church’s One Foundation No. 347
*Public Reading of the Word 1 Corinthians 3
*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word
Sermon Matthew 8:18-27
Hymn Fairest Lord Jesus No. 170
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper+
*Hymn All Praise to Christ (inside back)
*Benediction
*Threefold Amen No. 740
* Congregation will please stand
+ Visitors: please see the note on the back of this bulletin