Call to Worship
Sunday School
The Holy War
by John Bunyan
Sunday Service
Pastoral Reading
Isaiah 53:1-6
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Opening Song
All Praise to Christ (CRC #47)
To him who loved us long ago,
before we came to be,
who left his throne for earth below
to save a wretch like me:
All praise to Christ from grateful men
forevermore. Amen.
To him who freed us from our sin
by dying on the cross,
to make us whole without, within,
redeemed from dreadful loss:
All praise to Christ from grateful men
forevermore. Amen.
To him who comes arrayed in light,
when sinners here shall see
the one they pierced and mourn the sight—
God promised; it shall be!
All praise to Christ from grateful men
forevermore. Amen.
With angels, saints, and seraphim
the new creation sings,
“All glory, pow’r, and praise to him
who made us priests and kings.”
All praise to Christ from grateful men
forevermore. Amen.
Prayer
Focus this week: Ann Reeher
Song
Heaven’s Gift (CRC#46)
When far from God and lost in sin
I took God’s book and looked within,
I found a gift from heaven’s throne,
a righteousness from God made known
That gift Christ won at dreadful cost:
propitiation for the lost.
My substitute, condemned he died,
and turned God’s wrath from me aside.
Now in Christ’s righteousness alone
I stand before God’s awesome throne,
and grasp what only God could do:
be just and justifier too
Christ paid the price to set me free:
his blood poured out on Calvary’s tree.
Now nothing as my own I’ll call,
for all is Christ’s and Christ my all.
All merit, boasting set aside,
by faith alone I’m justified.
Before the throne I take my place
and rest in God’s amazing grace.
Song
The Hiding Place (CRC #73)
Verse 1
Hail Sovereign love which first began,
This scheme to rescue fallen man;
Hail Sovereign free eternal grace,
That gave my soul a hiding place.
Against the God who rules the sky,
I fought with hand uplifted high,
Despised the mention of His grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place!
Verse 2
Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night,
And fond of darkness more than light,
Madly I ran the sinful race,
Secure without a hiding place.
But thus th’ eternal Counsel ran,
“Almighty Love, arrest that man!”
I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place!
Verse 3
Indignant justice stood in view,
To Sinai’s fiery mount I flew,
But Justice cried with frowning face,
“This mountain is no hiding place!”
‘Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy’s angel soon appeared.
He led me on with gentle pace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place.
Verse 4
Should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll,
And shake this earth from pole to pole;
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my hiding place.
On Him almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell;
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their hiding place.
Verse 5
A few more rolling suns at most,
Shall land me safe on Canaan’s coast
There I shall sing the song of grace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place!
Exalt the Lord, His praise proclaim,
Let ev’ry saint now raise His name
Forever more we’ll see His face,
The Face of Christ our Hiding Place
Scripture Reading
Revelation 5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Preaching the Word
1 Cor 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Closing Song:
Keep Watching and Be Ready (CRC #55)
We do not know
if Christ will come when
life is rough or steady;
we only know that Jesus said,
“Keep watching, and be ready.”
“Keep watching!”, For Christ
will appear at night
or some bright morning,
life lightning flashing through the sky
without a moment’s warning.
“Be ready!”, When the Lord
descends to night
or some bright morning,
like lightning flashing
through the sky without
a moment’s warning.
So watch with care;
in grace abound.
Get ready soon to greet him,
that when you hear the trumpet’s sound
you’ll be prepared to meet him.