Elder welcome

Come to Jesus

Matthew 11:25–30 ESV

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

For truly some of us come today as the weary and heavy laden, with the cares of this life on the forefront of our minds and the hurts of yesterday on our hearts.

I myself come today with burdens my soul cannot bear. After a long month of family issues I found out this past week a dear friend from high school was no longer with us. His untimely death reminded me of the importance of sharing the gospel with all we come in contact with. And yet my heart is full of what seems to be anxiety or cares of this life. For that God’s word speaks to as well.

1 Peter 5:6–7 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

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Isn’t it wonderful to be reminded of the fact that God cares for us and we can cast our anxiety on him.

So how should we be prepared to respond to this truth when we gather to worship the Lord? The scriptures teach us this as well...

Psalm 100:1–5 ESV

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

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Let us remember that we are connected not just to the Lord, who is the author of our Faith, but also to his people through the ages. As we prepare our hearts to worship let us recite the Apostles creed together and affirm what we believe, and then pray and ask God to be glorified in our midst by our worship and adoration of him alone!

Apostles Creed

1 Corinthians 3:1–9 ESV

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Prayer