Ship and Tabernacle

- CALL TO WORSHIP -

Let us rise and worship the Triune God.

ADORATION

Minister: The Lord is risen! Congregation: He is risen indeed.

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 91:1–2 “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”” Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord!

PRAYER

O Lord our God, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, You alone are worthy of our worship, for you are the One, true and living God. There is no God besides You. You have life in Yourself. All things are from You, through You and for You. You do all Your will, and there is no one who can say to You, “Why have You done this?” Your purpose will be established, and You accomplish all Your good pleasure. We thank You for gathering us up out from the futile ways into which we were born to worship You. Almighty God, we worship you now through Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with You, and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end, and Amen.

HYMN

The God of Abraham Praise...............409 (vv. 1-4)

- CONFESSION -

Please sit.

EXHORTATION (Samuel Davidson)

Consider the insanity of a man who is stranded in the desert, wandering, half-fainting, stumbles upon a man carrying water and runs away from him, cursing and jeering at him. And yet, that is precisely what we do every time we push off reading the Bible and communing with God in prayer. The reality is that our sin has so blinded us that we fail to apprehend the desperation of our situation: How many cathedrals has Satan been able to destroy by ensuring that God’s people do not have the faith to conceive them in their minds and build them with their hands? The Christian life is abundant or nothing. It has to be. The Bible teaches that our lives are so tainted with sin, we live in such a dry desert that just a touch of water will not do. Deeper and wider than the extent of our great fall, God’s life giving Spirit must drench every square inch of our human existence. Can these dry bones live? Only by the Word and Spirit of God. So are you thirsty? Do not be content with just a little quiet time with Christ. He has promised that rivers of living water will flow out from you. Drink, drink till you are pouring out.

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins so let us prepare to do so as we sing..

PSALM

Why Do You Not Now Intervene?...................228p

CONFESSION OF SIN

So, as you are able please kneel in confession before God

Galatians 3:1–3 “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Heavenly father, we thank you for giving us water, this liquid metaphor that instructs us of our need for you. We cannot go three days without it. And we cannot go three moments without You. And yet for hours and days we go without thinking on You. You give us thirst, you give us trials to chastise us and remind us of our need for You. We are sorry for rejecting your love. Teach us to drink from You.

You have called Your church to truth in the inward parts, so we confess our individual sins to you now, Selah.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Please rise for the assurance of pardon! Galatians 3:13–14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Christian, you are filled with the Spirit of God. Thank your God, for...

Minister: Your sins are forgiven through Christ. Congregation: Thanks be to God!

CONFESSION OF FAITH

Having confessed our sins, let us now confess our common faith in the words of the apostles’ creed, saying, Minister: Christian, what do you believe? Congregation: I believe in God the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, Hisonly begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceivedby the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary.He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,died, and was buried. He descended into Hades.On the third day He rose again from the dead,ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right handof God the Father Almighty; from thence He willcome to judge the living and the dead. I believein the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, thecommunion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, theresurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Responsive Reading

Minister: The Lord is my shepherd; Congregation: I shall not want. Minister: He makes me lie down in green pastures: Congregation: He leads me beside the still waters. Amen.

HYMN

The God of Abraham Praise....................409 (vv. 5-8)

- CONSECRATION -

SCRIPTURE READING

(Tom Miller) Genesis 12:1-7, John 1:35-42 Reader: The Word of the Lord. Congregation: Thanks be to God!

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

(Tom Miller) Opening: John 15:4 Thanksgiving: John 15:5 Petitions: John 15:6-8

HYMN

Please stand. Ship and Tabernacle.....................Jared Longshore

SERMON

Zach Wilke

PRAYER

Ending with The Lord’s Prayer…

OFFERTORY

Please stand. He Which Soweth Sparingly.................................713

- COMMUNION -

Please sit.

MEDITATION

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

God has put water in this world to remind you of His life-giving Word. Even in the meal set before you rain from heaven came down and gave seed to the sower and now before you there is bread for the eater. All this was accomplished by the Word of God of which the rain is a type. So, also Christ came from Heaven and did not return there until He accomplished all that was written for Him to do. He lived a sinless life, died and rose again and made the earth bring forth and bud. We are the bread that God has produced by His Word. Believing in that Word and that Spirit, come and welcome to this meal. Come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Holy Father, we thank you that you succor us, mere clods in the ground. Water our hearts, who have heard your Word, that seed sown in weakness may be raised in power and abundant fruitfulness.

THE BREAD

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it:

The King of Love My Shepherd Is ........................… 44 And when Jesus had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

THE WINE

The God of Abraham Praise.................409 (vv. 9-12)

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

- COMMISSION -

Please stand.

CLOSING DOXOLOGY

The congregation may raise hands.

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work. Amen.