The King is Ascended

Christ is ascended and crowned as the Father's King. The Church triumphant is with Him and He will return in glory one day to judge the kings of the earth and all His enemies.

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Call to Worship

Sunday School

The Life and Death of Mr Badman
by John Bunyan

Sunday Service

Pastoral Reading

Psalm 48

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.

For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11     Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Opening Song

Life Your Eyes to the Lord Your God (CRC #27)

Lift your eyes to the Lord your God,
Father of goodness and grace;
all of your burdens and gifts of praise,
come, lay them down in this place.

For his arm is mighty and his love will endure,
his plan is perfect, his victory is sure;
and his anger is righteous but his grace is free—
Oh, what a Saviour is he!
Oh, what a Saviour is he!

2. Lift your souls to the Lord your God,
maker of heaven and earth;
sun and moon bow before his throne:
praise him for all he is worth.

For his arm is mighty…

3. Lift your minds to the Lord your God:
he will fulfil all your needs;
seek his wisdom, attend his words,
follow wherever he leads.

For his arm is mighty…

4. No condemnation now I dread!
Jesus and all in him is mine!
Alive in him, my living head,
and clothed in righteousness divine.

For his arm is mighty…

Prayer

Focus this week:  Shawn Austin

Song

By Faith (CRC #4)

Verse 1
By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight
Verse 2
By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the pow’r of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign
Chorus
We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight
Verse 3
By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the pow’r to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave
Verse 4
By faith the church was called to go
In the pow’r of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In ev’ry corner of the earth
Verse 5
By faith the mountain shall be moved
And the pow’r of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

Keith Getty | Kristyn Getty | Stuart Townend
© 2009 Thankyou Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Getty Music Publishing (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 108183, CCLI Song # 5469291

Offering Song

All My Boast is in Jesus (CRC #43)

Verse 1
What wonder of wonders what love is this that Christ would die for me
His goodness His merit His righteousness this sinner’s only plea.
O foolish pride be crucified, the work is finished.

Chorus 1
All my boast is in Jesus, all my hope is His love
And I will glory forever, in what the cross has done

Verse 2
Now fully forgiven my life is filled with graces undeserved
For mercy that flowed down that sacred hill, let praises now return
Rise up my soul and bless the Lord, who else is worthy?

Bridge
O praise the One forever blessed, Him alone my heart adores
And I will boast in nothing less than the love of Christ my Lord.

Verse 3
I boast not in riches in strength or might, but in the grace of God
I glory in weakness to live is Christ, in plenty or in want.
That I may know that all may see, His pow’r within me.

Chorus 2
Now I stand in His freedom, ransomed clean in His sight,
And I cannot be ashamed for my boast is Jesus Christ
My boast is Jesus Christ, forever my boast is Jesus Christ

CCLI Song # 7222132
Bryan Fowler | Keith Getty | Matt Boswell | Matt Papa
© 2023 Getty Music Hymns and Songs; Getty Music Publishing; Love Your Enemies Publishing; Messenger Hymns; Be Essential Songs; bryanfowlersongs
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License # 108183

Scripture Reading

Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

And while staying[a] with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Preaching the Word

The King is Ascended

Psalm 2

Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
    and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
    and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
    lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Closing Song

Oh Love of God, How Strong and True (TH#81)

1 O love of God, how strong and true!
eternal and yet ever new,
uncomprehended and unbought,
beyond all knowledge and all thought!
O love of God, how deep and great,
far deeper than man’s deepest hate;
self-fed, self-kindled like the light,
changeless, eternal, infinite.

2 O heav’nly love, how precious still,
in days of weariness and ill,
in nights of pain and helplessness,
to heal, to comfort, and to bless!
O wide-embracing, wondrous love!
We read you in the sky above,
we read you in the earth below,
in seas that swell, and streams that flow.

3 We read you best in him who came
to bear for us the cross of shame;
sent by the Father from on high,
our life to live, our death to die.
We read your pow’r to bless and save,
e’en in the darkness of the grave;
still more in resurrection light
we read the fulness of your might.

4 O love of God, our shield and stay
through all the perils of our way!
Eternal love, in you we rest,
forever safe, forever blest.
We will exalt you, God and King,
and we will ever praise your name;
we will extol you ev’ry day,
and evermore your praise proclaim.