Prelude Caitlin Powell, contralto

Shall We Gather at the River arr. Amy Tate Williams

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

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: Romans 6:22–23

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Invocation

Hymn 1: All People That on Earth Do Dwell Old Hundredth

All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,
come ye before him and rejoice.

The Lord ye know is God indeed;
without our aid he did us make;
we are his folk, he doth us feed,
and for his sheep he doth us take.

O enter then his gates with praise,
approach with joy his courts unto;
praise, laud, and bless his name always,
for it is seemly so to do.

For why? The Lord our God is good,
his mercy is forever sure;
his truth at all times firmly stood,
and shall from age to age endure.

Responsive Reading: Psalm 105:23–45
Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
And the Lord made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes.
He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed his signs among them and miracles in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they did not rebel against his words.
He turned their waters into blood and caused their fish to die.
Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.
He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.
He gave them hail for rain, and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
He struck down their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came, young locusts without number,
which devoured all the vegetation in their land and ate up the fruit of their ground.
He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.
Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.
He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.
They asked, and he brought quail, and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.
For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

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 499: Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Toplady

Rock of Ages, cleft for me let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood, from thy riven side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and pow’r.

Not the labors of my hands can fulfil thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow,
all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the Fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyelids close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.

Offering Prayer

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

Offertory: But the Lord Is Mindful of His Own from St. Paul Felix Mendelssohn

Caitlin Powell, contralto

Scripture Reading: Psalm 90

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Sermon: From Everlasting to Everlasting Dr. Liam Goligher

Hymn 706: Jesus Lives, and So Shall I Jesus, Meine Zuversicht

Jesus lives, and so shall I. Death! thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die, lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me from the dust: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives, and reigns supreme; and, his kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with him, ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised; be it must: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives, and by his grace, vict’ry o’er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways, ever to his glory living.
Me he raises from the dust: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives! I know full well naught from him my heart can sever,
life nor death nor pow’rs of hell, joy nor grief, henceforth forever.
None of all his saints is lost: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives and death is now but my entrance into glory.
Courage, then, my soul, for thou hast a crown of life before thee;
thou shalt find thy hopes were just: Jesus is the Christian’s trust.

Benediction

Postlude: Kyrie, O God, Eternal Father, BWV 669 Johann Sebastian Bach

Aaron Patterson, organ