Wisdom

Here is the worship guide for Sunday, November 22, 2020.

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.

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer

Hymn: “In Christ Alone”

Words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

 

In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace when fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All; here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh; fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones He came to save;
’til on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied;
for every sin on Him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay; Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then, bursting forth in glorious Day, up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
for I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.
From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand;
’til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

Hymn: “Abide with Me”

Words by Henry Lyte, music by Wiliam Henry Monk

Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day.
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!

I need Thy presence ev’ry passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through clouds and sunshine, oh, abide with me!

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still if Thou abide with me!

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies.
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee!
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Time of Prayer

1 Chronicles 16:8–36 (ESV)

⁸  Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹  Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰  Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹  Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
¹²  Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
¹³  O offspring of Israel his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴  He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵  Remember his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶  the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁷  which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸  saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹  When you were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,
²⁰  wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
²¹  he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,
²²  saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!”
²³  Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.

²⁴  Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
²⁵  For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶  For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷  Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸  Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
²⁹  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
³⁰  tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
³¹  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
³²  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
³³  Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴  Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵ Say also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
³⁶  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Hymn: “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness”

Words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who bore my pain,
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again,
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in His light,
And wrote His law of righteousness with pow’r upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him who walks beside,
Who floods my weaknesses and strengths and causes fears to fly,
Whose ev’ry promise is enough for ev’ry step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose ev’ry thought is love.
For ev’ry day I have on earth is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all, to love and follow him.

Sermon: “Life and Death”

Proverbs 14:12 (ESV)

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

Proverbs 16:25 (ESV)

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

Proverbs 15:24 (ESV)

The path of life leads upward for the prudent,

that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

Proverbs 16:17 (ESV)

The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;
whoever guards his way preserves his life.

Proverbs 21:16 (ESV)

One who wanders from the way of good sense
will rest in the assembly of the dead.

Proverbs 22:5 (ESV)

Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.

Proverbs 28:18 (ESV)

Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered,
but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

Proverbs 10:2 (ESV)

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 11:4 (ESV)

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 21:6 (ESV)

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

Proverbs 11:30 (ESV)

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.

Proverbs 15:4 (ESV)

A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Proverbs 18:21 (ESV)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 14:27 (ESV)

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 15:10 (ESV)

There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;
whoever hates reproof will die.

Proverbs 19:16 (ESV)

Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life;
he who despises his ways will die.

Proverbs 20:9 (ESV)

Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;

I am clean from my sin”?

Proverbs 15:11 (ESV)

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!

Proverbs 21:21 (ESV)

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness, and honor.

Hymn: “There Is a Fountain”

Words by William Cowper, music: early American melody

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in His day;
and there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away:
wash all my sins away, wash all my sins away;
and there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die:
and shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue lies silent in the grave,
then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Your pow’r to save:
I’ll sing Your pow’r to save, I’ll sing Your pow’r to save;
then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Your pow’r to save.

Benediction

1 Kings 8:56–61 (ESV)

⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. ⁵⁷ The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, ⁵⁸ that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, ⁶⁰ that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”