October 29, 2017 Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost Ordinary Time

Transcription

1 October 29, 2017 Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost Ordinary Time This year we commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, commonly associated with Martin Luther nailing ninety-five theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, The movement unwittingly launched so long ago has ended up having enormous influence over the past five centuries. Politically, socially, economically, culturally, and in many other ways, the Reformation has helped to mold the world we live in today. But in the midst of recognizing the undeniably wide-ranging impact of the Reformation, we need to remember that it began with and was built on specifically religious concerns dealing with faith and practice. Among the many significant steps toward greater clarity in teaching and practice, five bold affirmations the five solas especially stand out as a synopsis of what the movement came to be all about. Sola gratia By grace alone Sola fide By faith alone Solus Christus Christ alone Sola scriptura Scripture alone Soli Deo Gloria To God alone (be) glory -- James R. Payton Reformed Worship, June 2017

2 GOD CALLS US Sola Gratia Grace Alone Gathering Song There is a Fountain

3

4

5 Welcome, Greeting and Announcements Call to Worship LEADER: Recognizing that our feverish endeavors cannot commend us to God, we rely on divine grace God s unmerited goodness toward us in His overarching, never-failing love for us in Christ. We rely and depend on God s grace for our righteousness in Christ, for daily provision, and for all the needs we have in life and in death. We have come to worship the God of all creation. Lift up your hearts! Prayer of Invocation Worship Singing We lift them up to the Lord! In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song; This Cornerstone, this solid Ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace, When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone! who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save: Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied For evr y sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain: Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory Sin s curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ. In Christ Alone Getty & Townend (2002)

6 No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me; From life s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I ll stand! No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I ll stand! Reception of New Members (8:30) Georgianna Bruns (11:00) Caleb Freeman GOD CLEANSES US Sola Fide Faith Alone Confession of Sin and Assurance of Pardon LEADER: We are not accepted by God because of any good works we have done or could do; we have no merits to offer as payment for the righteousness we need to come before Him. Lord, have mercy upon us. LEADER: That righteousness is received by faith alone, and we are justified by faith alone faith in the incarnate Son of God who lived, suffered, died, and rose again to achieve righteousness for us. Lord, have mercy upon us. LEADER: While that faith impels us to serve God as faithfully as we can to do good works nothing we do can win the righteousness we need to come before God. Jesus Christ has won that, and we receive it by faith alone. Lord, have mercy upon us. LEADER: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in t he last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

7 (11:00) Musical Offering: Adult Choir Be Still and Know McDonald (1984), text adapted from Psalm 46 Be still and know that I am God. I am your refuge and strength. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted upon the earth. Come and see the work of His hand, who made the dry land and fed the thirst of the sea. Come behold the work of His hand, the majesty of all creation. Be still and know that I am God. Alleluia! Be still and know that I am God. Worship Though Giving Nikita Norris & Regina Hunter GOD SPEAKS TO US Sola Scriptura Scripture Alone Sermon The Church 1 Peter 3:8-22 Chad Smith The Beautiful Life Sola Scriptura Scripture alone Scripture, the revealed and written Word of God, is the divine authority for our life and teaching. Everything else the ancient creeds, the faithful teaching of great Christian leaders from the early church carries less weight for us than God s Word. These lesser authorities are still superior to our private judgments, but they must be measured and normed by the ultimate norm: Scripture itself, which unfailingly and clearly proclaims God s unmerited love for us in Christ. To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For, THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. 11 HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. 12 FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.

8 13 Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. 18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. Celebration of the Lord s Supper GOD STRENGTHENS US Solus Christus Christ Alone Christ alone is our Savior. We do not rely on others to bring us to God. We need no mediator between God and us other than Jesus Christ. He is all our righteousness and our only hope. (8:30 BREAD) Musical Offering: Adult Choir Be Still and Know McDonald (1984), text adapted from Psalm 46 Be still and know that I am God. I am your refuge and strength. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted upon the earth. Come and see the work of His hand, who made the dry land and fed the thirst of the sea. Come behold the work of His hand, the majesty of all creation. Be still and know that I am God. Alleluia! Be still and know that I am God.

9 Abide with me; falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide. When other helpers, fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, abide with me. Thou on my head, in early youth didst smile; And, though rebellious, and perverse meanwhile, Thou hast not left me, though I oft left Thee, On to the close Lord, abide with me. I need Thy presence, every passing hour. What but Thy grace, can foil the tempter s power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless Ills have no weight, tears lose their bitterness Where is thy sting death? Where grave thy victory? I triumph still, abide with me. (CUP) Worship Singing Hold Thou Thy cross, before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks, and earth s vain shadows flee; In life, in death, Lord, abide with me. Abide with Me Henry Lyte Justin Smith (2007) Dismissal GOD SENDS US Soli Deo Gloria To God Alone (Be) Glory LEADER: Since God has made all things, controls them all, and in divine love sent His Son to become the Savior of all those who will believe through the power of the Holy Spirit, this glorious Triune God alone is the one to be praised and honored. Go forth, remembering who you are and to Whom you belong! Thanks be to God!