Order of Worship
Welcome and Announcements
Meditation Passage
Joshua 24:14-15
Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
* Apostolic Greeting
Reserved for Ministers
* God Calls His People to Worship
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
* Invocation
God Commands His People:
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
We Confess Our Faith
(560) The Apostles’ Creed
Confession of Sin
(Silent confession followed by corporate confession)
Gracious and merciful Father, far too often we have failed to bend our knees to you in prayer. Forgive us for doubting your goodness and generosity. Forgive us for our sins of self-reliance. Convince our doubting hearts that you truly hear prayer and answer it according to our true needs as we ask, seek, and knock. Teach us to ask, first and foremost, for the things which we know you desire in our lives: our greater conformity to Christ, our mortification of sin, your provision for our church and families, and the salvation of the lost. Grant us all these things in your good pleasure, and do them for your namesake and glory. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hebrews 10:10-14
"But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."
* We Praise God in Song
Doxology (#567)
God Speaks Through His Word - Acts 1:15-26
Sermon: The Waiting Church, Pt2
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!