Prelude Todd Thomas, baritone

I Asked the Lord Johnny Lange/Jimmy Duncan

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

O God our Father, forgive us for thinking less of you than we ought; for we think your truth too high, your will too hard, and your power too remote; but they are not! We humbly ask that you resolve our confused minds with your word, redirect our divided wills with your law, restore our troubled consciences with your forgiveness, and revive our anxious hearts with your presence, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:8–9

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Invocation

Hymn 164: O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing Azmon

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name.

Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease;
‘tis music in the sinner’s ears, ‘tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the pow’r of reigning sin, he sets the pris’ner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean, his blood availed for me.

He speaks and, list’ning to his voice, new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice; the humble poor believe.

Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb, your loosen’d tongues employ;
ye blind, behold your Savior come; and leap, ye lame, for joy.

Responsive Reading: Psalm 109
Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!
May his days be few; may another take his office!
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!
May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!
May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day!
May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord, of those who speak evil against my life!
But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.
Help me, O Lord my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!
Let them know that this is your hand; you, O Lord, have done it!
Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

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: O Church, Arise Getty/Townend

O church, arise, and put your armor on, hear the call of Christ our Captain;
for now the weak can say that they are strong in the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth we’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
an army bold, whose battle cry is Love, reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war: to love the captive soul, but to rage against the captor;
and with the sword that makes the wounded whole, we will fight with faith and valor.
When faced with trials on every side we know the outcome is secure,
and Christ will have the prize for which he died: an inheritance of nations.

Come see the cross, where love and mercy meet, as the Son of God is stricken,
then see his foes lie crushed beneath his feet, for the Conqueror has risen;
and as the stone is rolled away and Christ emerges from the grave,
this victory march continues till the day every eye and heart shall see him.

So Spirit come, put strength in every stride, give grace for every hurdle,
that we may run with faith to win the prize of a servant good and faithful;
as saints of old still line the way, retelling triumphs of his grace,
we hear their calls, and hunger for the day when with Christ we stand in glory.

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: The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power Andraé Crouch

Todd Thomas, baritone

Scripture Reading: James 2:14–24

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Sermon: Is Your Faith Being Tested? Rev. Greg Hobuagh

Hymn 98: Now Thank We All Our God Nun Danket

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms, hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
with ever-joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
the Son, and him who reigns with them in highest heaven–
the one eternal God, whom earth and heav’n adore;
for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

Benediction

Postlude: Fanfare and Procession Keith Chapman

Colin Howland, organ

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