Order of Service, April 25, 2021

Introduction

This Lord’s Day the worship service sermon text weaves together a series of brief parables that call the followers of Jesus to eagerly anticipate his return. This expectation serves as the motivation for faithful service. The passage climaxes with a clear declaration: the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.

The hymns selected for the worship service express our anticipation of Christ’s glorious return and our resolve to serve him faithfully while wait for him.

PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP

Welcome

Prelude

Call to Worship:     2 Peter 3:10-13

Invocation

Hymn HBC (1-3):     A Lord’s Day Anthem

Notes:  This hymn expresses our desire to hear the Word of God and our longing for its transforming work within us.  These desires rest upon our faith in the risen Christ, remembered each Lord’s Day.

PROCLAMATION

Hymn HBC 1:     Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim

Charles Wesley’s stately anthem speaks of our common responsibility to “publish abroad” the “wonderful name” of our Master. This is the responsibility we have as “servants of God.” (Tune: LYONS)

Scripture Reading:     2 Thessalonians 1:3-12

Note: Jesus taught his followers to faithfully serve him in anticipation of His return. This passage anticipates that glorious day, a time of joy and reward for faithful followers and a day of dread and doom for those who reject him.

Pastoral Prayer

Hymn HBC 20 :    A Charge I Have to Keep

Notes: Our calling is to “serve the present age” and so we resolve to invest all our powers “to do the Master’s will.” We pray in song, asking him to help us to live in his sight and, thus, “prepare a strict account to give.”

Message:      The Greater the Privilege, the Greater the Responsibility
Text: Luke 12:35-48
Steven Thomas

RESPONSE

Hymn HBC 16:     Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

Note: The sermon text moves us to anticipate the day Jesus. This majestic hymn taps our imagination to “see” Christ, who was “once for favored sinners slain,” now coming to reign and to judge. This focus motivates and shapes our service for Christ. And so we sing, “O come quickly; alleluia! Come, Lord, come.”

Hymn HBC: (4-6)     A Lord’s Day Anthem

Notes:  Having heard the Word of God “in sermon, song, and prayer,” our hearts “swell with sober joy.”  The end result of our time of corporate worship is that we “rise resolved to live as worthy children of our God.”

Prayer Response:     Eric Hicks

Benediction:      John Miles