We Gather Together to Worship Our God
Gathering Hymn: Hosanna (children verse 1, All verse 2)
Today:
- 9 am, Sunday School for all ages. Preschool-7th meets downstairs, High School meets in the Fireside Room, and the Adult class is in the Sanctuary (No Sunday School on April 9th)
- 9 am, New Members Class (will not meet April 9th)
- 10:30 Worship in the sanctuary.
- Following worship, Love and Respect Group. Childcare and lunch (pizza, salad, and dessert) are provided.
This Week:
- 6:00 pm, Monday, Deacon meeting.
- 6:30 pm, Tuesday, Mercy Ministry Team meeting.
- 4:30 pm, Wednesday, Worship Team Practice
- 5:00 pm, Wednesday, Sonlight Puppeteer practice.
- 5:30 pm, Wednesday, Kids’ Quest for pre-k—7th grade. Meal provided.
- 5:30 pm, Wednesday, J-Curve Study for the adults at the church. Meal provided. See Ron B. for more information.
- 5:30 pm, Wednesdays, New Members’ class for the middle and high schoolers.
- 6:15 pm, Wednesday, High School Youth Group at the Community Center.
- 6 am Thursday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
- 7:00 pm, Friday, Good Friday service.
- 8 am Saturday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
General:
- There will be no Sunday School on April 9th.
- There will be no nursery, Toddlers Church, or Children’s Church on April 9th.
- 6:00 pm, April 10th, Session Meeting.
- 6:00 pm, April 14th, Men’s Family Shepherd Evening. Plan to join for another great time of food, fellowship, and study.
- 5:30 pm, April 16th, Community Groups meet at the church. Fellowship meal, hymn sing, and then will break off into groups for prayer and study.
- 5:30 pm, April 16th, Young Adult Bible Study at Jay and Kayla’s. (Address in bulletin) Meal provided.
- April 23rd, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
- 5:30 pm, April 23rd, Kids’ Quest Program.
- 6:30 pm, April 29th, Women’s Clothing Swap.
- 9am-12, June 5-8, Vacation Bible School. There are limited spots this year so please make sure to pre-register. Volunteers and Participants may register online by scanning the QR Code in the bulletin.
- Mercy Bags are available in the Foyer and you are encouraged to take one or two to give to someone in need. A Mercy Bag is part of our FCC outreach ministry. It consists of a quart-sized bag filled with toiletry items, water, food, and a Gospel tract.
- Days 92-121 of the Family Devotional are available.
Responsive Call to Worship: Psalm 24: 7 – 9
Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
All: Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Prayer of Adoration
Hymn of Praise: Praise to the King Medley
Responsive Reading: Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21: 7 – 9
Leader: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
All: They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Leader: The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
All: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Hymn of Praise: Hymnal #295 Crown Him With Many Crowns
We Confess Our Sin
Responsive Prayer of Confession: I Have Betrayed (With selected passages from Psalm 51)
Leader: Lord, I have betrayed you by following my own way.
All: I have denied you by fearing to follow yours.
Leader: And I have mocked you by not taking your death seriously.
All: Lord, I am lost. Let your forgiveness find me.
Leader: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
All: Wash away all my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, and give me your new life.
Leader: Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
All: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Leader: Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
All: Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Silent Confession of Sin
Responsive Assurance of Pardon: Isaiah 53:1 – 5
Leader: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
All: Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Leader: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Hymn of Assurance: Hymnal #455 (verses 1,3,4,5) And Can It Be?
We Give Thanks To The Lord
Responsive Reading: Ephesians 1: 3 – 6
Leader: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
All: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory Special: Jerusalem
Doxology
We Hear God Speak
Small Talk
(Following this time, a nursery is available, Toddlers’ Church for ages 2-4, and Children’s Church for ages 5-8.)
Prayer of God’s People
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who 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, The power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
The Unchanging Nature of God’s Purpose Romans 11: 23 – 29
A copy of the sermon notes is available: 4-2-23 Sermon notes
Audio Only:
Hymn of Response: Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go
We Are Dismissed with God’s Blessing
Benediction
We Will Glorify