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Blacknall Worship from Home
May 31, 2020
Invocation
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
O Lord, all your works shall give thanks to you,
and all your saints shall bless you!
We shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
so that we might make known to all people your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature praise his name for ever and ever. Amen.
[From Psalm 145]
Song | O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!
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.
He speaks, and listening to His voice
New life the dead receive;
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice;
The humble poor believe.
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name!
Words by Charles Wesley, 1739. Music by Carl Glaser, 1828, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1839.
Scripture Reading | Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
Song | Spirit of Heaven
Spirit of Heaven, flood over me,
Forming Christ in all that I do.
Turn every sinful desire in me
Into holy passion for You.
Oh, Spirit of God, come down,
Let mercy and grace abound;
My passionate prayer shall be:
Christ in me.
Spirit of beauty and holiness,
Come refine with fire from above,
‘Til I am cast in Your righteousness,
And I love the things that You love.
Breathe Your forgiveness when darkness falls
And my heart is heavy with sin;
Fill me with faith for the higher cause
Of the ceaseless praise of the King.
Words and Music by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend. © 2007 Thankyou Music. CCLI #43066.
Call to Confession
The world has a word for people who pretend to be something they are not. “Posers.” Posers are those who are putting on poses of being better than they are. We are all posers. But we cannot “pose” before God. He knows us already and we cannot be forgiven as posers. God loves it when we come before him and let all our defenses down and cry out to him for mercy and grace. So, come, let us kneel in humble confession before our Lord.
Prayer of Confession
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen
Assurance of Pardon
Lord, we do confess before you our sin, our brokenness, our inability to hold things together and to get it right. We confess those things that we confess to you each week that we have done or that we have left undone. May they never become “normal” for me. We confess to you not only our personal sins, but our corporate sins—what we have done or left undone as a church, a city, a nation. May they never become “normal” for us; may they never feel comfortable. Lord, our passionate prayer is that you, Lord Jesus, might be in each one of us. Because of your mercy and grace we pray that your Holy Spirit might transform us from the inside out until every sinful desire is turned into a holy passion for you and we love the things that you love. We pray all of this because of your mercy and grace.
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 | 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
Children’s Worship
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Proclamation of the Word | Allan Poole
John 15:26-16:1, 16:7-13a
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
Song of Response | My Goal is God Himself
My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
‘Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His,
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there.
Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
‘Til God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.
No matter tho the way be sometimes dark,
No matter tho the cost be oft-times great.
He knoweth how I best should reach the mark.
The path that leads to Him, it must be straight.
One thing I know, that “no” I cannot say;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord.
My God, my glory here from day to day,
And in the glory there, my great reward.
Words by Frances Brook, 1896. Music by Mark Giacobbe, 1998. © 1998 Redeemer Music. CCLI #43066.
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 John and Karen Mulle Friesen serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Egypt, and Jennifer Hagin, Regional Director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Southwestern Virginia. Read their prayer requests here.
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Lord, you said to Job, “You will call, and I will answer you.” We call out to you now, as the nation responds to the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and as COVID cases continue to rise and claim yet more lives, and as our elected officials seem to refuse to work together. Lord, you see it all.
Lord Jesus, after you ascended, you gave the promised Holy Spirit, the One who leads us into all truth.
As you did with those first disciples, give us an increase of your grace so we may be courageous to speak love and truth together across these same barriers of language and culture. Give us an increase of your grace so we may be even quicker to listen when truth is spoken by the other.
Holy Spirit, build your church today. Show us our parts to play. As we live in the forgiveness of our sins, so help us to extend forgiveness in your name. Help us to follow you with hope, grace and humility.
Give answer as we pray: Lord, have mercy.
For our civic leaders, that they would use their authority to safeguard the well-being and dignity of all. Lord, have mercy.
For those who are sick and alone (especially ______________________), may they know your healing, comfort and care. Lord, have mercy.
For those who provide care (especially __________________), give them strength, courage, and rest. Lord, have mercy.
For those who are grieving (especially ____________________), may they lament and receive hope because of you. Lord, have mercy.
For the church, that our willingness to love others as neighbors would witness to your love and power in us. Lord, have mercy.
Let us pray as Jesus 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.
Do you have a prayer request? Submit your prayer here.
Benediction
Song | Spirit of Heaven
Oh, Spirit of God, come down,
Let mercy and grace abound;
My passionate prayer shall be:
Christ in me.