Prelude Priscilla Wortman, mezzo-soprano

Come, Thou Dear Redeemer Cesar Franck

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

God of justice and mercy, we confess we do not know the extent of our sin, nor have we fully comprehended the immensity of your grace. We are quick to accuse others, but too often excuse ourselves. We have not been patient as you have been with us. Forgive us, Lord, for how unloving we can be. We ask for the fruit of your Holy Spirit; we ask that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control would characterize our lives. Please make us more and more like Christ, for the sake of your glory and kingdom we pray. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 4:9–10

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. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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 106:1–23

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?
Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!
Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them,
that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.
Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.
Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.
But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert;
he gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them.
When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image.
They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

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 708: O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go St. Margaret

O Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.

O Light that follow’st all my way, I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red life that shall endless be.

Offering Prayer

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

Offertory: Jesus Shall Reign arr. Amy Tate Williams Priscilla Wortman, mezzo-soprano

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: As a Tale That Is Told Dr. Liam Goligher

Hymn 30: Our God, Our Help in Ages Past St. Anne

Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.

Under the shadow of your throne your saints have dwelt secure;
sufficient is your arm alone, and our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood, or earth received her frame,
from everlasting you are God, to endless years the same.

A thousand ages in your sight are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night before the rising sun.

The busy tribes of flesh and blood, with all their lives and cares,
are carried downward by your flood, and lost in foll’wing years.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the op’ning day.

Our God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come:
O be our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home.

Benediction

Postlude: Fanfare and Celebration on Thaxted Colin Howland

Colin Howland, organ