Order of Service, April 16, 2023

Introduction

This Lord’s Day we continue our series, Truth Matters, based on the topics presented in The Baptist Confession of Faith. The seventh chapter focuses on God’s gracious plan. We see this grace, in part, in the divine covenants that unfold throughout Scripture. The apostle Paul declares that this gracious plan is revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The hymns in this service focus our attention on God’s grace extended to helpless sinners such as us.

PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP

Prelude

Call to Worship:     Ephesians 2:4-7

Invocation

PROCLAMATION

Hymn 2       Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven

Note: We begin the service with an anthem that offers praise to the King of Heaven. Woven throughout the hymn, we find characteristics of God that provide motivation for such adoring worship. Especially appropriate for our sermon text are references to the grace He extends to us.

Worship through Giving
Congregational Response:   Doxology

Hymn (Insert)     Not What My Hands Have Done

Notes:  On our own, we can never overcome the effects of the Fall or please God. We come to the Savior, trusting him alone for grace and mercy. So, we sing “not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul.” 

Scripture Reading     Hebrews 1:1-14

Note: The subject of this service is God’s gracious plan. Hebrews 1 show how it unfolds. His plan spans all of history. It began in eternity. It was initiated with creation. It extends into an eternal future. It was revealed it progressively. It centers on Christ, our Savior and King.

Pastoral Prayer

Hymn (Insert)     Lord, ‘Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee

Note: Josiah Conder’s hymn attributes our salvation to God’s gracious initiative. He speaks of the doctrine of regeneration when he says that God’s grace “taught my darkened heart and mind.” The third verse calls us to praise the “Spirit of salvation, Him by whom our spirits live.”

Message: God’s Gracious Purpose
2 Timothy 1:8-12
Pastor Steven Thomas

RESPONSE

Hymn 26      Great God of Wonders!

Notes: This hymn based on Micah 7:18 is a fitting response to Paul’s description of God’s gracious purpose that planned and provided for our salvation.

Who is a pard’ning God like Thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?

Prayer Response:      Mark Buhr

Benediction:      Mark Buhr