LITURGY & SERMON
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Blacknall Online Worship
March 22, 2020
Invocation
“I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’
Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem!” (Psalm 122:1-2)
Though our congregation is separated right now, we are Your people, Lord,
and we hear Your invitation to come to Your house to worship.
Jesus said, “Where 2 or 3 gather in My name, I am there with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
In a way, our house becomes Your house as we worship;
though separated, we are united.
We greet you this day with thanksgiving, Lord,
grateful for Your presence, provision, and providence. Amen.
“We Were Made”
Lord, You’ve called Your people, purchased by Your blood,
To gather in Your presence and become as one;
Bind our hearts together in an offering of praise;
Magnify our love for You with the songs we raise.
We were made to worship You, to glorify Your name.
We were made to honor You and with our lives proclaim
Your love to all the world, a witness to Your grace;
We were made to give You praise!
Dead in our transgressions and captive to our sin,
Until by grace You saved us, we’re raised to life again!
We are Your creation, not because of what we’ve done:
Your love alone transforms us to the image of Your Son.
Words and Music by Bill Schaefer. Written for Blacknall.
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:25-31
“To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
“My Soul Finds Rest”
My soul finds rest in God alone, my Rock and my salvation;
A fortress strong against my foes, and I will not be shaken.
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse,
And lies like arrows pierce me,
I’ll fix my heart on righteousness, I’ll look to Him who hears me.
O praise Him, hallelujah, my delight and my reward!
Everlasting, never failing, my Redeemer, my God.
My soul finds rest in God alone, amid the world’s temptations;
When evil seeks to take a hold, I’ll cling to my salvation.
Though riches come and riches go, don’t set your heart upon them;
The fields of hope in which I sow are harvested in heaven.
I’ll set my gaze on God alone and trust in Him completely;
With every day pour out my soul, and He will prove His mercy.
Though life is but a fleeting breath, a sigh too brief to measure,
My King has crushed the curse of death, and I am His forever.
Words and Music by Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townend.
© 2007 Thankyou Music. CCLI #43066.
Prayers of Confession
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence, or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”
(from Psalm 51)
As the psalmist said, our hearts need to be cleaned, Lord, and our spirits need to be aligned with Your Spirit.
Cleanse us, forgive us, we pray, and fill us with the joy of Your salvation.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, it is true!
God has not cast us away – in Christ, we have been gathered together
and adopted as sons and daughters.
In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven – thanks be to God!
Passing the Peace
Affirmation of Faith: Apostles Creed
We 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; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. We 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.
Children’s Blessing
1 Corinthians 13:4-5:
Love is… patient
Love is kind
It does NOT envy
It does NOT boast
It is NOT proud
It does NOT dishonor others
Proclamation of the Word: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 David Dunderdale
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you,
and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you
to show which of you have God’s approval.
20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers.
As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in?
Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?
What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:
The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
“This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined
so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home,
so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
Song of Response: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down,
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, all Thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.
Come, almighty to deliver, let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return, and never, nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, glory in Thy perfect love.
Finish then Thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee:
Changed from glory into glory, ‘til in heaven we take our place,
‘Til we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Words by Charles Wesley, 1747. Tune “Hyfrydol.”
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Let us lift up our eyes, wherever we are. Let us lift up our hearts.
LORD everlasting: You do not grow weary.
Some of us are anxious, some of us are exhausted.
In just two weeks, Lord, we have become acutely aware of our vulnerabilities.
Let this turn us toward You.
You tell us to cast our anxieties on You because You care for us.
Not for one second have You lost track of anyone.
You have Your eye on every creature You have made.
You see the suffering and You see the acts of courage and beauty.
You are not overwhelmed.
You energize those who get tired, and give fresh strength to those of us who want to throw up our hands.
Open us up to creative possibilities.
You ask us to love You with our whole heart, mind, strength and to love others that way.
Help us today in this season of physical limits, to respect and love one another enough to abide by those limits.
We pray Lord that people will act to suppress the spread of the disease.
We pray for all leaders – in government, in the medical world, in the church, business and education –
that they'd make wise decisions for the good of all.
We ask for healing for those affected by this disease.
We pray for our health workers and systems, that You renew them and give them strength.
We pray for caregivers of all sorts – for courage, patience and love.
We pray for the many people who are suddenly out of work.
As You bring to mind those people who serve us, help us to respond to them with generosity and compassion.
Bring to mind those in our sphere who are most vulnerable:
neighbors, family members, acquaintances, and strangers we see on the streets.
Give us courage to reach out across divides to offer friendship in Your name.
Pray for those who are separated from family members.
We think of our friends from China and all those who long to return home but who cannot.
Remind us of the beauty we can find in those places of limitation.
Give us courage to try new ways of connecting with others.
Everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in Jesus.
Help us Lord, to desire and choose whatever leads us into deeper friendship with You.
We pray for specific people who need Your comfort and care.
We pray for those who are grieving, that You would meet them in many ways.
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 and ever.
Amen.
“He Who Watches Over You”
He who watches over you will never slumber nor sleep;
He who watches over you will never slumber nor sleep.
O My child, lay your burdens down, lay them at My feet.
He who watches over you will never slumber nor sleep.