Guide for Home Worship
June 7, 2020

Please note: the song and sermon audio may not be available until Saturday evening.
Printable Worship Guide

Time of Reflection

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”

~Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer and 16th President of the United States

“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”

~Anne Frank (1929-1945), German-Dutch diarist and Holocaust victim

“Students are hungry for truth, for beauty, for goodness….”

“Where are the love warriors? …that teach our young people (no matter what color!): Put love and justice in your struggle; and get that revenge out! But we acknowledge the pain.”

~Cornel West, Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth (visiting) professor

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

~Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

“The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.”

~John Calvin (1509-1564), Swiss theologian, pastor and reformer

“Hope can see through the thickest clouds.”

~Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), English pastor and author

“Hope is the only tie which keeps the heart from breaking.”

~Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), English pastor and historian

“Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called “the rejoicing of hope” (Hebrews 3:6).”

~William Gurnall (1616-1679), English pastor and author

“There is a difference between tears of hope and tears of hopelessness.”

~Erwin Lutzer, Canadian-American pastor and author

“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), pastor and slain civil rights leader

“We’re not defined by…history, but we have to acknowledge it, and…people of faith have a leadership role in causing the rest of the nation to believe that we can get to someplace better. Redemption is still available, but we have to repent, we have to give voice to our failings. Repentance breeds redemption. Collectively, as a Church, we need to do that.”

~Bryan Stevenson, lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative

Introduction

(please listen to the introduction before proceeding with the rest of the order of worship)

Opening Prayer

(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)

Call to Worship

Micah 6:6-8 (NIV)

LEADER: With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?

PEOPLE: Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

LEADER: Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?

PEOPLE: Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

LEADER He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?

PEOPLE: To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Songs and Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)

MY HOPE IS BUILT
(Edward Mote & William B. Bradbury, 1863)

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

REFRAIN:
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil. (REFRAIN)

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay. (REFRAIN)

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne. (REFRAIN)
^{PUBLIC DOMAIN}

RESPONSIVE READING: 

Based on Micah 6:9-16 7:9, 18-20 (NIV) 

LEADER: Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
and to fear your name is wisdom—
“Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.

PEOPLE: Oh Lord, have mercy. Pardon our iniquity.

LEADER: Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
and the short ephah, which is accursed?
Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,
with a bag of false weights?

PEOPLE: Oh Lord, have mercy. Pardon our iniquity.

LEADER: Your rich people are violent;
your inhabitants are liars
and their tongues speak deceitfully.
Therefore, I have begun to destroy you,
to ruin you because of your sins.

PEOPLE: Oh Lord, have mercy. Pardon our iniquity.

LEADER: You will eat but not be satisfied;
your stomach will still be empty.
You will store up but save nothing,
because what you save I will give to the sword.

PEOPLE: Oh Lord, have mercy. Pardon our iniquity.

LEADER: You will plant but not harvest;
you will press olives but not use the oil,
you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.

PEOPLE: Oh Lord, have mercy. Pardon our iniquity.

LEADER: You have observed the statutes of Omri
and all the practices of Ahab’s house;
you have followed their traditions.
Therefore I will give you over to ruin
and your people to derision;
you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

PEOPLE: Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.

LEADER: Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.

PEOPLE: You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

LEADER: You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.

O LORD, MY ROCK AND MY REDEEMER
(Nathan Stiff)

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer,
Greatest treasure of my longing soul.
My God, like You there is no other;
True delight is found in You alone.
Your grace a well too deep to fathom.
Your love exceeds the heavens’ reach.
Your truth a fount of perfect wisdom,
My highest good and my unending need.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer,
Strong defender of my weary heart.
My sword to fight the cruel deceiver
And my shield against his hateful darts.
My song when enemies surround me,
My hope when tides of sorrow rise,
My joy when trials are abounding,
Your faithfulness my refuge in the night.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer,
Gracious Savior of my ruined life.
My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders.
In my place, You suffered, bled, and died.
You rose the grave and death are conquered;
You broke my bonds of sin and shame.
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer,
May all my days bring glory to Your Name.
^{©2017 Sovereign Grace Worship (Admin. by Integrity Music) CCLI License #1791178}

Sharing

(as a lead into the Prayer Time, as a group share how you are feeling and what you are learning; below are suggested questions)

• Share with one another your reactions to the national events of the past week.
• Share with one another what you have been learning from Scripture in light of these events.

Prayer Time

(have an open time of prayer or appoint one or two to pray. Specific prayer requests for this week are listed below.)

• Confess your sins of self-indulgence and indifference.
• Pray for the unity and witness of Christ’s Church at these troubled times (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:1-6; 4:1-6, 25-32).
• Pray for the unity, peace, mercy and justice in our community and across our nation.

Listen to Sermon

“A Faith that Works in Hope”
preached by Pastor Don Willeman
Download Audio or Download Video

James 5:7-12 (ESV)

James 4 

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 5

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸ You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Confession of Faith

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power,
And the glory, forever. Amen.

Sharing Time

(have everyone share one thing that struck them from the sermon)

Song

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions) 

BE UNTO YOUR NAME
(Lynn DeShazo and Gary Sadler)

We are a moment, You are forever,
Lord of the Ages, God before time.
We are a vapor, You are eternal,
Love everlasting reigning on high.

CHORUS:
Holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain
Highest praises, honor and glory
Be unto Your name, be unto Your name

We are the broken, You are the healer,
Jesus Redeemer mighty to save.
You are the love song we’ll sing forever,
Bowing before You blessing Your name. (CHORUS)
^{©1998 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music CCLI #1791178}

Benediction

(The leader or individual should read this aloud relishing in the confident assertion that Christ has conquered.)

Hebrews 13:20-21

LEADER: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

PEOPLE: Amen!