HELPFUL LINKS

Blacknall Worship from Home
November 15, 2020

Invocation

Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. You are our Rock and our Redeemer. You are our Cornerstone, our sure Foundation. We come to worship you and to confess together that our souls yearn, yea, even faint for the courts of the Lord. Our heart and our flesh cry out for you, the Living God. Speak to our hearts so that we might wholly lean on Jesus’ name. Amen.

Song | “The Solid Rock”

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.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found:
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Words by Edward Mote, 1834. Music by William Bradbury, 1863.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 84

How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.

Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Song | “I Shall Not Want” (duet -- listen as they pray)

From the love of my own comfort,
From the fear of having nothing,
From a life of worldly passions,
Deliver me, O God…

From the need to be understood,
From the need to be accepted,
From the fear of being lonely,
Deliver me, O God;
Deliver me, O God.

And I shall not want, I shall not want,
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want;
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.

From the fear of serving others,
From the fear of death or trial,
From the fear of humility,
Deliver me, O God;
Deliver me, O God.

And I shall not want, I shall not want,
|When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.

No, I shall not want, I shall not want,
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.
When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want.

Words and Music by Audrey Assad and Bryan Brown
© 2013 Audrey Assad Inc. CCLI # 43066

Call to Confession

What will we choose? Will we choose to live by fear and anxiety, constantly focusing on the ever-present threats around us? Or, will we live by faith, trusting in God’s promises? Why is it that even though we have Jesus and the Scriptures, we constantly doubt God’s goodness and trustworthiness? We kneel to confess our fear and faithlessness and to call out to our merciful God to deliver us. Come, let us kneel in confession before our God.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, in your mercy, deliver us. Deliver us from darkness and the futility of our thinking when we live in ignorance and fear of you. Deliver us from a commitment to comfort and pleasure that leads to every kind of impurity and to lives characterized by greed. Help us to put off the old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires that diminish us and never satisfy. In your mercy, renew our minds; help us to taste your goodness and to put on the new self that you have created to be like you in doing what is right and what is holy. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Friends, this is true: in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!

Passing the Peace

May the peace of the Lord be with you.

Response: And also with you

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

With Leslie Petree.

Children’s Worship

If you would like to receive the Children’s Worship video email, please contact Beth Solie.

Proclamation of the Word | Pastor Allan Poole

The sermon is provided above in video and audio format.

Ephesians 4:17-24
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Song of Response | “In Christ Alone”

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save;
When on the cross as Jesus died
“Forgive them Father,” our Lord cried
He faced our sin and broke its hold,
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

Presenting Our Gifts | Online Giving

You are invited to respond to God’s Word by giving to the mission God has called us to at Blacknall. Your financial giving includes support of Woody and Mary McLendon with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Kairos Prison Ministry, and Scott and Jenny Hawkins working on campus with International Students, Inc. Read their prayer requests here.

Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession

(As you pray the following petitions, you are encouraged to pause and lift to the Lord particular concerns or people or events. Read prayer requests from Blacknall members and ministry partners here.)

Lord, no power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck us from your hand. We thank you and praise you that we can live lives of confident assurance that we belong to you; that you are with us; that whatever circumstance comes our way, you “command our destiny.” Lord, help us to stand in the power of Christ.

Lord, we pray that you would help us to stand in the power of Christ against the fear and doubt that come when we suffer loss and grief. We pray for those who are grieving… [mention them by name]

We pray that you would help us to stand in the power of Christ against the fear and doubt that come when we suffer ill health. We pray for those who are sick… [mention them by name]

We pray that you would help us to lay aside everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Help us to run this race together. We pray for those who feel alone and that we might encourage one another to persevere.

We pray that you would help us to run with perseverance the race you have set before us and that we would not be entangled by greed. We pray for those who are poor that they would not be discouraged or overcome by envy. We pray for those who have great possessions that they would share what they have with those who have little or nothing and not be overcome by greed. May our material wealth be used to give glory to you, Lord.

We pray that our life together would reflect your righteousness and your holiness and your love and your grace. May we resemble our Lord Jesus in all that we do and say and even in how we pray. And so...

We pray as you taught us..

Our Father...

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.

Benediction

Song | “Salvation Belongs to Our God”

Salvation belongs to our God,
Who sits upon the throne,
And unto the Lamb....

Praise and Glory, Wisdom and Thanks,
Honor and Power and Strength
Be to our God forever and ever! (3x)
Amen!

And we the redeemed shall be strong
In purpose and unity,
Declaring aloud....