Introduction
The sermon text for this Lord’s Day (Luke 9:37-50) is made up of a series of short stories about the disciple’s failure. Taken together, these undergird the importance of faith that exalts Christ and excludes all selfish pride.
The hymns selected for the service declare our faith in Christ, our sovereign Lord, a faith that humbles us before him.
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
Welcome
Prelude: Eternal Father, Strong to Save
Call to Worship: Psalm 96:1-6
Invocation
PROCLAMATION
Hymn 52 Crown Him with Many Crowns
Notes: We begin the worship service declaring the identity of Jesus: the Lord of love, life, and years; the “potentate of time, Creator of the rolling spheres.” Therefore, we say, “awake my soul and sing . . . Hail him as thy matchless King.”
Hymn 335 And Can It Be?
Notes: Charles Wesley’s magnificent hymn compresses the Gospel story into 5 verses. The third verse lays before us the wonders of the incarnation. He left his Father’s throne, humbled himself to become one of us, and died for us. We express overwhelming wonder at this Gospel: Can it be? Can mercy this immense and free be ours? Amazing love! He alone is worthy of faith and honor.
Scripture Reading Romans 8:18-39
Notes: This famous and endearing passage moves from a description of sin’s effect on the whole of creation to the grand resolution accomplished in a re-creation. This is according to the plan of God and accomplished through Jesus Christ. The plan of God is eternally secure. Only in Christ we shall triumph. Therefore, our trust rests on him.
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn 412 No Other Plea
Notes: We declare our one faith—a body of doctrine that has Christ alone at its core. “I need no other argument, I need no other plea; It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.” (Please note that in the first verse we will substitute the word “deed” for the word “creed”).
Message: Faith, Conceit, and Failure
Luke 9:37-50
Pastor Steven Thomas
RESPONSE
Hymn 137: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
Notes: Christ, the promised King, came to die a shameful death. The disciples would not fully understand why this was essential to the plan of God. Today, we know—and marvel. When we “survey the wondrous cross,” we have no room for pride. The appropriate response is, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Prayer Response: John Miles
Benediction: John Miles