The Lord’s Day

September 23, 2007

  Prelude

  Apostolic Greeting

*Call to Worship                                                   Psalm 97:9-12

Minister: You are the Lord Most High over all the earth;

Congregation: You are exalted far above all gods.

Minister: Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;

Congregation: He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Minister: Light is sown like seed for the righteous,

Congregation: And gladness for the upright in heart.

Minister: Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,

Congregation: And give thanks to His holy name.

*Gloria Patri                                                                         No. 734

*Prayer of Invocation

*Hymn            Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven       No. 77

  Public Confession

All: With thankful hearts, we turn to You, O God. Though we are distressed by the sins we committed this past week, we are not in despair. We know that You welcome us into Your presence and are ready to forgive all our transgressions because of our Savior’s work on our behalf.

Therefore, we ask You to forgive our sinful thoughts and words. Forgive those actions that were motivated by selfishness or pride. Forgive our sins of deliberate commission and our sins of unplanned neglect. Enable us to walk rightly before You this coming week.

Children: Father in heaven, as we grow and learn, we sometimes break Your holy Word. We are sometimes careless in the way we speak to others or the way we obey our parents. Forgive our sins because Jesus died for us.

  Words of Assurance                                              Psalm 9:7-10

The Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble; and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

 Response               My Faith Looks Up to Thee   (inside front)

  Prayer for the Tithe and Offerings

  Collection of the Tithe and Offerings

*Doxology                                                                          No. 731

*Declaring Our Faith The Larger Catechism (55, 56)

How does Christ make intercession?

Christ makes intercession by His appearing in our nature continually before the Father in heaven in the merit of His obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring His will to have it applied to all believers, answering all accusations against them, and procuring for them quiet of conscience, access with boldness to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their persons and services.

How is Christ to be exalted in His coming again to judge the world?

Christ is to be exalted in His coming again to judge the world in that He, who was unjustly judged and condemned by wicked men, shall come again at the last day in great power and in the full manifestation of His own glory, and of His Father’s, with all His holy angels, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, to judge the world in righteousness.

  Pastoral Prayer

*Responsive Reading                                    Proverbs 14:10-21

The heart knows its own bitterness,

And a stranger does not share its joy.

The house of the wicked will be destroyed,

But the tent of the upright will flourish.

There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

Even in laughter the heart may be in pain,

And the end of joy may be grief.

The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways,

But a good man will be satisfied with his.

The naive believes everything,

But the sensible man considers his steps.

A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil,

But a fool is arrogant and careless.

A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,

And a man of evil devices is hated.

The naive inherit foolishness,

But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

The evil will bow down before the good,

And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

The poor is hated even by his neighbor,

But those who love the rich are many.

He who despises his neighbor sins,

But happy is he who is gracious to the poor.

*Hymn          O God, Your Judgments Give the King    No. 312

*Public Reading of the Word                             2 Corinthians 2

*Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

  Sermon                                                            Matthew 11:1-15

  Hymn                 Man of Sorrows! What a Name          No. 246

  Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper⁺

*Hymn                           Lift High the Cross                    No. 263

*Benediction

*Threefold Amen                                                               No. 740

* Congregation will please stand

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