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April 6, 2025
Resources and content for this Sunday.
Order Of Worship
April 6, 2025
*Call to Worship | Ephesians 3:20-21 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God invites and calls us into his presence to worship him.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
*Song of Adoration | All Creatures of Our God and King
We begin by responding with praise to God for who he is and for what he does.
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rushing morn in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening find a voice,
Chorus
Thou flowing water pure and clear
Make music for Thy Lord to hear
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright
That givest man both warmth and light,
Chorus
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness.
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three in One
Chorus
Music and Lyrics: St. Francis of Assisi, William H. Draper
*Confession of Faith | Nicene Creed
With the church in history we confess a basic statement of what Christians believe.
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
*Song of Confession | Thy Mercy My God
Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are simply prayers that are sung. We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
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 sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin 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 is more than a match for 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’ve found.
Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
/ All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine. /
Lyrics: John Stoker
Confession of Sin
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.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, deeper than all our sin. Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than we have, our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure, our indifference to the treasures of heaven, our neglect of your wise and gracious Word. Help us to change our way of life so that we may desire what is good, love what you love, and do what you command, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon | Titus 3:5 | Rev. 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.
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit
*Song of Response | There is a Fountain
We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
Wash all my sins away, wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
Music and Lyrics: William Cowper, Lowell Mason, Mark Willard
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.
Song of Thanks | Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
As we offer our prayers so we also offer up our thanks in song.
Come Thou Fount of every 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 Thy redeeming 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,
Wandering 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 Thy goodness like a fetter,
Bind my wandering 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.
Music and Lyrics: Robert Robinson
Prayer for Christ’s Church
We lift up our requests to God knowing that he hears us when we pray.
*Reading of Scripture | Ephesians 3:14-21 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God reveals himself and his work and speaks to us his people through his Word.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Pastor: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
The Preaching of the Word | Rev. Blake Arnoult
“Grasping the Love of Christ”
Ephesians: The Gospel of the Church
Pastoral Prayer
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.
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.
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.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Words of Institution
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.
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.
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.
Communion Song | All Glory Be Forever
We celebrate our communion in faith and song.
We had turned from God to sin’s disgrace, we chose the path to hell
Perfect law of God condemned our race, for all in Adam fell
But the righteousness of God appeared
And the world found hope again
For the Righteous One has come down to bear
All the curse of sin and death
Now to Him Who's seated on the throne,
All glory be forever
Oh, the depths of wisdom, grace, and power,
All glory be forever
All glory be forever
Every bond of sin that held us fast is left in Jesus’ grave
We’ve been freed from all that gripped our past from Satan’s rule and reign
We’ve been raised to life to breathe His grace
As captives now reclaimed
All our guilt is gone, all our strivings ceased,
We’re alive to seek His fame
Chorus
Now our future’s fixed, our journey clear; God will not let us go
Every trial that tempts our hearts to fear He’ll use to give us hope
All creation groans as we await what our eyes have longed to see
Every pain and evil we’ve long endured
Will be crushed by Christ our King
Chorus
Music and Lyrics: Jordan Kauflin
Departing Song | When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
We begin to end in faith and song.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Music and Lyrics: Isaac Watts
*Benediction | Hebrews 12:20-21 | Rev. 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.
20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”