The First Baptist Evangel

Transcription

1 The First Baptist Evangel April 2, 2017 Lent First Baptist Church of West Point is seeking to be a caring community of faith under the leadership of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Celebrating the presence and love of God in Worship, Nourishing persons in faith and discipleship, and Reaching Out to the community with Christ s unconditional Love.

2 Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, 2001, 2006 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Unless otherwise stated.) CCLI #

3 Welcome We welcome you to worship at First Baptist this morning. Please help us be more faithful in our ministry to you, and get to know you better, by taking the time to put your name on the attendance pad found on your pew. Visitors, please feel free to leave as little or as much of the information requested on the pad. We promise to only contact you if you ask us to, and to only send information as you request. Members, if you have had a change to your mailing address, , or telephone number please let us know by supplying that information on the pad. Please Especially Note for Today Sign up sheets for Easter Sunday are located in the Café, Gold Room, and Adult Sunday School class. The following are areas where volunteers will be needed: volunteers to bring breakfast foods, volunteers to be on hand in the Café after worship to assist visitors, people to assist with parking and directions, and door greeters. Joyful Noise and Adult Handbells will not practice this afternoon. The $5 Challenge has been given to us by the Finance Committee and Deacons. This is a great opportunity to revisit our individual levels of giving and strive to increase our monthly contributions. Can you give $5 more? Can you give $10 more? Mark your calendars for our annual Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Each service will start at 6:00 PM at FBC on Thursday and West Point Presbyterian on Friday. Start Your New Beginning bumper stickers, yard signs, and personal invitation cards are still available in the Café, vestibule, and Sunday School rooms. Get yours today! Deacons Meeting will be moved back one week to April 9 th rather than meeting on Easter Sunday. We will meet in the library at 11:30 after Sunday School.

4 Ministry Leaders Weekly Schedule of Activities Nursery Workers Today: Stephanie McLain Next Sunday: Ann Adams April 16: Karen Hill PEW Ministry Leaders Today: Ann Kerr & Janice Dallas Next Sunday: Lisa Tucker & Faith Graben April 16: Phoebe Graben & Suzanne Bryan Offertory Prayer Leader Today: Joe Downs Next Sunday: Linda Combs April 16: Ann Adams Sunday, April 2 nd 9:30 Worship 10:45 Sunday School Wednesday, April 5 th 10:00 Prayer at the Scannell s home 5:30 Prayer in the Gold Room Choir Practice 6:15 Family Night Supper Menu: Chicken Casserole 6:45 TeamKID Youth 4/12 Friday, April 7 th 7:00 Morning prayer in the Gold Room Sunday, April 9 th 9:30 Worship 10:45 Sunday School 11:30 Deacons Meeting 4:00 Joyful Noise practice 4:45 Adult Handbell practice Ann Adams is responsible for the opening and closing of the church during the month of April followed by George Hester in May. 2

5 They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 3

6 Celebrating the Presence and Love of God in Worship April 2, 2017 Fifth Sunday of Lent 9:30 AM PRELUDE THE CHIMING OF THE HOUR RANDALL SMITH HANDBELLS PREPARING FOR WORSHIP For your meditation: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Exodus 19:4 ENTERING INTO GOD S PRESENCE CALL TO WORSHIP Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. SONG OF PRAISE Jesus Messiah He became sin, who knew no sin That we might become His righteousness He humbled himself and carried the cross Love so amazing, love so amazing Jesus Messiah, name above all names Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven Jesus Messiah, Lord of all His body the bread, his blood the wine Broken and poured out all for love The whole earth trembled, and the veil was torn Love so amazing, love so amazing, yeah Jesus Messiah, name above all names Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven Psalm 95:6-7 TOMLIN 4

7 Jesus Messiah, Lord of all All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You All the glory to You, God, the light of the world Jesus Messiah, name above all names Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven Jesus Messiah, Lord of all INVOCATION TOM TUCKER GREETING THE ASSEMBLY OF THE SAINTS Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3 5 The Lord be with you. And also with you. HYMN OF PRAISE (#43) TERRA PATRIS This Is My Father s World PSALM FRANCES REEVES Psalm 55 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A MASKIL OF DAVID. 1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 3 because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah 5

8 8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest. 9 Destroy, O LORD, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace. 12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me then I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. 14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God s house we walked in the throng. 15 Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. 16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. 17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. 18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. 19 God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, because they do not change and do not fear God. 20 My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. 21 His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Selah 6

