The Order of Worship – April 6, 2025
This is the 96th Day of 2024.
There are 269 days remaining in 2024.
Filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are a people of prayer
committed to love one another
and equipped to share Christ’s love throughout the world.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Prelude:
Welcome & Announcements:
This month’s mission focus is the recent storm victims
Bible Study is at afaithtalk.com
No Five Loaves tonight, returns next Sunday
Call to Worship: Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Responsive Reading: Psalm 126
God does great things for us
1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
Praise The Lord
Opening Hymn: O For a Thousand Tongues…#57 (G)
Verse 1
O for a thousand tongues to sing my
great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and king,
the triumphs of his grace!
Verse 2
My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name.
Verse 3
Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease;
’tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’tis life and health, and peace.
Verse 4
He breaks the power of canceled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.
Affirmation of Faith:
The Apostle’s Creed..No. 881
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri…Page 70
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
Praise Song: The Wonderful Cross (D)
Verse 1
When I survey the wondrous Cross
on which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
and pour contempt on all my pride
Verse 2
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’re such love and sorrow meet
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Chorus
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name
Verse 3
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life, my all.
Chorus
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
Love so amazing, so divine demands my soul, my life, my all.
Pastoral Prayer
Contact us here to add your concern to our prayer list.
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Anthem: Give Me Jesus
Offertory
Doxology:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen
Children’s Moment
Children’s Song (Raise a Hallelujah)
Verse 1
I raise a hallelujah
In the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah
Louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah
My weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah
Heaven comes to fight for me
Chorus
I’m gonna sing in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive
Verse 2
I raise a hallelujah
With everything inside of me
I raise a hallelujah
I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a hallelujah
In the middle of the mystery
I raise a hallelujah
Fear, you lost your hold on me
Chorus
I’m gonna sing in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah
I raise a hallelujah
Prayer for Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
The Lord gives water in the wilderness
16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God
Gospel Reading: John 12:1-8
Mary anoints Jesus for his burial
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.
3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God
Sermon Text: Philippians 3:4b-14
To know Christ and his resurrection
4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Leader: This is The Word of God for the people of God
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon: “I Press On”
Closing Hymn: More Love to Thee…453 (Ab)
Verse 1
More love to thee, O Christ,
More love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Verse 4
Then shall my latest breath
whisper thy praise;
this be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
this still its prayer shall be;
More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
Filled Up and Poured Out
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