Prelude Timothy Renner, baritone

See the Crimson Drops Outflowing Dwight Gustafson

Call to Worship

Invocation

Hymn 97: We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer Kremser

We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,
in grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
We lay it before you, we kneel and adore you;
we bless your holy name, glad praises we sing.

We worship you, God of our fathers, we bless you;
through life’s storm and tempest our Guide you have been.
When perils o’ertake us, escape you will make us,
and with your help, O Lord, our battles we win.

With voices united our praises we offer,
to you, great Jehovah, glad anthems we raise.
Your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,
to you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise.

Prayer of Confession

Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy and compassion on our sinful estate. Wash away our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. We are guilty before you and without excuse. No works of our own can atone for our sin; we owe a debt we cannot pay. So we come to you, Lord God, with nothing in our hands, but simply clinging to the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is our hope, our peace, our confidence. By your Spirit, help us to rest in him alone for our salvation. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: Isaiah 1:18

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Doxology Tallis’ Canon

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayer of Illumination

Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:1–17

1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. 14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

Hymn 170: Fairest Lord Jesus Crusader’s Hymn

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature, Son of God and Son of Man!
Thee will I cherish, thee will I honor, thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight, and all the twinkling, starry host:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer than all the angels heav’n can boast.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations! Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration, now and for evermore be thine.

Confession of Faith: Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 11

Question: What are God’s works of providence?
Answer: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

Offering Prayer

(In person offerings may be made via the oak boxes. Give online at tenth.org about/giving or mail checks to: 1701 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103)

Offertory: At the River arr. Aaron Copland

Timothy Renner, baritone

Sermon: The Powerful and Purifying Word of Christ Rev. Gavin Lymberopoulos

Hymn 523: My Hope Is in the Lord Wakefield

My hope is in the Lord who gave himself for me,
and paid the price for all my sin on Calvary.

(Refrain)
For me he died, for me he lives, and everlasting light and life he freely gives.

No merit of my own his anger to suppress,
my only hope is found in Jesus’ righteousness. (Refrain)

And now for me he stands before the Father’s throne,
He shows his wounded hands, and names me as his own. (Refrain)

His grace has planned it all, ‘tis mine but to believe,
and recognize his work of love and Christ receive. (Refrain)

Benediction

Postlude: Allegro from Sonata I, BWV 525 Johann Sebastian Bach Aaron Patterson, organ

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

CCLI# 2486853