Scripture Reading of Praise Psalm 5
Pastor: Lift up your hearts!
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord!
Prayer of Invocation
Hymn (stand) “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” Trinity 268
Passage of Confession Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
Personal Silent Prayer of Confession (kneel)
Corporate Prayer of Confession (All Together):
Almighty and merciful God, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we should have done; and we have done those things which we should not have done. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare those who confess their faults. Restore those who are repentant, according to your promises declared to the world in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And grant, O merciful God, for his sake, that we may live a holy, just, and humble life to the glory of your holy name—Amen.
Assurance of Pardon (stand) Jeremiah 31:33-34
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Pastor: Our sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Hymn (stand) “Ah, Jesus Lord, Thy Love To Me” cantus 340-341
The Apostles’ Creed AD second Century
Pastor: Christian, what do you believe?
I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism AD 1646-47
Question 36: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification?
Answer: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance to the end.
Q 37: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves until the resurrection.
Q 38: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
Hymn (stand) “As the Hart About to Falter” Ps. 42 Cantus 76-77
The Reading of the Universal Word (stand)
Old Testament Deuteronomy 28:15-19
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
New Testament 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Pastoral Prayer (sit)
Concluding with The Lord’s Prayer (all together)
Preaching of the Word
“The Blessing of Abraham” Galatians 3:10-14
Hymn (stand) “Lead On, O King Eternal” Cantus 312
Typically, heads of household serve their own families, but this is not mandatory. See our note about Communion on the cover of this bulletin.
Gloria Patri (stand) Cantus 436
Benediction (stand)