May 28, 2023

Here is the worship guide for Sunday, May 28, 2023.

PDF version of the worship guide to download or print.

The livestream will begin at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page or YouTube page.

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Opening Prayer

Hymn: “Holy, Holy, Holy”
Words: Reginald Heber. Music: John B. Dykes

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; 
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! 

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, 
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; 
cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, 
who were, and art, and evermore shalt be. 

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, 
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see, 
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee, 
perfect in power, in love and purity. 

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 
All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea. 
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty! 
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Song: “God Is for Us”
Music and words: Michael Farren, James Ferguson, Tiarne Tranter, Jesse Reeves,
Jonny Robinson, James Tealy, and Rich Thompson.

We won’t fear the battle, we won’t fear the night.
We will walk the valley with You by our side.
You will go before us, You will lead the way.
We have found a refuge, only You can save.

Sing with joy now; our God is for us.
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress.
Raise your voice now, no love is greater.
Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

Even when I stumble, even when I fall,
Even when I turn back, still Your love is sure.
You will not abandon, You will not forsake.
You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace.

Sing with joy now; our God is for us.
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress.
Raise your voice now, no love is greater.
Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

Neither height nor depth can separate us.
Hell and death will not defeat us.
He who gave His Son to free us hold me in His love.

Neither height nor depth can separate us.
Hell and death will not defeat us.
He who gave His Son to free us hold me in His love.

Sing with joy now; our God is for us.
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress.
Raise your voice now, no love is greater.
Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

Sing with joy now; our God is for us.
The Father’s love is a strong and mighty fortress.
Raise your voice now, no love is greater.
Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

Hymn: “The Church’s One Foundation”
Words: Samuel J. Stone. Music: Samuel S. Wesley.

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his ew creation, by Spirit and the Word;
From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

’Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee. 

Time of Prayer

Sermon: “Jesus and Marriage”

Matthew 5:27–32 (ESV)
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 15:10–20 (ESV)
10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Matthew 19:3–12 (ESV)
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Matthew 21:28–32 (ESV)
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

Matthew 22:23–33 (ESV)
23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

Hymn: “Never Cease to Praise”
Words and music: Jeff Bourque.

May we run this race, may we keep the faith,
may our eyes be fixed on Jesus,
that we’ll not lose heart in our struggle with sin,
and through suffering know endurance.

May we arm ourselves with the mind of Christ
to rejoice in trials and be not surprised.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
that we never cease to praise.

May our company be the saints You’ve called,
may we all stand firm in one spirit,
that the gospel’s truth may resound on earth,
that all living things may hear it.

May the fruits of faith mark the path we trod
through the life of Christ to the glory of God.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
that we never cease to praise.

May the words we share be Your grace and peace.
May our tongues speak Your proclamations
that the many parts of the body of Christ
be affirmed in their right relation.

As we long and wait for the groom to come,
may we learn to love, and spur each other on.
May our hearts be so consumed by You
that we never cease to praise.

When that day arrives, and our race is won,
when our griefs give way to deliverance,
we will fully know, as we’re fully known,
all our groans will end as new songs begin.

And a multitude from every tribe and tongue,
wearing robes of white, will stand before Your throne,
And our hearts will be so consumed by You
that we’ll never cease to praise!

May our hearts be so consumed by You
that we never cease to praise.

Benediction

2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.