Prelude: Et Incarnatus Est from Mass in c minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Suzannah Waddington, soprano

(Sung in Latin) And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man.

Call to Worship

Invocation

Hymn 457: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing Nettleton

Text: Robert Robinson (1758)

Come, thou fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God:
he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be;
let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander – Lord, I feel it – prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Prayer of Confession

Holy Father, our sins are ever before you, though we seek to hide them. We like to think we are not as bad as we really are, that you will see some good in us. But Lord, your Word teaches that there are none righteous, not even one! Even if we do not sin in our actions, we realize our very thoughts and affections are full of sin’s poison. We are helpless to help ourselves, O God, so we cast our burdens upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and look to him alone for our salvation. Cover us in his righteousness and fill us with your Holy Spirit 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.

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 21:12-17

12 And Jesus entered the temple[a] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Hymn 689: Be Still, My Soul Finlandia

Text: Katharina von Schlegel (1752)

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heav’nly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
and all is darkened in the vale of tears,
then shall you better know his love, his heart,
who comes to soothe your sorrow and your fears.
Be still, my soul: your Jesus can repay
from his own fullness all he takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hast’ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Confession of Faith: Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 99

Question: What rule has God given for our direction in prayer?
Answer: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.

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: How Can I Keep from Singing? arr. Alan Bullard

Suzannah Waddington, soprano

My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation; I hear the clear though far-off hymn that hails the new creation. Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing; it finds an echo in my soul, how can I keep from singing? What though the tempest loudly roars, I know my Savior liveth; although the darkness binds me close, deep in the night sweet songs he giveth. His inner peace makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing; since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?

Sermon: Do You Hear the Children Sing? Rev. Gavin Lymberopoulos

Hymn: Before the Throne of God Above Before The Throne

Text: Charitie Lees Bancroft, 1841-1923

Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea,
a great High Priest whose name is Love, who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart.
I know that while in heav’n he stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart,
no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see him there, who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free;
for God, the just, is satisfied to look on him and pardon me,
to look on him and pardon me.

Behold him there, the risen Lamb, my perfect, spotless righteousness,
the great unchangeable I Am, the King of glory and of grace!
One with himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood!
My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ, my Savior and my God,
with Christ, my Savior and my God.

Benediction

Postlude: Ceremonial March Herbert Sumsion

Serving this evening:
Grant Gregory, platform
Colin Howland, organist

Scripture quotations are from the ESV®Bible, copyright©2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Hymn lyrics used by permission: CCLI# 2486853

Sermon Notes