March 26, 2023

*Call to Worship | Romans 1:16 | Blake Arnoult

God invites and calls us into his presence to worship him.

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16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

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*Song of Adoration | All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

We begin by responding with praise to God for who he is and for what he does. 

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All hail the power of Jesus' name!

Let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Bring forth the royal diadem,

And crown Him Lord of all.

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Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,

Ye ransomed from the fall,

Hail Him Who saves you by His grace,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him Who saves you by His grace,

And crown Him Lord of all.

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Let every kindred, every tribe

On this terrestrial ball

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown Him Lord of all.

To Him all majesty ascribe,

And crown Him Lord of all.

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O that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall

We'll join the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all.

We'll join the everlasting song,

And crown Him Lord of all.

Music and Lyrics: Oliver Holden, Edward Perronet, John Rippon

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*Confession of Faith | Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch. 13 On Sanctification

With the church in history we confess a basic statement of what Christians believe.

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They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection by his Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

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*Song of Confession | Here I Am to Worship

Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs are simply prayers that are sung. We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.

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Light of the World You stepped down into darkness,

Opened my eyes, let me see

Beauty that made this heart adore You,

Hope of a life spent with You.

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Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that You're my God.

You're altogether lovely, Altogether worthy,

Altogether wonderful to me.

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King of all days, Oh so highly exalted,

Glorious in heaven above.

Humbly You came to the Earth You created;

All for love's sake became poor

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Chorus

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/ And I'll never know how much it cost

To see my sin upon that cross. /

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Chorus

Music and Lyrics: Tim Hughes

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Confession of Sin | based on Psalm 51 | Blake Arnoult

We fight the temptation to hide our sin and instead acknowledge it openly to God, but we do so in light of the grace offered in Jesus.

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Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquities, and cleanse us from our sins. For we know our transgressions, and our sin is ever before us. Against you, you alone, have we sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Indeed, we were born guilty, sinners when our mothers conceived us. Hide your face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and put new and right spirits within us. Do not cast us away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from us, we pray through him who loved us and gave Himself for us, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Assurance of Pardon | Isaiah 53:3-5 | Blake Arnoult

The good news of the gospel is that we are forgiven in Jesus Christ. This assurance is based on God’s words of promise and it is therefore certain.

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3 He was despised and rejected by men, 

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 

and as one from whom men hide their faces 

he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

4 Surely he has borne our griefs 

and carried our sorrows; 

yet we esteemed him stricken, 

smitten by God, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; 

he was crushed for our iniquities; 

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, 

and with his wounds we are healed.

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*Song of Response | Here is Love

We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.

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Here is love, vast as the ocean,

Loving-kindness as the flood,

When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,

Shed for us His precious blood.

Who His love will not remember?

Who can cease to sing His praise?

He can never be forgotten,

Throughout Heaven's eternal days.

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On the mount of crucifixion,

Fountains opened deep and wide;

Through the floodgates of God's mercy

Flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers,

Poured incessant from above,

Heaven's peace and perfect justice

Kissed a guilty world in love.

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Here is love that conquered evil:

Christ, the firstborn from the grave;

Death has failed to be found equal

To the life of Him Who saves.

In the valley of our darkness

Dawned His everlasting light;

Perfect love in glorious radiance

Has repelled death’s hellish night.

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Here is love, vast as the heavens;

Countless as the stars above

Are the souls that He has ransomed,

Precious daughters, treasured sons.

We are called to feast forever

On a love beyond our time;

Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit

Now with man are intertwined.

Music and Lyrics: George Job Elvey, Godfrey Thring, Matthew Bridges

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Prayer of Thanksgiving

We offer our gratitude to God in prayer in response to his gifts and blessings to his people and ask that he make us faithful managers of these gifts.

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Song of Thanks | He Will Hold Me Fast

As we offer our prayers so we also offer up our thanks in song.

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When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.

When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.

I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path;

For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast.

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He will hold me fast; He will hold me fast!

For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast!

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Those He saves are His delight; Christ will hold me fast.

Precious in His holy sight; He will hold me fast.

He’ll not let my soul be lost, His promises shall last;

Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.

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Chorus

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For my life He bled and died; Christ will hold me fast.

Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.

Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast;

‘Till our faith is turned to sight, when He comes at last!

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/ Chorus /

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He began a work in us…

He’ll complete His work in us…

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He will hold us fast; He will hold us fast!

For our Savior loves us so, He will hold us fast!

Music and Lyrics: Ada Habershon; Matt Merker

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Prayer for Christ’s Church

We lift up our requests to God knowing that he hears us when we pray.

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*Reading of Scripture | Romans 6:14; 7:1-6; 14-25 | Rev. Blake Arnoult

God reveals himself and his work and speaks to us his people through his Word.

