Service Notes October 6th

Call to Worship: Hebrews 10:19-23 // Prayer

Adoration: Lord God, you are the Almighty One, the king of creation. Your goodness shines brightly in the beauty of what you’ve made, and how your sovereign hand sustains all of it—rain and sunshine, cold and heat, the strength of a horse, the delicate wing of a moth—all shine out with a small glimmer of your own beauty, glory, and infinite life. We praise you! Help us to see your glory more! And we praise you for your good promise, fulfilled in Jesus, who has opened for us the way into the holy of holies through his own flesh.

Confession: But since we come to you through Jesus, yet still unperfected, we come with sin to confess. Though we know that sin is unclean—that it is spiritual filth, born of spiritual rot and decay—yet we have still chosen it, and found it in our hearts, even this week. Even this morning. We have chosen the things that you hate, and neglected the things that you love and have commanded us to do. Father, forgive us, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet we confess these sins with confidence, because we never came to you on our own merit in the first place. We never entered the holy place by our own goodness, but we entered it based on the blood of your Son! And so we stand before you with humble confidence in this new and living way that your Son made by dying in our place. He took our sins, and has sprinkled us clean! You who promised are faithful, and you have done it. We are forgiven, and nothing can separate us from you.

Supp: And since you have made us into your people with such mercy, we ask that you also would empower us to serve one another: Father, help us to see when a brother or sister needs encouragement; when someone stops coming and needs to be encouraged back into fellowship; when someone is lonely or cast down, and needs mercy; when there are needs in the body you’ve gifted one to supply on behalf of others; and in all these things—in organic service within the body, and in official service of various kinds—please give us joy and love and humility and an attitude of worship, to serve out of love for one another and to glorify your worthy name // and we also ask for such attitudes of service among our brothers and sisters at Laural CC; and we ask that you would supply them with a long term teaching pastor to join their team of elders and shepherd faithfully for years to come, that you might bless them and be glorified in them // and we ask for those who’ve been devastated by Hurricane Helene—for your comfort and sovereign kindness for those who’ve lost homes, businesses, even loved ones; who are weary from the disruption of it all; and we ask for our brothers and sisters there, that the light of your love would shine through their courage, joy, and kindness to their neighbors; that all the carnage of the storm would disrupt human pride and be used by your Spirit to open hearts to your existence and your gospel, and that your people would be ready to speak it // and now, please give us your Spirit in great measure to hear your Word, and give every help to Arthur as he comes to preach it for us…

Announcements

Potluck after service!

Music conference recap:

Benediction

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 1:5b-6

Lord’s Table

[invite servers forward]

How do we fellowship with God?

God is infinite, transcendent, glorious, mysterious. And we are made of dust—creatures, limited. How can we even dare to think that we could fellowship with the Infinite One?

Because he gives us strength to do so through his Spirit who dwells in us. Through God’s Spirit, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and in this way we know what surpasses knowledge—the love of Christ.

And then, as we grow in this knowledge and faith, we are filled all the more with all the fullness of the Infinite One.

But hold on one second—what is this faith, and what is this knowledge, that causes such a wonderful and mysterious communion with God? It is the knowledge of the gospel. The love of Christ in the gospel.

It is the truth that he gave his body to be broken, and his blood to be poured out for us, so that we might be redeemed from sin and destined for glory. And this knowledge is exactly what we celebrate at the Lord’s Table—the bread, which is a symbol of his body, broken for us; the cup, which is a symbol of his blood poured out for us.

And so, as we behold these symbols by faith, the Spirit of God strengthens our hearts with the spiritual presence of Christ among us—our Redeemer King, whose love surpasses knowledge, and yet is know by us in this bread and cup, and in the Word of the Gospel.

Now, this means that if you are not a believer yet, or if you are a believer who hasn’t yet symbolized your faith by (believer’s) baptism, [we are so glad you are here] but you shouldn’t partake in the bread and the cup yet. Instead, you should watch, and think about what these things mean: that Jesus gave himself up to death, so that if you come to him, you also will find forgiveness and be restored to God.

But if you are a baptized believer, and are in good standing with your congregation—whether you’re part of Scholls, or part of a different gospel-preaching church—you should join us with joy, as we participate spiritually in Christ in this Supper.

[invite congregation to come forward]

‌‌[Passing out the bread + Cup]

‌‌‌‌1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 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.””

‌1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

‌‌1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

‌[prayer]