Worship Notes for Sunday, April 22, 2012
On this Third Sunday of the Easter season we encounter the teaching of Jesus on the new wine, or the new covenant. As he speaks these truths to adherents of the old covenant, we become aware of the danger of becoming hard hearted to the working of God. We begin the service with the Call to Worship from Psalm 95 as a call to come into the presence of the Lord, our maker and our rock. We continue by singing The Church’s One Foundation as the “new creation” of Christ through “water and the word” and bought by his blood.The Old Testament Reading from Jeremiah 31 speaks of the new covenant when God will write His law on our hearts instead of just residing on tablets in the Tabernacle. This is true because the curtain separating man from God has been ripped open and the Spirit’s indwelling of believers recreates them as the Temple of God. The Prayer of Confession from Isaiah 63 confesses the hardness of heart that comes when we wander or resist God and we feel like He is distant and far away from us. The Assurance of Pardon reminds us from Hebrews 8 that His law is with us, we are His people, and He is merciful to forgive and remember our sins no more.
Our hearts are encouraged as we sing Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder and recount how Christ has fulfilled the old covenant and washed us in the blood of the new covenant. Our second Communion hymn speaks of our desire to have Christ “abide with us and spread His table in our heart.” Our final hymn is How Sweet and Awesome which beautifully portrays the invitation of Christ to the Feast of the Lamb as something that He alones accomplishes through His love.
