Home Worship Guide

June 27, 2021

Welcome

Thank you so much for joining us! The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday.

If you are new, welcome! We also want to invite you to learn more about us. You can do so by selecting the button below.
A few tips for parents:
  • Plan for your time – read through the guide and prepare the room where you are gathering
  • Make your time joyful – have fun!!!
  • Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
  • Have your kids participate in age and maturity appropriate ways – reading, singing, etc.
  • You are welcome to print out this week's Children's Bulletin here.

Time of Reflection

“Universities, the traditional refuge of timelessness, nowadays look for big names, and enlarge their public relations and press relations departments to make the university itself a celebrity, known for its well-knownness.”
~Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004), historian and 12th Librarian of Congress

“Jesus Christ goes to the cross and dies as the perfect fulfiller of the law because the law was burdensome and we could not fulfill it. But on the other side of the cross, the redeemed of Christ say that the law no longer hangs over us, but is instead underneath us as the path. It’s the narrow path, actually, that Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount. It points us to what pleases God….  So, the law is a delight to us because it yields in us the fruit of righteousness and it forms us into the image of Christ—who was the perfect fulfillment of the law.”
~Jen Wilkin, writer and speaker

“God’s law is our pleasure when the God of the law is our God.”
~C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), famed London preacher

“We are glorious ruins…glorious because we were created by God for the noble purpose of being His image bearers; yet ruins because sin has marred the divine image we were designed to display, at times beyond recognition.”
~Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984), author and founder of L’Abri in Switzerland

“Though now long estranged,
Man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed,
Disgraced he may be, yet is not dethroned,
And keeps the rags of lordship once he owned.”
~J.R.R. Tolkein, “Mythopoeia,” a poem written for C.S. Lewis

“That every human being possessed an equal dignity was not remotely a self-evident truth. A Roman would have laughed at it. To campaign against discrimination…however, was to depend on large numbers of people sharing in a common assumption: that everyone possessed an inherent worth. The origins of this principle…lay not in the French Revolution, nor in the Declaration of Independence, nor in the Enlightenment, but in the Bible.”
~Tom Holland, English author and historian

Opening Prayer

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

Call to Worship

Psalm 48:1-3 (ESV)

LEADER: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!

PEOPLE: His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,

 
LEADER: Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
 
PEOPLE: Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.

Songs & Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
ON JORDAN’S STORMY BANKS
(Christopher Miner, Samuel Stennett, 1787)
On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie.

All o’er those wide extended plains
Shines one eternal day
There God the Son forever reigns
And scatters night away.

CHORUS:
I am bound (I am bound)
I am bound (I am bound)
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound (I am bound)
I am bound (I am bound)
I am bound for the promised land.

No chilling winds nor pois’nous breath
Can reach that healthful shore
Sickness, sorrow, pain and death
Are felt and feared no more.
(CHORUS)

When shall I reach that happy place
And be forever blest
When shall I see my Father’s face
And in His bosom rest.
(CHORUS)
©1997 Christopher Miner CCLI #1791178
PSALM MEDITATION Psalm 48:4-14 (ESV)

LEADER: For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.

PEOPLE: As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.

LEADER: Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.

PEOPLE: By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.

LEADER: As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever.

PEOPLE: We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.

LEADER: As your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

PEOPLE: Let Mount Zion be glad!

LEADER: Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!

PEOPLE: Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,

LEADER: Consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,

ALL: That you may tell the next generation
that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.

O THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS
(Samuel Trevor Francis & Thomas John Williams, 1875)
O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of thy love;
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To thy glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Spread his praise from shore to shore;
How he loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, never more;
How he watches o’er his loved ones,
Died to call them all his own;
How for them he intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Love of ev’ry love the best:
‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
‘Tis a haven sweet of rest.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus!
‘Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to thee.
PUBLIC DOMAIN

Sharing

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

Prayer Time

(You may have an open time of prayer or select someone to pray)

  • Pray for our church’s short and long-term meeting place needs, that God would give us favor in the eyes of those in authority and that He would give us provision that would go far beyond all that we could ask or imagine.
  • Pray for our world – that the good news of Jesus Christ would flourish and that many would come to know God genuinely and personally.
  • Pray for those experiencing injustices; specifically, that God would bring hope, reconciliation, and restoration through the good news of His Son, and that we would be agents of this reconciliation.
  • Pray for those in authority at every level in our country, that they would govern wisely and justly.

Listen to Sermon

“God’s Glory and Ours”
John 5:30-47
preached by Pastor Don Willeman
Scripture Passage:  John 5:30-47 (ESV)

John 1
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
 
John 5
16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Confession of Faith

The Apostles’ Creed (circa 5th Century)

LEADER: Christian, what do you believe?

CONGREGATION: I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
    Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
    born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell*.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
    and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
    the holy catholic** church; the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
 
Amen.


*i.e. suffered under the judgment of God for His people
**i.e. “universal”

Song of Response

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions) 
MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE
(William R. Featherston, & Adoniram J. Gordon, 1864)
My Jesus, I love Thee; I know Thou art mine
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,
“If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.”

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
“If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.”
PUBLIC DOMAIN

Benediction

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

Luke 12:29-32

LEADER: Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

PEOPLE: Amen!

Worshipping God through Giving

God has called us to be generous. He has entrusted this earth and all that is in it to us, but it is, ultimately, His! The Father gave what was most precious to Him, His own Son, in order to die for our sins. He has given to us abundantly beyond all that we could possibly ask or imagine! He is a benevolent and generous Giver! So, we give.

First, we want to remind you to continue your regular giving to CRC. This supports the ongoing work and ministry here in the Upper Valley and around the world through our missions support. Second, please consider giving to our Benevolence Fund, which supports local community care, both inside and outside the church. This is vitally important right now! As we see needs sprouting up around the community, we want to be positioned to extend a loving hand of support to those in need.

Giving Numbers
2021 Budgeted Giving: $302,850
2021 Actual Giving to Date: $302,069                    
Difference: (-$781)
Missions Giving YTD: $51,415
updated as of 5/31/21