Week 3 of Church in the Public Square

Call to Worship

Dave Ricketts

Announcements (Me)

Women's Ministry Fall Kickoff - Guest Speaker Wendy Hagen will be joining us on August 28! Check out this personal invite from Wendy Hagen!

Fiesta Day August 18th - Next week we have

Staffing Announcement — As many of you know, we’ve been in a multi-year search for our next leader for Student Ministry. We are excited to announce that Daniel Bigelow will be joining us as our Next Generation Minister. Daniel and his wife Jaimie will be joining us next week, and you’ll have a chance to see them in person, and a chance to meet them!

Church Center App - Alan Koenigsberg (and Video)

Installation of Officers (Below)

Installation of Officers

What you have before you are Spiritual Leaders of our Congregation. These are men and women who are filled with the Holy Spirit, who are working to fulfill the ministry of Jesus in this place and throughout our community.

A. Ordination Vows

Do you reaffirm your personal faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

Do you believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures to be God's Word—fully inspired, infallible, and the supreme rule of faith and practice?

Do you sincerely accept the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as accurately representing Biblical doctrine?

Do you commit to informing the Church and its leadership if your views ever diverge from these doctrines?

Do you affirm the "Essentials of Our Faith" without exception?

Do you subscribe to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church's government and discipline?

Do you promise submission to your fellow leaders in the Lord?

Are you pursuing this ministry out of love for God and desire to glorify Him through the gospel?

Will you zealously promote gospel truth and church purity and peace, regardless of potential opposition?

B. Installation Vows

Will you faithfully fulfill all duties of a Ruling Elder/Deacon, personally and professionally, striving to live exemplary lives before the congregation?

Do you accept this call to serve as Ruling Elder/Deacon, relying on God's strength to fulfill the role's responsibilities?

Offering

As we prepare our hearts for a time of worship through giving, I wanted to show you a photo of a little girl named Etwale, or Etoile in French, that means star. She’s a bright and beautiful little girl that lives in the Congo and her life up to today and her future, is because of your generosity. Each week we ask you to give in faith, many of us unsure of where the dollars go, but this week I wanted to give you not just a name, but a face, of where the funds you give in worship to Jesus, of where they are really changing lives… and I hope you remember that each time we give we are asking the Lord to transform the lives of real people, like Etwale, who lives in the Congo.

I just want to say thank you for your generosity, and we know that every last cent belongs to the Lord, but I just wanted to say thank you — because I’ve seen where the money goes, and I know whose lives are being changed as a result of your faithfulness to worship Jesus with your finances. Let me pray and we’ll ask the Lord to keep changing lives.

Baptism

In baptism God promises by grace alone: to forgive our sins; to adopt us into the Body of Christ, the Church; to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse us; and to resurrect us to eternal life. This promise is made visible in the water of baptism. Water cleanses; purifies; refreshes; sustains: Jesus Christ is living water.

Through baptism Christ calls us to new obedience: to love and trust God completely; to forsake the evil of the world; and to live a new and holy life. Yet, when we fall into sin, we must not despair of God’s mercy, nor continue in sin, for baptism is the sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace with us. We present those before you for the sacrament of Baptism.

Trusting in the grace and mercy offered to you in Jesus, do you commit to turning from the ways of sin and evil in this world? I do.

‌Do you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and trust Him as Lord of your life? I do.

‌Do you commit to live in faith and obedience to God; letting the Holy Spirit guide, help and strengthen you as you follow Jesus in loving and serving others?  I do.

Congregation: Do you promise to love, encourage, and support God’s people by teaching the gospel of God’s love, by being an example of Christian faith and character, and by giving the strong support of God’s family in fellowship, prayer, and service? If so, say "We do."

We’re going to pray for these young men and then we’re going to let them go change before we head outside…

DAVE PRAYER

Hey… Before we head outside, I have some expectations around how we’re going to do Immersion Baptisms here at Moraga Valley.

Baptism is not a golf clap response.

There is nothing soft and delicate about death and resurrection. Baptism deserves an unhinged, raucous celebration.

Jesus says in Luke 15:10, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Let me give you a short idea of what that’s like. This is a clip from an Auburn vs Alabama game where Auburn returns a punt return for touchdown to beat one of the greatest football dynasties of all time, and the camera is trained on the band and the band directors. This is what I think heaven probably looks like when baptisms happen.

PLAY VIDEO

Let’s all go outside and celebrate life transformation. We’re going to baptize and then we’ll end our time together by the singing of the Doxology.