ORDER OF WORSHIP March 13, 2016 Fifth Sunday in Lent *Congregation Stands (If you prefer, It is acceptable to remain seated.) Welcome to Knox Presbyterian Church! Please sign and pass the Friendship Book ( pew pad ) if you have not already done so. Our prayer is that you will experience the presence of the eternal, as we worship our God together. We invite you to take the time during the prelude to focus your heart and mind in worship. WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS Tom Tiffany PRELUDE A Lenten Meditation Organ (There is a Fountain Filled with Blood) John M. Rasley Tom Tiffany As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:1, 5 (NIV) CALL TO WORSHIP INVOCATION Pastor Don Meekhof *SONG OF WORSHIP: THE SOLID ROCK (Hymn #517) (VERSE 1) My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. (REFRAIN) On Christ the solid Rock I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand. (VERSE 2) When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil. (VERSE 3) His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way he then is all my hope and stay. (VERSE 4) When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. SCRIPTURE READING Ruby Bostrom 1 Come, let us return to the Lord. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth. 6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6: 1a,3,6 (NIV) ANTHEM Let Us Return to the Lord Choir Marty Haugen
TIME OF PRAYER Sam Palpant Reprinted by permission from Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. 2012. Call to Confession If we ask God to restore us to the way we have been, then we have not asked for as much as God intends to give. God is not content simply to return or restore us to former things. Instead, God seeks to give the gift of resurrection a new and abundant life. With confidence in God s generosity, we confess our sins and seek the new life offered in Jesus Christ. Prayer of Confession Purifying God, we grow comfortable with the way things are in our lives, in the church, and in the world. We do not always welcome the new life you offer in Christ, for you overturn our notions of power and protocol. Sure of our own righteousness, we are critical of others. Wanting to control our assets, we hoard the gifts you give us. Forgive us, we pray, for seeking our gain at the expense of others. Help us bend our lives toward your own life of selfgiving and sacrifice. Fill us, our homes and churches, the whole world, with the abundant love of Christ until all are made new. In Christ s name, we pray. Amen. [Silent Prayer] Declaration of Forgiveness The apostle Paul reminds us that we do not make ourselves righteous.
Our righteousness comes through faith in Christ, who has made us his own. Hear the good news! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. The old life has passed away and a new life has begun. Forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward to what lies ahead, we press on toward the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Reprinted by permission from Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. 2012. SONG OF WORSHIP: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS (Hymn #60) (VERSE 1) 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 has been Thou forever wilt be. (CHORUS) 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! (VERSE 2) Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above. Join with all nature in manifold witness, to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. (REPEAT CHORUS) (VERSE 3) Pardon for sin and peace that endureth, thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! (REPEAT CHORUS) PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Rev. Don Meekhof
OFFERING OF OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS: *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. Amen. Prayer of Thanksgiving / Dedication Judy Palpant Triune God, through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, you bring hope to the despairing, healing to the sick, and release from bondage to all who are oppressed by sin and evil. Through baptism into Christ, you cover us with your love. We thank you that in that flood you wash away all that separates us from you and one another. We thank you that in this new life we are set free to proclaim good news to others. Direct our gifts to fulfill your purpose as we await the time when all creation is one in your love, by the grace of Jesus Christ and the community of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Reprinted by permission from Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. 2013 Bringing our gifts and / or lighting a candle Please feel free to go to either the front or the rear of the sanctuary. At this time the children are excused to attend Junior Chapel. Offertory Largo from Xerxes Piano/Organ G.F. Handel duet SCRIPTURE READINGS Faith McCallum Psalm 73:1 17, 27 28 (NIV)
1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. 7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. 8 They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. 9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. 10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. 11 They say, How would God know? Does the Most High know anything? 12 This is what the wicked are like always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments. 15 If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply 17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Romans 5:1 5 (NIV) 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. MESSAGE Rev. Don Meekhof Why Doesn t God Do Something About Evil? Sermon text: But when I thought how to understand this (evil), it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Psalm 73:16-17 (NRSV) *SONG OF WORSHIP: AT THE CROSS (Hymn #512) (VERSE 1) Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for sinners such as I? (REFRAIN) At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away (rolled away) it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day! (VERSE 2) Was it for crimes that I have done, he groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree! (VERSE 3) Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut its glories in, when Christ, the mighty Maker, died for his own creature s sin. (VERSE 4) Thus might I hide my blushing face, when his dear cross appears, dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt my eyes to tears. (VERSE 5) But drops of grief can ne er repay the debt of love I owe; here, Lord, I give myself away tis all that I can do! BENEDICTION Rev. Don Meekhof POSTLUDE Chorale Organ Gordon Young * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Team Meetings are today! Please join us in the Fellowship Hall as we plan our Shared Ministry. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In the pulpit today: Don Meekhof is our Temporary Stated Supply pastor. Those words in quotes are the official title given by Presbytery because with Shared Ministry there is no full-time pastor. However, Don most definitely has a fulltime love for shepherding the flock of Christ and we are blessed to have him with us!