Soli Deo Gloria Tenth Choirs; Aaron Patterson, organist

Blest Are They David Haas

Blest are they, the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God. Blest are they, full of sorrow, they shall be consoled.

Rejoice and be glad! Blessed are you, holy are you! Rejoice and be glad! Yours is the kingdom of God.

Blest are they, the lowly ones, they shall inherit the earth. Blest are they who hunger and thirst, they shall have their fill.

Blest are they who show mercy, mercy shall be theirs. Blest are they, the pure of heart, they shall see God!

Blest are they who seek peace, they are the children of God. Blest are they who suffer in faith, the glory of God is theirs.

Blest are you who suffer hate, all because of me. Rejoice and be glad, yours is the kingdom; shine for all to see.

Come, Holy Ghost, BWV 561 Johann Sebastian Bach

Ah, Holy Jesus (Trinity Hymnal 248) arr. Timothy Shaw

Come, Christians, Join to Sing (Trinity Hymnal 302) Gilbert Martin

Call to Worship

Invocation

•Hymn 92: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God Ein feste Burg

•Prayer of Confession

Lord God, eternal and Almighty Father, we confess and acknowledge without pretense before your Holy Majesty, that we are poor sinners, conceived and born in iniquity and corruption; prone to do what is evil, and that in our depravity we endlessly transgress your holy commandments. O Lord, we are displeased with ourselves and repent before you, longing for your grace to relieve our distress. May you, therefore have mercy upon us, most gentle and merciful Father, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Extend and increase the graces of your Holy Spirit to us day by day producing fruits of righteousness pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

•The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: Romans 8:33–34

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

•Hymn 724: The Ten Commandments Les Commandements De Dieu

Prayer of Illumination (concluding with The Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Scripture Reading: Romans 1:14–17; 10:9–17 (pages 939, 946))

•Hymn: Lord, Bid Your Servant Go in Peace (Nunc Dimittis) Land of Rest

•Offering Prayer

Offertory: Upon This Rock John Ness Beck

(When so directed, please stand and join in singing verses 1 and 6 of hymn 347)

Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Lo, the winter is past; the rain is over; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come. Arise, and come away; arise! the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the word; from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won: O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we, like them the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee. Amen.

Sermon: The World of the Reformation Dr. Timothy George

•Hymn: We Believe in God Almighty (Nicene Creed) Hyfrydol

•Benediction

•Postlude: Festival Prelude from Te Deum Marc-Antoine Charpentier

We welcome to Tenth’s pulpit this evening Dr. Timothy George. Dr. George is research professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University. Dr. George served as dean of Beeson from its founding in 1988 until 2019. He is the general editor of the 28-volume Reformation Commentary on Scripture as well as the author of numerous books on the Reformation including Reading Scripture With the Reformers and Theology of the Reformers.

Serving this evening:
Dr. Liam Goligher and Rev. Gavin Lymberopoulos, platform
Tenth Children’s Choir: Joseph Waggoner and Helen Sneller, directors
Tenth Church Choir

Eric Schweingruber and Robert Skoniczin, trumpets

Kathryn Mehrtens, horn

Justin Moore, trombone

Brian Brown, tuba

Brent Behrenshausen, timpani
Aaron Patterson, organist

Colin Howland, Director of Music

About Worship

Reformed Song

The Protestant Reformations of the 16th century influenced singing in the Church in two particular ways. First, singing was to be an activity of the entire congregation, not just a select few. For the previous thousand years, music was something largely relegated to the chanting priests and choirs. Congregational participation might include only a few phrases in Latin sung in response. In contrast, many Reformers believed the Scriptures, indeed the entire service, ought to be intelligible to those present. Whereas services of worship in the Middle Ages were conducted exclusively in Latin, the Reformation brought both the Word of God and the liturgy into the language of those sitting in the pew. The second major development in Reformed music was the singing of Psalms and other songs (canticles) either directly from the Scriptures or in paraphrase. For example, Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress” was a new paraphrase of Psalm 46. Calvin and the Genevan reformers were especially fond of the Psalms, but their liturgies also included musical versions of the Ten Commandments as well as Simeon’s Song (Nunc Dimittis) from Luke 2:29–32. These two principles, that the whole congregation should sing songs firmly rooted in Scripture, are as needed to guide us today as they were 500 years ago.