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6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

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7:1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

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4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

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14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

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21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

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Pastor: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

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The Preaching of the Word | Rev. Blake Arnoult

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“Gospel Freedom From the Bondage of the Law Pt.2: The Individual Believer and the Law”

Romans: The Power of God for Salvation

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Pastoral Prayer

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Sacrament of Communion

Sacraments are visible signs of the invisible grace of God - what Christ does by his Holy Spirit within us. Communion (also called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist), as the distribution of the elements of bread and wine, symbolizes a meal. Communion is a sign of fellowship. That sign signifies more than just the future heavenly fellowship that is to come. The outward sign signifies the inner reality that sinners already experience fellowship with God in the Spirit because of Jesus. Communion is not a meal for good people. It functions as a renewing seal to desperate sinners of that fellowship we have with our holy and gracious God.

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You will be invited to come forward. If you are not a Christian we encourage you to spend this time in reflection on what you’ve seen and heard in the worship. Children who have not received their first communion are welcome and encouraged to come forward with their families to witness their partaking. We invite children who are ready to make a public profession of faith in Christ to arrange a meeting with the elders, and thus become “communicants” at the Lord’s Table. 

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Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts!

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

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Prayer of Thanksgiving and Words of Institution

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Pastor: Let us proclaim the mystery of the faith: 

People: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Hallelujah! 

Pastor: Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. Hallelujah! 

People: Therefore, let us keep the feast. 

Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.

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Please let an usher know if it is difficult for you to come forward. We would be happy to serve you at your seat. All communion bread is gluten-free. All communion wine is made from  grape juice.

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A communion prayer for those searching for the truth:

Lord Jesus, you claim to be the way, the truth and the life. If what you claim is true, please guide me, teach me, and open to me the reality of who you are. Give me the ability to follow you no matter what it might cost me. Give me an understanding for you that is coherent, convincing, and leads to the life that you promise. Amen.

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Communion Song | The Church's One Foundation

We celebrate our communion in faith and song.

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The church’s one foundation

Is Jesus Christ her Lord,

She is His new creation

By water and the Word.

From heaven He came and sought her

To be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her,

And for her life He died.

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Elect from every nation,

Yet one over all the earth;

Her charter of salvation,

One Lord, one faith, one birth;

One holy Name she blesses,

Partakes one holy food,

And to one hope she presses,

With every grace endued.

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The church shall never perish,

Her dear Lord to defend

To guide, sustain and cherish,

Is with her to the end

Though there be those that hate her,

And false sons in her pale

Against a foe or traitor,

She ever shall prevail

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Mid toil and tribulation,

And tumult of her war,

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore;

’Til, with the vision glorious,

Her longing eyes are blessed,

And the great church victorious

Shall be the church at rest.

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Yet she on earth hath union

With God the Three in One,

And mystic sweet communion

With those whose rest is won.

O happy ones and holy!

Lord, give us grace that we

Like them, the meek and lowly,

On high may dwell with Thee.

Music and Lyrics: Brian Moss, Samuel John Stone

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Departing Song | Revive Us Again

We begin to end in faith and song.

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We praise Thee, O God!

For the Son of Thy love,

For Jesus Who died,

And is now gone above.

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We praise Thee, O God!

For Thy Spirit of light,

Who hath shown us our Savior,

And scattered our night.

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Hallelujah! Thine the glory.

Hallelujah! Amen.

Hallelujah! Thine the glory.

Revive us again.

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All glory and praise

To the Lamb that was slain,

Who hath borne all our sins,

And hath cleansed every stain.

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All glory and praise

To the God of all grace,

Who hast brought us, and sought us,

And guided our ways.

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Chorus

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/Revive us again;

Fill each heart with Thy love;

May each soul be rekindled

With fire from above./

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/Chorus/

Music and Lyrics: W.P. Mackay

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*Benediction | Hebrews 13:20-21 | Blake Arnoult

God sends us out with his blessing. A benediction is not a prayer. We don’t bow our heads. We lift them up and even lift up our hands to receive his blessing as we are sent out as participants in his mission to the city of man.

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20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Nursery Unavailable

April 2 and 9

Cornerstone’s nursery will be unavailable on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday

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Sunday School

Sunday school will resume on April 16!

We are taking a brief break from Sunday school though Easter. Join us again in April every Sunday morning at 9:15am!

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Bible Studies

Women’s Morning Bible Study: 

Wednesday mornings, 9:30am at the Wade home

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Women’s Evening Bible Study: 

Resuming on Thursday evening, April 6, 7pm at the McEwin home

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Men’s Bible Study: 

Friday mornings, 7am at Buffalo Grille on Voss and Woodway

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Adult Teaching Series - This Thursday!

Thursday, March 30, 7pm

This spring, adults will be meeting on Thursday evenings at the Wade home! Join us for our final teaching session on March 30 to hear about The Faith We Believe, Share, and Defend!

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Youth Teaching Series - Today!

Sunday, March 26, 11:30am

All 5th-12th graders are invited to join us at the Willson home on 

March 26 for our third session in our youth teaching series!

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Palm Sunday Gathering - Next Week!

Sunday, April 2, 4-6pm

Join us at the Erwin home on Palm Sunday for our annual gathering! This is a BYOB and BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) event! Please note, our annual Easter egg hunt for the kids will begin promptly at 4pm.

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