Evening Worship Service

Prelude: Allegro moderato from Sonata in E Flat, BWV 525 Johann Sebastian Bach

Call to Worship

Invocation

Hymn 301: Join All the Glorious Names Darwall
text: Isaac Watts (1707)

Join all the glorious names of wisdom, love, and pow’r,
that ever mortals knew, that angels ever bore:
all are too poor to speak his worth, too poor to set my Savior forth.

Great Prophet of my God, my tongue would bless thy name:
by thee the joyful news of our salvation came,
the joyful news of sins forgiv’n, of hell subdued, and peace with heav’n.

Jesus, my great High Priest, offered his blood and died;
my guilty conscience seeks no sacrifice beside:
his pow’rful blood did once atone and now it pleads before the throne.

Thou art my Counselor, my pattern, and my Guide,
and thou my Shepherd art; O keep me near thy side;
nor let my feet e’er turn astray to wander in the crooked way.

My Savior and my Lord, my Conqu’ror and my King,
thy scepter and thy sword, thy reigning grace, I sing:
thine is the pow’r; behold I sit in willing bonds beneath thy feet.

Prayer of Confession

Loving God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we sin daily, repeatedly transgressing your commandments by thought, word, and deed. There is no one else we can cry to for help but you, the only God and Savior. Forgive us for the times we seek to justify ourselves, thinking we are somehow good enough to merit your favor. Forgive us when we consider ourselves better than others, for believing they are more deserving of your judgment than we are. Save us from the temptation to excuse our behavior, and help us to turn to you and your mercy when we sin. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The Gospel’s Assurance of Pardon: Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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: Romans 4:1–25

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Hymn 470: How Vast the Benefits Divine St. Matthew Text: Augustus Toplady (1774)

How vast the benefits divine which we in Christ possess!
We are redeemed from guilt and shame and called to holiness.
But not for works which we have done, or shall hereafter do,
hath God decreed on sinful men salvation to bestow.

The glory, Lord, from first to last, is due to thee alone;
aught to ourselves we dare not take, or rob thee of thy crown.
Our glorious Surety undertook to satisfy for man,
and grace was given us in him before the world began.

This is thy will, that in thy love we ever should abide;
that earth and hell should not prevail to turn thy word aside.
Not one of all the chosen race but shall to heav’n attain,
partake on earth the purposed grace and then with Jesus reign.

Confession of Faith: Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 3

Question: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
Answer: The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Offering Prayer

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Offertory: Adagio from Sonata in E Flat, BWV 525 Johann Sebastian Bach

Sermon: The Righteousness of Faith Grant Gregory

Hymn 706: Jesus Lives, and So Shall I Jesus, Meine Zuversicht

Text: Christian Gellert (1757)

Jesus lives, and so shall I. Death! thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die, lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me from the dust: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives, and reigns supreme; and, his kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with him, ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised; be it must: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives, and by his grace, vict’ry o’er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways, ever to his glory living.
Me he raises from the dust: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives! I know full well naught from him my heart can sever,
life nor death nor pow’rs of hell, joy nor grief, henceforth forever.
None of all his saints is lost: Jesus is my hope and trust.

Jesus lives and death is now but my entrance into glory.
Courage, then, my soul, for thou hast a crown of life before thee;
thou shalt find thy hopes were just: Jesus is the Christian’s trust.

Benediction

Postlude: Allegro from Sonata in E Flat, BWV 525 Johann Sebastian Bach

Serving this evening:
Rev. Carroll Wynne, platform
Aaron Patterson, organist