We Gather Together to Worship Our God
Prelude: St. Anthony Chorale/ Franz Joseph Haydn
Gathering Hymn: We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise/He Has Made Me Glad
Announcements:
Today:
- 10:30 Worship in the sanctuary.
This Week:
- 6:30 pm, Tuesday, Loving Him Well (Women’s Study) at the church.
- 4:30 pm, Wednesday, Music Practice.
- 5:00 pm, Wednesday, Son Light Puppeteer practice.
- 5:30 pm, Wednesday, Kids’ Quest for grades pre-k-4th and the Middle School Youth for grades 5th-7th begin. Meal provided.
- 6:15 pm, Wednesday, High School Youth Group at the Community Center for grades 8th-12th. Meal provided.
- 6:15 pm, Wednesday, “The Study of Eschatology”
- 6 am, Thursday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
- 8:45 am, Friday, MOPS meets at the church.
- 8 am, Saturday, Men’s Prayer-time and Bible Study.
General:
- Following worship, December 3rd, Congregational Meeting to review 2023 at Foothills and to ratify the 2024 budget.
- 5:30 pm, December 3rd, Young Adult Bible Study at Jay and Kayla’s. (Address in bulletin) Meal provided.
- 5:30 pm, December 10th, “Who Is the Holy Spirit?” community groups at the church. We will enjoy a fellowship potluck together and sing as a large group. Then we will break into smaller groups for study and prayer.
- 6:00 pm, December 10th, Piedmont Area “Who Is the Holy Spirit?” community group (address in bulletin).
- December 17th, Kids’ Quest Christmas Program.
- 6:00 pm, December 24th, Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.
- December 1st and 2nd, Love INC Christmas Tour of Homes. Tickets are $10 each and will admit you to tour six different decorated homes.
- Please take a Mercy Bag from the basket in the Foyer and bless a person who is in need. This bag includes toiletries, a McDonald’s gift card, and a Christian tract.
Responsive Call to Worship: Psalm 107: 21 – 22
Leader: Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
All: Let us offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Prayer of Adoration
Hymn of Praise: Hymnal #347 The Church’s One Foundation (verses 1,2,4,5,6)
We Confess Our Sin
Responsive Call to Confession: Adapted from Heidelberg Catechism 2
Leader: What must you know to live and die in the joy of belonging to Jesus?
All: Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
Leader: With a sure and certain confidence in God’s grace and Christ’s power to save us, keep us, and free us from our bondage to sin, let us go now to the Lord and confess our sin.
Silent Confession of Sin
Corporate Prayer of Confession:
All: Gracious God, in Jesus You have provided fully for our redemption, securing peace with You. And yet, at times we assume we’re on our own. Forgive us when we try to earn our own salvation. Forgive us when we try to change ourselves without Your help. Forgive us when we try to live apart from the Holy Spirit’s power and presence. Deepen our trust in Your ability to put sin to death. Renew our hope in Your resurrection power that equips us to walk in the newness of life! In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Responsive Assurance of Pardon: from Heidelberg Catechism 1
Leader: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
All: That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, 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 the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Hymn of Assurance: Hymnal #134 God Will Take Care of You
We Give Thanks To The Lord
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing/ Robert Robinson—his father died when he was young, and his mother, unable to control him, sent him to London to learn barbering. What he learned was drinking and gang-life. When he was 17, in 1753, he and his friends visited a fortune teller; relaxed by alcohol, they laughed as she tried to tell their fortunes. But something about the encounter bothered Robert, and that evening he suggested to his buddies that they attend the evangelistic meeting held by George Whitefield. Robert immediately sobered up and sensed that Whitefield was preaching directly to him.
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.
A Sacrifice of Love Romans 14: 12 – 15
A copy of the sermon notes is available: 11-26-23 sermon notes
Audio Only:
Hymn of Response: Songs of Faith #14 Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me
We Are Dismissed with God’s Blessing
Benediction
Hymn: Just A Closer Walk With Thee
Postlude: Come, Ye Thankful People, Come/George Elvey