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July 28, 2024
Resources and content for this Sunday.
*Call to Worship | Romans 5:3-5 | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God invites and calls us into his presence to worship him.
3 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
*Song of Adoration | Holy, Holy, Holy!
We begin by responding with praise to God for who he is and for what he does.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert and art and ever more shall be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Music and Lyrics: John Bacchus Dykes, Reginald Heber
*Confession of Faith | Hebrews 12:1-2
With the church in history we confess a basic statement of what Christians believe.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
*Song of Confession | Rock of Ages
Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs are simply prayers that are sung. We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s commands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone,
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Music and Lyrics: Augustus Montague Toplady, Thomas Hastings
Confession of Sin | Valley of Vision, “The Name of Jesus”
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.
All-searching God,
You read the heart,
you see principles and motives of actions,
and you see more defilement in my duties
than I ever saw in any of my sins.
I am ready to flee from myself because of
my abominations;
Yet you do not hate me
but have devised means for my return to you,
and that, by your Son who died to give me life.
Assurance of Pardon | Philippians 1:6 | 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.
6 I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
*Song of Response | Man Of Sorrows
We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.
Man of sorrows what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned he stood,
Sealed my pardon with his blood
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was he,
Sacrificed to set us free
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Lifted up was he to die;
"It is finished" was his cry;
Now in heaven exalted high
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
When he comes, our glorious King,
All his ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we'll sing
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Music and Lyrics: Peter Hawley, Philip Paul Bliss
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 | Jesus I Come
As we offer our prayers so we also offer up our thanks in song.
Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come; Jesus I come.
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress into jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into Thy blessed will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward forever on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.
Into the joy and light of Thy home,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Music and Lyrics: William True Sleeper, Nathan Partain
Prayer for Christ’s Church
We lift up our requests to God knowing that he hears us when we pray.
*Reading of Scripture | selections from Numbers | Rev. Blake Arnoult
God reveals himself and his work and speaks to us his people through his Word.
1:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head...”
2:1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side...”
10:11 In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12 and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran…
13:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”… 25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan...”
30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”
14:1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!…
26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected… 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure…’
20:22 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
Pastor: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
The Preaching of the Word | Rev. Blake Arnoult
“Numbers: The People of God Wandering”
Christ in the Old Testament
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 | Grace Greater Than Our Sin
We celebrate our communion in faith and song.
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled
Grace, grace, God’s grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold
Threaten the soul with infinite loss
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross
Chorus
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide
What can avail to wash it away?
Look, There is flowing a crimson tide
Brighter than snow you may be today
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face
Will you this moment His grace receive
Chorus
Music and Lyrics: Julia Harriette Johnston, Daniel Brink Towner
Departing Song | Doxology
We begin to end in faith and song.
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/
Music and Lyrics: Jennie Lee Riddle
*Benediction | Numbers 6:24-26 | 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.
24 The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be
gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you
peace.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bible Studies
Women’s Evening Study: Thursday, August 1
Our women’s evening study on Prayer will meet on Thursday, August 1! Join us at the home of Susan Arnoult at 7pm.
Men’s Morning Study: Friday, August 2
Our men’s study on Prayer will meet on Friday, August 2 at 7am at Bean and Bottle! 9655 Katy Freeway Suite 100.
Women’s Morning Study: Wednesday, August 28
Our weekly women’s study on Prayer begins at 10am on Wednesday, August 28 at the Wade home!
Fall Kick-Off Party
Sunday, August 25, 11:30am
Join us for our annual Fall Kick-Off Party on August 25! We will gather at Pickleball Social for fun and games, including a pickleball tournament! Anyone who is interested in playing in our pickleball tournament can sign up through our weekly email or on our website!
Kids’ Sunday School
Begins Sunday, September 8, 9am
Cornerstone Kids’ Sunday School will begin on Sunday, September 8 for the first week of our 10-week series on Justification!
Youth Bible Study
Begins Sunday, September 8, 9am
Cornerstone Kids’ Sunday School will begin on Sunday, September 8 for the first week of our 10-week series on Justification!