Welcome
Call to Worship
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
Psalm 24:9–10 (NKJV)
Hymn # 198 Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates!
1 Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates! Behold, the King of glory waits; the King of kings is drawing near, the Savior of the world is here.
2 A helper just he comes to thee, his chariot is humility, his kingly crown is holiness, his scepter, pity in distress.
3 O blest the land, the city blest, where Christ the Ruler is confessed! O happy hearts and happy homes to whom this King in triumph comes!
4 Fling wide the portals of your heart; make it a temple, set apart from earthly use for heav'n's employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy.
5 Redeemer, come! I open wide my heart to thee; here, Lord, abide! Let me thy inner presence feel; thy grace and love in me reveal.
6 So come, my Sovereign, enter in! Let new and nobler life begin! Thy Holy Spirit, guide us on, until the glorious crown be won.
Call To Confession
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:9–14 (NKJV):
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You that You may be feared.
Psalm 130:1–4 (NKJV)
Confession of Sins
Let us, therefore, confess our sin, saying together:
Merciful Heavenly Father, pardon us our many sins; the sins we know and the sins hidden from our conscience. Cleanse us from wrong motives and forgive us for feeble obedience. By your Spirit renew our hearts to love you, our minds to know you, and our wills to obey you. For we ask this mercy in the name of your Son who shed his blood for us. Amen.
Word of Assurance
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Romans 5:8–9 (NKJV)
Song of Renewal
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.
On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
Trinity Hymnal # 521, stanza 1
Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 59:1–21 (NKJV):
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6 Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the Lord.
21 “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
Sermon
Hymn # 197 Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
1 Comfort, comfort ye my people, speak ye peace, thus saith our God; comfort those who sit in darkness, mourning 'neath their sorrow's load. Speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them; tell her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over.
2 Yea, her sins our God will pardon, blotting out each dark misdeed; all that well deserved his anger he no more will see or heed. She hath suffered many a day now her griefs have passed away; God will change her pining sadness into ever-springing gladness.
3 For the herald's voice is crying in the desert far and near, bidding all men to repentance, since the kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way; let the valleys rise to meet him, and the hills bow down to greet him.
4 Make ye straight what long was crooked, make the rougher places plain; let your hearts be true and humble, as befits his holy reign. For the glory of the Lord now o'er earth is shed abroad; and all flesh shall see the token, that his word is never broken.
Prayer of the Church and 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, and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Hymn # 196 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
1 Come, thou long expected Jesus, Born to set thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth thou art; Dear Desire of ev’ry nation, Joy of every longing heart.
2 Joy to those who long to see thee Day-spring from on high, appear. Come, thou promised Rod of Jesse, Of thy birth, we long to hear! O’er the hills the angels singing news,
glad tidings of a birth; “Go to Him your praises bringing Christ the Lord has come to earth!”
3 Come to earth to taste our sadness, He whose glories knew no end. By his life he brings us gladness, Our redeemer, Shepherd, Friend. Leaving riches without number, Born within a cattle stall; This the everlasting wonder, Christ was born the Lord of all.
4 Born thy people to deliver, Born a child, and yet a king, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone; By thine all-sufficient merit Raise us to thy glorious throne.
Benediction
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