Dear friends,
This Sunday Rev. Linda Faith Chalk will be leading us in worship.
Our gospel lesson continues from Matthew chapter 5. Thousands of people have gathered to hear Jesus preach on the mount, and He calls His followers “salt of the earth” and “light of the world”. The lesson picks up in verse 21, where Jesus proceeds to reveal the true and full extent of the Law handed down by Moses. Jesus is not reinterpreting the Law, but is correcting the prevailing errors of the scribes and Pharisees that twisted the Law and God’s intent down to a low and superficial understanding. One commentator notes: “Jesus is teaching the necessity of having a heart to follow God. Putting on an act and going through the motions of serving God is dishonest. It is also futile, because God sees through the masks we wear (Mark 7: 6). A person who pretends to be holy on the outside yet nurtures a sinful heart is a hypocrite. The Pharisees, who everyone thought were holy, were guilty of just such dissimulation. God doesn’t want more religious activity; He wants a heart dedicated to Him. Holiness starts on the inside.”
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119: 105.
We look forward to worshiping together this Sunday, and listening to the sermon “Just when we think that we have it right!”
Order of Service
Prelude
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 321: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (vs 2&4 en français)
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Confession
Declaration of Grace
The Lord’s Prayer
Children’s Time
Hymn 637: “Take my life and let it be” (vs 2&5 en français)
Responsive reading: Psalm 119: 1-8
Gloria Patri
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 (en français – English on the screen)
1 Corinthians 3: 1-9
Matthew 5: 21-37
Sermon: “Just when we think we have it right”
Confession of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
Hymn 496: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet”
Offering and Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 333: “I sing the almighty power of God”
Benediction
Go now in peace
Postlude