Call to Worship – Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
Invocation
Father in Heaven, we praise you for you are good. We thank you for your faithfulness, even though we are unfaithful; for your grace, though we are ungracious; for your love, though we fail to love; for hearing us when we call, though we don’t listen well. Be with us this hour: fill us with your Spirit, open our hearts to receive Your word, and help us to trust you more fully. We pray this in the name of the One who died to make us whole, Amen.
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee, Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, Center of unbroken praise;
Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in Thee!
Always giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,
Well-spring of the joy of living, Ocean-depth of happy rest!
God our Father, Christ our Brother, All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward In the triumph song of life.
Words: Henry J. VanDyke
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
CCLI #2487144
Children’s Sermon
Prayer and Intercession
LORD OF HEAVEN,
Thy goodness is inexpressible and inconceivable.
In the works of creation you are almighty,
In the dispensations of providence all-wise,
In the gospel of grace all love,
And in your Son you have provided for
our deliverance from the effects of sin,
the justification of our persons,
the sanctification of our natures,
the perseverance of our souls in the path of life.
Though exposed to the terrors of your law,
we have a refuge from the storm;
Though compelled to cry, ‘Unclean’,
we have a fountain for sin;
Though creature-cells of emptiness,
we have a fullness accessible to all,
and incapable of reduction.
Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus
makes other interests a shadow and a dream.
Keep us from intermittent attention
to eternal things;
Save us from the delusion of those
who fail to go far in religion,
who are concerned but not converted,
who have another heart but not a new one,
who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ.
Let us judge our Christianity,
not only by our dependence upon Jesus,
but by our love to him,
our conformity to him,
our knowledge of him.
Give us a religion that is both real
and progressive,
that holds on its way and grows stronger,
that lives and works in the Spirit,
that profits by every correction,
and is injured by no carnal indulgence.
Fourth Day Morning: True Christianity from The Valley of Vision
Please take a few moments to pray for:
- Chelsea Mends-Cole
- Brady Adams
- The Paradee Family
- Kevin Fleming
- Donna Waguespack
- Healthcare workers
- Other personal concerns
Scripture Reading – Genesis 21:1-21
The Birth of Isaac
21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
Sermon: Two Mothers, One Father, Two Boys, and One God
-Pastor Vawn Edele
Mighty to Save
Everyone needs compassion, A love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness, The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me, All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow Everything I believe in
Now I surrender.
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine Your light and Let the whole world see
We’re singing For the glory of the risen King, Jesus,
Shine Your light and Let the whole world see
We’re singing For the glory of the risen King.
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save. He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.
Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan
© 2006 Hillsong Worship
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