Welcome and Preparation for Worship

Prelude: Sonata No. 1: Siciliano Johann Sebastian Bach

Tom Jackson, violin

Call to Worship: Psalm 29:1–2

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

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.

Invocation

Hymn 526: Blessed Are the Sons of God Rosefield

Blessed are the sons of God,
they are bought with Christ’s own blood;
they are ransomed from the grave,
life eternal they shall have:

(Refrain)
With them numbered may we be, here and in eternity.

They are justified by grace,
they enjoy the Savior’s peace;
all their sins are washed away,
they shall stand in God’s great day: (Refrain)

They are lights upon the earth,
children of a heav’nly birth;
one with God, with Jesus one,
glory is in them begun: (Refrain)

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into ­­heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Announcements

Multilingual Prayer

Hymn: Speak, O Lord Speak O Lord

Speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your Holy Word.
Take your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in your likeness,
that the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience, holy reverence, true humility.
Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of your purity.
Cause our faith to rise, cause our eyes to see your majestic love and authority.
Words of power that can never fail, let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds; help us grasp the heights of your plans for us:
truths unchanged from the dawn of time, that will echo down thro’ eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on your promises; and by faith we’ll walk as you walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, ‘til your church is built, and the earth is filled with your glory.

Offering Prayer

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

Offertory: There Is a Green Hill Far Away Tom Jackson, violin

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,  18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
3:1Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? 11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Sermon: Longing to See You Face to Face Dr. Enrique Leal

Hymn 730: Benediction Evening Prayer

May the grace of Christ our Savior and the Father’s boundless love,
with the Holy Spirit’s favor, rest upon us from above.

Thus may we abide in union with each other and the Lord,
and possess, in sweet communion, joys which earth cannot afford.

Benediction

Postlude Tom Jackson, violin

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