City Reformed PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Transcription

1 City Reformed PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Sunday Morning Service November 6, 2016

2 Welcome to City Reformed Presbyterian Church We are glad to have you join us for worship today. We expect that many people who are with us may not be familiar with the way our worship service is structured. We have attempted to explain as much as possible in the bulletin. More information is available on our website: What kind of Church is City Reformed? - We believe that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Its message centers on the good news ( gospel ) of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel compels us to engage the city around us, it calls us to renew our minds, it draws us together to be the family of God, and it directs our worship to the living God. - We are linked to the historic Protestant church ( Evangelical ) & to other Christians throughout the world. - We are a part of a denomination called the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). What happens on Sundays? May - August: Oakland location: (Lord s Supper on the 1st Sunday of the Month) 10:15 AM Worship Service (Children s Church for kids 4-7) 11:45 AM Food & fellowship September - April: Oakland location: (Lord s Supper on the 1st Sunday of the Month) 9:15 AM Worship Service 10:00 AM Christian Education (all ages) 10:45 AM Coffee & Fellowship 11:15 AM Worship Service (Children s Church for kids 4-7) 12:45 PM Food & Fellowship All year: Squirrel Hill location: (Lord s Supper on the 3rd Sunday of the Month) 6:30 PM Worship Service 8:00 PM Grill the Preacher Q&A, food and fellowship Are there programs for my children? May- August: Nursery for children infant- 4 is offered during the service. During the service children 4-7 have the option to be dismissed to attend Children s Church. September- April: Nursery for children infant-4 is offered during both services and Christian Education. We have a full Christian Education Program for children of all ages at 10:00 am. Families that go to the 9:15am service have the option to dismiss their children to attend Christian Education during the sermon. During the 11:15 service children 4-7 have the option to be dismissed to attend Children s Church. Please talk to an usher or greeter if you have any questions about the nursery. Where can I park my car? On Sunday mornings, the metered parking is free and there are usually many open spots on the street. How do I connect? We would love to get to know you! Please join us for a time of fellowship and refreshments after the worship services. If you would like to contact a pastor please rob@cityreformed.org. The best way to meet other members of our congregation is to visit one of our community groups (listed on page 9). The groups are always open for visitors, and brand new groups form throughout the year. Finally, be sure to stop by the welcome table for more information.

3 City Reformed Presbyterian Church Sunday Morning Worship November 6, 2016 She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. -Macbeth 1

4 Presider: (9:15) (11:15) Please stand for the call to worship if you are able. Call to Worship: Isaiah 40:9-15 Leader: Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; People: Lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Leader: Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. People: He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Leader: Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? People: Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Leader: Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? People: Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Worship Service Praise To The Lord Praise to the Lord, The Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him for He is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near; Praise Him in glad adoration. Praise to the Lord, Who o er all things so wondrously reigneth, Shelters thee under His wings, Yea, so gently sustaineth! Hast thou not seen How all your longings have been Granted in what He ordaineth? Praise to the Lord, Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee. Surely His goodness and Mercy here daily attend thee. Ponder anew What the Almighty can do If with His love He befriend thee. Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him! All that hath life and breath, Come now with praises before Him. Prayer of Invocation Let the Amen Sound from His people again, Gladly for aye we adore Him. 2

5 You Are My Strength You are my strength Strength like no other Strength like no other Reaches to me You are my hope Hope like no other Hope like no other Reaches to me In the fullness of Your grace In the power of Your Name You lift me up You lift me up Unfailing love Stronger than mountains Deeper than oceans Reaches to me Call to Confession: Hebrews 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Prayer of Confession: The Lord s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen. Your love, O Lord Reaches to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the sky You are my strength Strength like no other Strength like no other Reaches to me Silent Confession Assurance of Pardon: Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 3

6 Song of Renewal During this song we will pass offering bags through the congregation. We ask that our members and regular attendees will thoughtfully consider their contribution as an act of worship - a response to God s grace in our lives. Those who are not a regular part of our church are not expected to participate in the offering. What The Lord Had Done In Me Let the weak say I am strong Let the poor say I am rich Let the blind say I can see It s what the Lord has done in me Hosanna hosanna To the Lamb that was slain Hosanna hosanna Jesus died and rose again Into the river I will wade There my sins are washed away From the heaven s mercy stream Of the Savior s love for me I will rise from waters deep Into the saving arms of God I will sing salvation songs Jesus Christ has set me free (2x) Corporate & Pastoral Prayer *At this time, children ages 4-7 may be dismissed for children s church. The leaders will take the children to children s church and then back to the worship service after the sermon. Children s Song of the Month: On Jordan s Stormy Banks. Additional Scripture Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer s; he makes me tread on my high places. Haggai 2:4-7 Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Hebrews 11:39-12:2 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 1 Peter 2:11-12 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 4

7 Sermon Hebrews 12: For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. 27 This phrase, Yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shakenthat is, things that have been made- in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. We are Receiving an Unshakable Kingdom -Reverend Matt Koerber Additional Scriptures Revelation 21:1-2 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Creedal Response: Heidelberg Catechism Q.1 What is your only comfort in life and death? A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him. 5

8 Communion City Reformed Church invites all baptized Christians who are willing to forsake their sins and trust Christ alone for salvation, and who are members of congregations which proclaim the gospel, to receive Holy Communion with us. Parents with non-communing children are encouraged to bring their children forward during communion. The elders will lay a hand on their head and briefly pray for them as they serve you. Songs of Communion: Great Is Thy Faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; As thou hast been thou forever wilt be. Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see: All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! Communion will be served by elders to several people at a time at the front of the Church. When you are ready, please proceed up using the left aisle. At the ushers guidance, you may move forward to receive the elements as a group. Please return to your seat using the right aisle. Communion is served with wine and with grape juice. The wine is placed in the two outer circles of the communion tray, and the grape juice is placed in the inner circle. Because Jesus used wine during the first communion service, we believe using real wine is beneficial. However, participants are welcome to choose. There is also gluten-free bread available on each plate. Please join us in song as we celebrate Christ dwelling with his church in the sacrament of communion. 6

9 Psalm 24 - We Long To See You Almighty God, we long to see you. Open our hearts and make them pure. Spirit, we wash our hands in mercy. Come teach our souls to love your truth. We Will Feast In the House Of Zion We will feast in the house of Zion We will sing with our hearts restored He has done great things, we will say together We will feast and weep no more We will not be burned by the fire He is the Lord our God We are not consumed, by the flood Upheld, protected, gathered up Doxology Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ( song) Amen! Prayer Announcements *At the beginning of announcements parents are dismissed to get their children from nursery. Benediction In the dark of night, before the dawn My soul, be not afraid For the promised morning, oh how long? Oh God of Jacob, be my strength Every vow we ve broken and betrayed You are the Faithful one Starting from the garden to the grave Bind us together, bring shalom. 7