♫ 2025-09-14 St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

Please Stand for the Word of God

Welcome -

Facing the people, the leader greets them in the Lord's name. The Greeting should be explicitly Christian, declaring that the Lord is present and empowers our worship.

Scripture Reading

• Hebrews 10:24-25 – “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works… not neglecting to meet together…”

• Romans 15:7 – “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We gather in Your presence with grateful hearts and open spirits.

Thank You for the gift of this day and the privilege of worshiping together.

We lay aside the distractions of the week and fix our eyes on You— our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Let Your Spirit move freely among us.Speak to us through Your Word, stir us through song, and unite us in prayer.

May every heart be softened, every burden lifted, and every soul drawn closer to You. We dedicate this service to Your glory.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Chorus Ah Lord God

Chorus All hail King Jesus

Chorus Thy Loving Kindness

Hymn Onward Christian soldiers

Exhortation

 Dear friends, the scriptures urge us to acknowledge our wickedness before almighty God our heavenly Father and to confess our many sins to Him, that they may be forgiven through His infinite goodness and mercy in Jesus Christ our Lord. We should always humbly admit our sins before God, but especially when we meet together to give thanks for the great benefits we have received from Him, to praise and worship Him, to hear His holy word and to ask what is necessary for our bodies and souls. Therefore let us come before the throne of our gracious God and say together :

General Confession said together.  

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have strayed from Your ways like lost sheep, we have left undone what we ought to have done, and we have done what we ought not to have done. We have followed our own ways and our own desires and we have neglected and broken Your holy laws. Have mercy on us Lord. Restore those who repent and confess their sins according to Your promises declare in Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, merciful Father, for His sake, that hereafter we may live a righteous and obedient life,  to the glory of Your Holy Name. Amen. 

Assurance of forgiveness said by the minister standing.

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, does not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.  He has given authority and commandment to His ministers to declare to His people that He pardons and forgives the sins of all who truly repent and believe His holy gospel.  Therefore, let us ask Him to grant us true repentance and His Holy Spirit, that we may please Him now, and that the rest of our life may be pure and holy so that at the last we may come to His eternal joy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, In earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our

trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, For ever and ever.  Amen. 

Book of Common Prayer (1979) Sunday Lectionary 9-14-2025: Proper 19

Psalm

Janet

will now read the Old Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

He begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in

Psalm Psalm 51:1-17

First Reading Exodus 32:1, 7–14

He ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”

Jenny

will now read the New Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

She begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in

Epistle 1 Timothy 1:12–17 Gospel Luke 15:1–10

She ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”.

Hymn One day when heaven Bruce this is not the normal tune? What did E think of this tune?

Sermon

Prayer

Gracious Father,

Amen.

WORDS OF LIFE SERIES 2

THE LETTER TO THE Ephesians

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Sermon 3           BROUGHT NEAR BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

(Scripture Portion:  Ephesians 2: 13-22)

In Ephesians 2: 1-3, and in verse 12, we are given God’s terrible but true description of fallen humanity.   Apart from Christ we are:  Dead in sin (verse 1);  Deceived by the world (verse 2);  Dominated by Satan (verse 2);  Degenerate in our living (verse 3), and Doomed to punishment (verse 3).   Left to ourselves we are utterly lost, helpless and hopeless.   The world does not accept this description, but God declares it  -  look up Romans 3: 10-18.   What is God’s attitude towards fallen humanity?   We certainly have no claim on God and our completely bankrupt, destitute and disobedient state would justify Him in having nothing more to do with us.   What is His attitude towards us?   Notice in the second chapter of Ephesians that there are two wonderful “buts” which reveal to us the amazing love of God in Christ Jesus:  the first of these is in verse 4, and the second is in verse l3.  The Lord Jesus, by His death on Calvary’s cross, has brought us back into full fellowship with God.   All that was lost by sin and the Fall has been regained and fully restored, and we (who believe) have been “brought near…”     What exactly does this mean?    It means at least seven wonderful things.

1. We have been Born Again and have Received Eternal Life (verses l and 5).

We who were spiritually dead because of sin have been made alive, by the miracle of the new birth (John 3: 3 and 5).   The moment we believed on Christ and received Him as our Saviour (John 1: 12), we were born of God (John 1:13).   Having received the Lord Jesus Christ we became possessors of eternal life (1 John 5: 11-12), and partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4).

2. We have been  Raised to Sit in Heavenly Places in Christ (verse 6).

And what does that mean?  It does not mean that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places;  the verse does not say that.   We are seated in heavenly places “inChrist Jesus”;  and this means that through faith we are united to and with Christ who has been raised and exalted to the highest heights in glory.   We who were down in the lowest depths have been raised up to the highest heights in Christ!   That is our new position through grace.  We are now “citizens of heaven” (Philippians 3: 20).

3. We have been Saved by His Grace (verses 8 to 10).

What a great word is this word “saved”!   It includes all the blessings which become ours through faith in Christ.    Notice in verses 8 to 10 that:  (1) Salvation is a present possession;  (2) It is altogether by grace;  (3) It is a gift received by faith alone;  (4) It is “to do good works”.

4. We have been Reconciled and are now at Peace with God (verses 14 – 17).

We, who were enemies, have been reconciled to God through the blood-shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ.   It is blessedly true that through Christ all racial and social barriers have been broken down, but the greatest barrier of all is that which existed between ourselves and God which has been completely swept away in the Person and through the finished work of the Lord Jesus.   Meditate upon the words in verse 14:  “He is our peace”, and compare Romans 5:1.

5. We have been Brought into a New Relationship with God (verse 18).

Each word in this verse is worth pondering.   “….through Him” refers to our Lord Jesus Christ;   “both…” means Jew and Gentile;   “access…”  means an entrance and a welcome;   “one Spirit…” refers to the Holy Spirit;  and now notice the important ending of the verse, “to the Father”.   The moment we are “brought near”, we know God not only as the holy and just God and the powerful Creator, but as our gracious, loving heavenly Father.

6. We have been Made Members of the Household of God (verse 19).

The “household of God” is the Church.   How do we become members of the Church?   By the baptism of the Spirit  -  look up 1 Corinthians 12: 13.   The Lord Jesus is the foundation of the Church (1 Corinthians 3: 11), but Paul tells us here that the apostles and the New Testament prophets are foundation members, for it was through their ministry that the Church was “joined together” and started to grow into “a holy temple in the Lord” (verse 21).

7. We have been Made Fit Dwelling Places for God (verse 22).

The Church is God’s holy temple, built by the Holy Spirit, and believers are living stones by which the temple has been built through the years.  Soon God’s temple will be complete.   Then will end the day of grace and we shall be raptured  into his presence to be forever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17).   But notice that the Church is “a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit”;  and this is true of each individual member  - see 1 Corinthians 6: 19.

By nature and by practice far -  So nigh, so very nigh to God How very far from God! I cannot nearer be; Yet now by grace brought nigh to Him, For in the Person of His Son Through faith in Jesus’ blood. I am as near as He. So dear, so very dear to God, More dear I cannot be; The love wherewith He loves the Son –Such is His love to me!

WORDS OF LIFE MINISTRIES

PO Box 334, EASTLEIGH, SO53 2UB, UK

www.wordsoflife.co.uk

Notices Mr. John Oberholzer

Birthdays

21 Sep Evelyn

03 October Palesa

28 October Geofrey

01 November George

01 November Palesa

29 Novembr Bruce

17 December Masia

28 December Lizandi

09 Jan Jenny

18 Jan John

Tithing

Collection

Praise God from whom all blessing flow

Prayer

Hymn A safe stronghold our God is still

Doxology - Now unto him.