Prelude Priscilla Wortman, mezzo-soprano

Open Our Eyes Will MacFarlane

Call to Worship

Doxology 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

Holy Father, judge of all people, we bow before you humbly confessing our sin and imploring your mercy. We have heard your commands to love you and our neighbor, yet in our pride and selfishness we fall woefully short. We seek to do our own will rather than yours, and we serve ourselves much better than we help others. By your Spirit free us from unholy desires. Help us to love one another as you have loved us in Christ Jesus, in whose strong name we pray. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 4:9

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

Invocation

Hymn 302: Come, Christians, Join to Sing Madrid

Come, Christians, join to sing Alleluia! Amen!
loud praise to Christ our King; Alleluia! Amen!
let all, with heart and voice, before his throne rejoice;
praise is his gracious choice. Alleluia! Amen!

Come, lift your hearts on high, Alleluia! Amen!
let praises fill the sky; Alleluia! Amen!
he is our Guide and Friend; to us he’ll condescend;
his love shall never end. Alleluia! Amen!

Praise yet our Christ again, Alleluia! Amen!
life shall not end the strain; Alleluia! Amen!
on heaven’s blissful shore, his goodness we’ll adore,
singing forevermore, “Alleluia! Amen!”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 103:1–12

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Gloria Patri 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.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Prayer of Intercession (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.

Announcements

Hymn: In Christ Alone Getty/Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light my strength my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save .
Till on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied.
For every sin on him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain;
then, bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am his and he is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me;
from life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand;
till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

Offering Prayer

(Give online at tenth.org/about/giving or mail checks to: 1701 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103)

Offertory: Devotion John Ness Beck Priscilla Wortman, mezzo-soprano

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 5

1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 2 For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” 3 There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” 4 And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 5 Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8 and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. 13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised. 14 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. 16 I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. 19 Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.

Sermon: Family Matters Dr. Liam Goligher

Hymn 95: Though Troubles Assail Us St. Denio

Though troubles assail us and dangers affright,
though friends should all fail us and foes all unite,
yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
the promise assures us, “The Lord will provide.”

The birds, without garner or storehouse, are fed;
from them let us learn to trust God for our bread.
His saints what is fitting shall ne’er be denied
so long as ‘tis written, “The Lord will provide.”

When Satan assails us to stop up our path,
and courage all fails us, we triumph by faith.
He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried,
this heart-cheering promise, “The Lord will provide.”

No strength of our own and no goodness we claim;
yet, since we have known of the Savior’s great name,
in this our strong tower for safety we hide:
the Lord is our power, “The Lord will provide.”

Benediction

Postlude: Symphony No. 1: Final Louis Vierne

Aaron Patterson, organ