Worship Notes for Sunday, April 21, 2013
The parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10 again provides the core of our service—who is our neighbor and what does it mean to love and serve them. Psalm 111 reminds us in our Call to Worship that the Lord is gracious and merciful and He provides food for those who fear Him. We continue by singing Crown Him With Many Crowns for He is the Lord of love as well as O the Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus.In the New Testament Reading from Galatians 5, Paul reminds us that loving our neighbor is one way we serve one another in freedom. The Prayer of Confession from I Peter 4 reflects our failure to do that by not loving others as He has loved us. We prayerfully respond by singing Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken for He has called us to leave everything and follow Him—He owns our love even as He calls us to serve those around us.
Our Communion Hymns—O Lord, How Joyful Tis to See and I Will Go both speak of our loves for others in dwelling together in unity as well as being a servant called to let go of anything that captures our attention other than the glory of Christ. Our final hymn, Awake My Zeal, Awake My Love, calls us to respond to the love of God by serving Him in the ways that we care for our neighbors and those in need. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.—I John 3:16
