Sunday Morning Worship Order | 10/6/2013

Call to Worship
Welcome to Grace. Hebrews 11 is going to have us considering Abraham and God’s promises to him that would ultimately bless all the nations. Psalm 105 calls offspring of Abraham to worship the Lord for the ways they'd seen God fulfilling His promises to Abraham.

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

PSALM 105:1-6

When that Psalm was written, the “wondrous works” the offspring of Abraham were called to remember and sing praises about were the events of the Exodus - how God had delivered them from slavery, and judged their Egyptian oppressors, and how God had brought them through the wilderness and planted them in the land of Canaan. Those were the signs of God’s faithfulness to His original promises to Abraham that they had seen.

And Psalm 105 calls US to worship, too, as offspring of Abraham… because we’ve seen so much more of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises to Abraham. Now through Jesus God has worked a “much greater exodus”. We’ve been ransomed from slavery to sin through Jesus’ death and are being led by God’s hand to the “real Canaan”, to be with the Lord forever. Galatians 3:29 assures us: “If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.” 

Let’s stand and sing praises to Him, O offspring of Abraham.

Song: The God of Abram Praise (Awesome God)

Song: All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

Congregational Praise and Thanks
Invite congregation to lift up prayers of praise and thanks for these things we’ve been singing.

Greeting

Call to Confession

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

PSALM 121:1-2

Mike Cosper, pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, writes this about those verses in his book on worship called Rhythms of Grace:

This is what we do every week when we gather together to worship. We not only affirm that our hope is in him; we deny any hope in the gods of the world around us.

Worship is always a war. The declaration that there is one God, that his name is Jesus, and that he has died, has risen, and will come again is an all-out assault on the saviors extended at every level of culture around us. We’re taught to find a sense of hope in a political party, trusting in our duly elected saviors to make the world right once and for all. We’re taught that a victory at work or good news from a doctor or bathroom scale will satisfy us. We look longingly into the eyes of other human beings and believe that they can affirm us enough and love us well enough to end our sense of loneliness.

We believe these things because we’ve been taught them again and again. Like the ascending pilgrims of Psalm 121, we’re surrounded by clamorous mountains advertising happiness available for consumption.

Worship isn’t merely a yes to the God who saves, but also a resounding and furious no to the lies that echo in the mountains around us. The church gathers like exiles and pilgrims, collected out of a world that isn’t our home, and looks hopefully toward a future.

Prayer of Confession (silent)
Take a moment in silence to “lift your eyes up to the hills” and confess the things you look to for help and deliverance other than the Lord. 

Song: The Solid Rock

Assurance of Pardon
Hear God’s good news to stumbling pilgrims:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

ISAIAH 55:7

The song we introduced last week, By Faith, is such a great help for us to encourage one another to keep lifting our eyes to God and not to the hills and to walk by faith. Let’s all sing it this week.

SONG: By Faith

Offering Meditation and Prayer

Offering Song: Canaan Bound (Andrew Peterson)

Sermon: Pilgrims by Faith (John Rinehart)

Closing Song: Forever With the Lord