Morning Worship Service

Prelude: Pastorale Johann Sebastian Bach

Welcome

Announcements

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

Merciful God and Father, you are the God of love. You have commanded us to love you with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. We confess our love is tempered by selfishness. We are often impatient and unkind; we keep a record of wrongs; we insist on our own way; we envy and fight for attention. O Lord, please forgive us and soften our hard hearts. May Christ’s blood shed on the cross move us to love you more dearly, and love others as we have been loved in him. Amen.

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

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 4: All Praise to God, Who Reigns Above (stanzas 1-3, 6) Mit Freuden Zart

text: Johann Schütz (1675)

All praise to God, who reigns above, the God of all creation,
the God of wonders, pow’r, and love,the God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul he fills, the God who every sorrow stills.
To God all praise and glory!

What God’s almighty pow’r hath made his gracious mercy keepeth;
by morning dawn or evening shade his watchful eye ne’er sleepeth;
within the kingdom of his might, lo, all is just and all is right.
To God all praise and glory!

I cried to him in time of need: Lord God, O hear my calling!
For death he gave me life indeed and kept my feet from falling.
For this my thanks shall endless be; O thank him, thank our God, with me.
To God all praise and glory!

Then come before his presence now and banish fear and sadness;
to your Redeemer pay your vow and sing with joy and gladness:
Though great distress my soul befell, the Lord, my God, did all things well,
To God all praise and glory!

Responsive Reading: Psalm 127

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

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.

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.

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.

Reception of New Members (11am)

Helen Collins, Metropolitan
Philip Macurak, Metropolitan

Scott Moore, Metropolitan
Adam O'Neill, Metropolitan

Psalm 33:1–5 Festal Song

(In the 11am service, Praisemakers, an interactive music program for ages 4-7, may go to the Catacombs.)

With gladness in the Lord, O let the righteous sing!
For when the upright give him praise, it is a fitting thing.

So give the Lord your thanks, with harp your music raise;
and with a ten-stringed instrument, sing out to him your praise.

And as you sing and play, your skillfulness employ.
O sing a new song unto him; with shouts express your joy.

For upright is the word the Lord has given us,
and all the works that he has done were done in faithfulness.

For he seeks righteousness, and all that's just and fair;
The Lord's love is throughout the earth, abundant everywhere.

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: Abide with Me (11am) arr. Gilbert Martin

Chamber Choir

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour. What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:1–6

1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Sermon: The Menace of Mediocrity Dr. Liam Goligher

Hymn: Thy Mercy, My God, Is the Theme of My Song St. Denio

Text: attr. John Stocker (1776)

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
the joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue;
thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
hath won my affections and bound my soul fast.

Without thy free mercy I could not live here:
sin soon would reduce me to utter despair;
but, through thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
and he that first made me, still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy surpasses the sin of my heart
which wonders to feel its own hardness depart,
dissolved by thy goodness, I fall to the ground
and weep to the praise of the mercy I found.

Great Father of mercies, thy goodness I own,
and covenant love of thy crucified son:
all praise to the Spirit, whose action divine
seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

Benediction

Postlude

Serving today:
Dr. Enrique Leal, 9:00am platform
George McFarland, 11:00am platform
Colin Howland, organist

CCLI# 248685