Call to Worship
Sunday School
Studies in The Sermon on the Mount
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Sunday Service
Pastoral Reading
Isaiah 25:1-8
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2 For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
7 And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Opening Song
Psalm 9:1-10 (PS #9A)
I now will give whole-hearted thanks to the LORD,
And all of Your marvelous works will record.
In You will be glad and exultingly cry.
And praise to Your name will I sing, O Most High
When backward my foes were all turned in despair,
They stumbled and perished because You were there.
For You have defended my judgment and cause;
You sat in just judgment upholding Your laws.
You chided the nations, the wicked destroyed;
Their names You erased and forever made void.
The foe is consumed, is completely erased,
Their cities destroyed and their memory effaced.
The LORD will eternally sit on His throne,
Establishing it for His judgment alone.
In righteousness He’ll judge the word from His seat
And unto all peoples shall equity mete.
The LORD is a stronghold, a lofty strong tower,
For all the oppressed in their troubles’ dark hour.
Those knowing Your name, LORD, trust You for Your grace;
You have not forsaken those seeking Your face.
Prayer
Focus this week: Astraea Duran
Song
Oh, How Good It Is (CRC #26)
Verse 1
Oh how good it is
When the family of God
Dwells together in spirit
In faith and unity
Where the bonds of peace
Of acceptance and love
Are the fruit of His presence here among us
Chorus
So with one voice we’ll sing to the Lord
And with one heart we’ll live out His word
Till the whole earth sees the Redeemer has come
For He dwells in the presence of His people
Verse 2
Oh how good it is on this journey we share to rejoice with the happy
And weep with those who mourn
For the weak find strength, the afflicted find grace
When we offer the blessing of belonging
Verse 3
Oh how good it is to embrace His command
To prefer one another forgive as He forgives
When we live as one we all share in the love
Of the Son with the Father and the Spirit
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Song
Behold the Lamb (HMA #15)
1 Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away
Slain for us, and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
Chorus
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.
2 The body of our Savior Jesus Christ,
Torn for you, eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
3 The blood that cleanses ev’ry stain of sin,
Shed for you, drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
4 And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps o
The Lord’s Table
Christ Our Righteousness
Scripture Reading
Romans 8:18-39
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, or those who are called according to his purpose.29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Preaching the Word
Infamous Backsliders of the Bible
Matthew 13:1-9
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
Closing Song
Come, Oh Come Thou Quickening Spirit (TH #331)
1 Come, O come, thou quick’ning Spirit,
God from all eternity!
May thy power never fail us;
swell within us constantly.
Then shall truth and life and light
banish all the gloom of night.
2 Grant our hearts in fullest measure
wisdom, counsel, purity,
that we ever may be seeking
only that which pleaseth thee.
Let thy knowledge spread and grow,
working error’s overthrow.
3 Show us, Lord, the path of blessing;
when we trespass on our way,
cast, O Lord, our sins behind thee
and be with us day by day.
Should we stray, O Lord, recall;
work repentance when we fall.
4 Holy Spirit, strong and mighty,
thou who makest all things new,
make thy work within us perfect
and the evil foe subdue.
Grant us weapons for the strife
and with vict’ry crown our life.