May 24, 2020 PM Service

Open with Prayer:

O Lord our God,

You are our Keeper. Our help is in Your Name.

We are grateful that You ride the heavens to help us, and in Your excellency on the clouds.
You are the eternal God. You are our Refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Keep us in the hollow of Your hand we pray, in Jesus’ Name.

Amen.

Sing a Song of Response: Lord God of Hosts, in Mercy……………………Psalter Hymnal #160

Lord God of hosts, in mercy my supplication hear;

Almighty and all-faithful, our fathers’ God, give ear.
Our Shield and great Defender, no longer hide Thy face,
But look upon Thy servant, anointed by Thy grace.

In Thy blest courts to worship, my God, a single day

Is better than a thousand while far from Thee I stray.
Though in a lowly station, the service of my Lord
I choose above all pleasures that sinful ways afford.

A sun and shield forever is God, the Lord Most High;

 To those who walk uprightly no good will He deny.
His saints, His grace receiving, shall soon His glory see;
O Lord of hosts, most blessed are they that trust in Thee.

Read from the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 25

Question and Answer 65

65. Q. It is by faith alone

That we share in Christ and all his benefits:
Where then does that faith come from?

A. The Holy Spirit works it in our hearts

By the preaching of the holy gospel
And confirms it
By the use of the holy sacraments.

66. Q. What are sacraments?

A. Sacraments are visible, holy signs and seals,

They were instituted by God so that
By our use of them
He might make us understand more clearly
The promise of the gospel
And seal that promise.

And this is God’s gospel promise:

He grants us forgiveness of sins and eternal life
 By grace
Because of Christ’s one sacrifice
Accomplished on the cross.

67. Q. Are both the word and the sacraments then

Intended to focus our faith
On the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross
As the only ground of our salvation?

A. Yes indeed!
The Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel
And confirms by the holy sacraments
That our entire salvation
Rests on Christ’s one sacrifice for us on the cross.

Prayer

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind:

We humbly intercede on behalf of all people, that You would be pleased to make Your
ways known to them, Your saving grace to all nations.

More especially, we pray for the universal church, that it may be so guided and governed
by Your Holy Spirit, that all who profess to be and call themselves Christians may be led into the
way of truth and embrace the faith in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace, and in
righteousness of life.

Finally, we commend to Your fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or
distressed in mind, body, or any other way. May it please You to comfort and relieve them,
according to their particular needs, giving them patience in their sufferings and a blessed
deliverance out of all their afflictions.

All this we ask for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.1

Listen to the Pre-Recorded Message

https://youtu.be/Zi0JkDxzAKU

Sing a Song of Response: Nearer, Still Nearer……………………………….Psalter Hymnal, #

454

Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart,

Draw me, my Savior, so precious Thou art.
Fold me, O fold me close to Thy breast;
Shelter me safe in that haven of rest,
Shelter me safe in that haven of rest.

Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring,

Naught as an offering to Jesus my King—
Only my sinful, now contrite heart;
Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart,
Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.

Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine,

Sin with its follies I gladly resign,
All of its pleasures, pomp, and its pride;
Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified,

1
Liturgical Forms and Prayers of the United Reformed Churches in North America (Wellandport, Ontario: United
Reformed Churches in North America [Canada], 2018), 103.
 Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified.

Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last,

Till safe in glory my anchor is cast;
Through endless ages, ever to be
Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee,
Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee.

Doxology: Glory Be to the Father………………………………………….…..Psalter Hymnal #492

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen, amen.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer