Morning Worship Service

Prelude: O Praise Ye the Lord arr. Charles Callahan

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

Righteous Father, if you would mark iniquities, how could we stand before you? Even as we open our mouths to praise you, we realize our tongues are a restless evil, a deadly poison, full of unrighteousness. Our very words often reveal the truth of what is inside us; we are proud sinners, unmerciful, unkind, and ungracious towards others, promoting ourselves. We lament how our words damage relationships, divide your Church, and defame your great name before a watching world. Lord, have mercy upon us, and grant that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts would be increasingly pleasing in your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: 1 Peter 2:24

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Invocation

Hymn 32: Great Is Thy Faithfulness Faithfulness
Text: Thomas Chisolm (1923)

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Refrain
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see:
all I have needed thy hand hath provided—Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. (Refrain)

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! (Refrain)

Responsive Reading: Psalm 148

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts!
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!
Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together, old men and children!
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord!

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.

Hymn 402: Abide with Me: Fast Falls the Eventide Eventide Text: Henry Lyte (1847)

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.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need thy presence every passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O 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:
heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Offering Prayer

(For online giving go to tenth.org/give or mail checks to: 1701 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103)

Offertory: O God Beyond All Praising arr. Charles Callahan

Scripture Reading: James 3:1–12

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Sermon: Taming the Tongue Rev. Greg Hobaugh

Hymn 585: Take My Life, and Let It Be Consecrated Hendon

Text: Frances Havergal (1874)

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for thee,
swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing, always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from thee,
filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use ev'ry pow'r as thou shalt choose,
ev'ry pow'r as thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store.
Take my self, and I will be ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.

Benediction

Postlude: Toccata in Seven John Rutter

Serving today:
Rev. Carroll Wynne, 9:00am platform
George McFarland, 11:00am platform
Colin Howland, organist