Call to Worship
Hear God call you to worship through His Word
“LORD, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with your majesty.” (Psalm 8:1)
Adoration
Give praise to God
Lord God Almighty. Maker of heaven and earth. Creator of every living thing. You are worthy to receive blessing and honour and glory and power because all things have been made by you. You spoke, and it came to be. You said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Every star and every planet have been fashioned by your hand. The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, was made through Christ and for Him and continues to be sustained by Him.
We are so dependent upon you for life and breath and everything else. Every good thing comes to us from your kind hand.
So, we give to you our thanks and we look to you to provide for our needs and to satisfy our every desire.
Amen.
Reading of the Law
Hear the Law of God
"Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
Confession of Sins
Confess your sins to God
Father, your call to walk blamelessly before you weighs heavily on our hearts. Some of us are very aware of just how far short we fall from this command, and we are disappointed in ourselves. Some of us are very blind to our sin and foolishly imagine ourselves to be doing quite well.
Lord, thank you that your mercy is more than a match for all our sins. As we struggle and fail to live lives of perfect holiness, we thank you for Jesus, who walked blamelessly in our place, and by his goodness and death has rescued us forever. Thank you for such a precious redeemer and friend.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Receive these words of comfort
“But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
The Creed
Confess what you believe about the Christian faith
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator 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, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will 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.
Gloria Patri
Respond in praise to God
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
Prayer of Intercession
Seek God's grace as you make your requests to God
Personal
Lord, you have told us how you want to be worshipped. We are not to make an idol or use any image to worship you because nothing in creation can adequately represent you. We are to worship you in spirit and truth and so help us to do that we pray.
Help us by your Spirit to see the truth about Jesus made known to us in your Word and to respond rightly with praise, confession, thanksgiving, trust, and obedience.
Give us a contentment with hearing your Word read and preached, seeing your Word in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and praying and singing your Word in response, because these are the ordinary means of grace which you have given to us to worship you.
Amen.
Church
Lord of the church, we pray that our lives individually and together would be marked by holiness. That we would be holy, as you our God are holy.
Help us to be a distinct community of your people that shine brightly like stars in this world full of darkness and wickedness. Humble us and give to us a greater awareness of our sin and the desire and power we need to put it to death in our lives quickly and decisively.
Holy Spirit as we look to Christ would you change us so that we become more and more like Him. And would our life together stand out in such a way that people would ask about the hope we have and be drawn to trust in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord, like we do.
Amen.
God our Saviour, you want everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. We know that you are being patient, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. And through the gospel you make it clear that you take no pleasure in anyone’s death and plead with people to repent of their sins and live by trusting in Jesus.
Lord, our desire is to be able to join in with the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. So, we pray that we would see 1 person come to faith in Christ.
Lord Jesus do your work of seeking and saving the lost before our eyes and in the lives of people in this community.
Amen.
Elders
We pray for our pastors and elders that they would be one-woman kind of men, exemplary in love and faithfulness to their wives (if they are married). Purify their hearts so that the sin of adultery – expressed even in lustful thoughts and glances – would lose all of its power over them. Keep them from being flirtatious, promiscuous, or involved in any questionable relationship.
May they regard the older women in the church as mothers and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.
Above all, give them a devotion to their wife that reflects the devotion that Christ has for His bride, the church.
Amen.
Church Members
We pray for [member] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. We pray that the eyes of their heart may be enlightened so that they may know what is the hope of their calling, what is the wealth of their glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward them who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.
Amen.
O God, Save your people, bless your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.
Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Pray the words that Jesus taught us to pray
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.
Amen.
Catechism
Receive this instruction from the church
But can those converted to God obey these commandments perfectly?
No. In this life even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience. Nevertheless, with all seriousness of purpose, they do begin to live according to all, not only some, of God's commandments.
Prayer of Illumination
Ask God to give you understanding as you read His Word
Our God, we praise you that you have revealed yourself to everyone everywhere. Through creation and providence and by our consciences, you have made known: your existence, your goodness, your wisdom, your power, your order, and your holiness.
The heavens declare your glory. The skies proclaim the works of your hands. Day after day they are pouring forth speech. Night after night they display knowledge of you. And yet creation, providence, and our conscience do not tell us how to be saved.
Therefore, we praise you that you have spoken in a special kind of way, and have made yourself and your plan of salvation known to us. We thank you that this has been preserved for us in the Scriptures.
By your Spirit give us understanding of your Word for your glory and our good.
Amen.
Scripture Reading
Read today's passage from The Big Read Bible reading plan and pray in response
Read Daniel 1:8-21
Benediction
Receive this blessing from the Lord for the day ahead
May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD look with favour on you and give you peace.
Amen.
Daily Playlist
All Creatures of our God and King | All Gone | Psalm 138 | He Will Hold Me Fast