Order of Worship
Welcome and Announcements
Meditation Passage
Psalm 33:20-22
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
* Apostolic Greeting
[Reserved for Ministers]
* God Calls His People to Worship
Psalm 46:4-7
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
* Invocation
God Commands His People:
Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
We Confess Our Faith
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.
Q. 59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.
Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
Confession of Sin
(Silent confession followed by corporate confession)
Almighty God, you rested on the seventh day of creation - the day of your royal enthronement. You sanctified that day, placing it before your people as a sign of perfect rest and communion to enter into with you. We thank you that the servant and Lord of the covenant, Jesus Christ, has entered that rest, being enthroned as Lord on the day of his resurrection. We rejoice that now, in Christ, the Lord's day is our special day of rest and communion with you. We confess that we have not sanctified this day properly. We have failed to give ourselves to worship, communion, and service on this day as we ought. We have failed to plan our week so that the Lord’s Day is our central priority and joy. Forgive us. Grant us hearts which burn to commune with you, and enable us to make great use of the Lord's Day unto your glory. Amen
Assurance of Pardon
Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
* We Praise God in Song
Doxology (#567)
God Speaks Through His Word - Acts 6:8-15
Sermon: Lord, Grant Your Servants To Speak With All Boldness
Speaker: Elder James Schwacofer
Congregational Prayer (Followed by the Lord's Prayer)
Our Father who is 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Closing Doxology
Psalm 72:18-19
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!