Prelude: Final from St. Matthew Passion Johann Sebastian Bach/arr. Widor

Call to Worship

•Doxology (Trinity Hymnal 731) Old Hundredth

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

•Prayer of Confession

Have mercy on us, O God, according to Your steadfast love. Our sin has been against You, although others have been hurt as well. It is against You that we have rebelled. It is against You that we have been angry—and yet it is to You that we cry for mercy! Even with our best intentions sin seems ever to creep in. Even with our firmest resolve we keep on sinning. Wash us, that we may be clean, fresh, and new. Cleanse us, that we have integrity, that we do right from inside out. Purge us, so we may be pure with a strong purity. In the name of Christ deliver us, O God of our salvation, and our tongues will sing aloud of Your deliverance. Amen.

•The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 5:11–13

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

•Invocation

•Hymn 103: Holy God, We Praise Your Name Grosser Gott

Responsive Reading: Psalm 61 (page 478)

•Gloria Patri (Trinity Hymnal 734) Meineke

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

•Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into ­­heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Announcements

Living Church: Gideons International Steve Smith

•Hymn 608: To God My Earnest Voice I Raise Rockingham Old

(In the 11am service, Praisemakers, ages 4–5, may go to B2 & B3; KLICK, grades 1–2, may go to B1)

•Offering Prayer

Offertory: Herzlich tut mich verlangen Johannes Brahms

My heart is filled with longing to pass away in peace; for woes are round me thronging, and trials will not cease. O fain would I be hasting from thee, dark world of gloom, to gladness everlasting; O Jesus, quickly come! O let not death’s dark terror disturb my faith in Thee; but keep me from all error, in faith Thine loyally. With Thy dear hand to guide me, death firmly will I face, to wake, the tomb behind me, in heaven’s appointed place.

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:6–9 (page 1014)

Sermon: A Life of Painful Joy Dr. Victor Nakah

•Hymn 21: Sing Praise to the Lord! Laudate Dominum

•Benediction

Postlude: Herzliebster Jesu Johannes Brahms

Serving this morning:
Dr. Liam Goligher & Jared Cochrum, 9am platform
Dr. Liam Goligher & Rev. Carroll Wynne, 11am platform
Dr. Jeremy Flood, guest organist

Speaker Biography

Dr. Victor Nakah is a native of Zimbabwe but lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he serves as the MTW International Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. He is married to Nosizo and they have two grown daughters. Dr. Nakah is a teaching elder in the Bulawayo Presbytery and is also the co-chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group.