Worship Notes for Sunday, July 8, 2012
Psalm 33 brings us from repentance to hoping in the steadfast love of God for He created and sustains us. We begin with the Call to Worship from Psalm 96 that enjoins us to sing to the Lord for He made the heavens and His sanctuary is filled with strength and beauty. We continue this theme by singing For the Beauty of the Earth and Psalm 95: O Come and Sing to God, the Lord—O let us praise our gracious Lord, Our Maker and our King.The Old Testament Reading is from Isaiah 63 in which we “recount the steadfast love of the Lord.” Confession of Sin from Psalm 25 reminds us that “all of His paths are steadfast love and faithfulness,” but we need Him to teach us His ways and lead us in His paths. The Assurance from Joel 2 and Isaiah 54 speaks of the Lord’s abounding steadfast love that will never depart from us because of His great compassion. We then sing of the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.
Our Communion Hymns, There is No Sin and Rock of Ages, reflect the sinfulness of our hearts, our need for a Redeemer, and the great love of our God as our only hope. We finish the service by singing Love Divine All Loves Excelling that reminds us that the steadfast love of God is most clearly seen in the embodiment of Love—the Incarnated Christ—who is the joy of heaven to earth come down. Verse 4 captures the hope and promise of this love in sanctification and justification as we pray for Him to “finish then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be…changed from glory into glory…till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