9 22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. 23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. PRAYER OF CONFESSION TOM TUCKER ASSURANCE OF PARDON TOM TUCKER For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8 9 GOD S WILL FOR OUR LIVES For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 OFFERTORY HYMN (#15) NETTLETON Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing OFFERTORY PRAYER OFFERTORY Written in Red JOE DOWNS FBC CHOIR OFFERTORY RESPONSE Doxology OLD 100 TH Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. (Children ages 3-5 may leave for PEW Ministry during this hymn.) GOD S WORD PROCLAIMED PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION TOM TUCKER 7

10 8 THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Deuteronomy 32: When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the LORD s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, 12 the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. 14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. THE EPISTLE LESSON JOE DOWNS JOE DOWNS Revelation 12: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the

11 word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! 13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. THE GOSPEL LESSON TOM TUCKER John 6: Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 34 They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. 35 Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. SERMON A Place in the Wilderness MEDITATION ON THE WORD PROCLAIMED TOM TUCKER 9

12 AFFIRMATION OF FAITH CONGREGATION During his whole life on earth, but especially at the end, Christ sustained in body and soul the anger of God against the sin of the whole human race. This he did in order that, by his suffering as the only atoning sacrifice, he might set us free, body and soul, from eternal condemnation, and gain for us God s grace, righteousness, and eternal life. Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 37 HYMN OF RESPONSE (#61) BRADBURY DEPARTING TO SERVE Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISCIPLESHIP AND REACHING OUT Join us for Family Night activities on Wednesday night. Make phone calls, send s, handout or mail invites to our Easter service. THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS CONGREGATION Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. THE CHARGE TOM TUCKER Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 BENEDICTION TOM TUCKER The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14 POSTLUDE RANDALL SMITH The pastor is available after the service at the front of the sanctuary for anyone who would like to talk more about today s message, learn about faith in Christ, or for prayer. You may also make an appointment by calling the church office at or ing him directly at tucker@fbcwestpoint.com. 10

13 It is 2 weeks to Easter. That is 14 days to pray, invite, and get ready for a Sunday of more guests than ever. What things can you be doing this week to get ready and be a part of this important work in our church? Pray! Pray for those receiving postcards and starting praying for our Easter service itself. Be putting the personal invitation cards and blank postcards in people s hands. Pick up some of the personal invite cards and blank postcards. Hand these to people you see, mail them with personal notes to those you are inviting, leave some at businesses you frequent. Where are you going to serve on Easter morning? What are you doing to help get the church ready? Look for a sign-up sheet this morning! This Easter is going to be the most important, transformative day in the life of someone in our community. We are going to be the conduit of that divine action! MEMORIALS AND GIFTS In Memory of Sue Graben By: Linda Combs 11

14 Nourishing Persons in Faith and Discipleship Caring for One Another As you intercede for others this week please lift up these particular concerns from here in our own congregation. Mildred Shaver William & Margaret Breedlove Jessica Bolton Margaret Bartlett Pal & Lillian Barber Charles & Mary Clark Richard & Pat Kemp George Hester Justin Graben Roger Hales Wilmer Simpson Jackie Jones Vi Hudmon Paul Fiquette Gladys Hester Howard & Suzanne Bryan Johnie Johnson Jeri Smith Family of Beverly Boehm The Graben Family Prayer for the Week Heavenly Father, give us hospitality for this season of guests; give us strength to prepare our house of worship for this Easter; and give us endurance to see this mission to completion. Reaching Out with Christ s Unconditional Love It s not too late to get your Start Your New Beginning bumper stickers, yard signs, and invitation cards. They are still available in the Sunday School rooms, Café, and vestibule. Be sure to get some and put them to use right away. 12

15 , The Bulletin Board April Happenings April 9th Deacons Meeting April 13th Maundy Thursday at FBC April 14th Good Friday at WPPC April 15th Sonrise Celebration April 16th EASTER April Birthdays 3 Brian Cowart 4 Leianne Cowart 8 Mildred Shaver 9 Joe Thompson 9 Rev. Byron McEachern Join us on Saturday, April 15th for our Sonrise Celebration 9:00 AM Retelling the Easter story, breakfast, crafts and egg hunt 17 Hunter Cauthen 17 Lauren McLane 18 Justin Graben 20 Jane Abercrombie 21 Emily Downs Davis 22 Elliott Peek 23 Dale Frazer 13

16 Church Staff Dr. Thomas J. Tucker, Pastor Mr. Howard Bryan, Director of Music Mrs. Patti Scalf, Church Secretary Mrs. Jane Abercrombie, Financial Secretary Mr. Randall Smith, Church Accompanist P.O. Box E 8 th Street West Point, GA 31833