Instruction on Watching Our Live Stream
Sunday School On-Line
Join Dennis Drennen for a Live Sunday School Class via Zoom every Week at 9:45 AM
Click the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84688860476?pwd=QmJscW15K3FXK0FSVG13U01Pa200UT09
Blended Worship
Our worship style is a blended mix of traditional with some contemporary music mixed in with a lot of bluegrass and county influence. If you play an instrument and wish to join in, then come to our 8:30 musician’s practice on Sunday Morning. We also have a choir that that you are welcome to join. They practice on Wednesday at 8:00 PM following our 7:00 PM prayer service
We have intercessory prayer where you can bring your prayer request or your friends needs before the congregation. We always close with the Lord’s prayer.
Expect to hear a lot of Scripture Readings read by one of our Ruling Elders during the service.
We serve communion on the first Sunday of each month. All confessing Christians of any denomination in good standing are invited to the table.
Most importantly, expect to be greeted by some of the most loving people you have ever met.
Put your Live Prayer Request in the Chat Box at Lower Right
SERVICE OF WORSHIP, APRIL 14, 2024
“Knowing Christ and Making Him Known”
Welcome and good morning! On this Resurrection Sunday, as you prepare for worship, please mediate on our memory verse from Joel 1:14c, “Gather … into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.” (NKJ)
Welcome and Announcements
WE CRY TO THE LORD IN WORSHIP
Prelude: Caroline Cleaveland
Choral Medley: ”
Scripture Call to Worship From 2 Chronicles 20:3-9 NKJ)
L: Jehoshaphat…set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
ALL: So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
L: Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven?
ALL: “Do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
ALL: “Do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
L: “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
ALL: `If disaster comes upon us– sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine– we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.'”
Chorus of Worship: #530, “I will call upon the Lord”
Prayer of Confession and Invocation
Assurance of Pardon from Isaiah 55:7 (NKJ)
“Return to the LORD, And He will have mercy….
And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Christian, What do you Believe? (Recent translation of the Apostle’s Creed)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again; He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN
[*”catholic” referring to the universal “one body” of Christ]
.Hymn of Worship # 403 “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation”
WE CRY TO THE LORD IN PRAYER
Sharing of Praises and Prayer Requests
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV)
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
WE CRY TO THE LORD IN RESPONSE
Memory Verse for today, from Joel 1:14c (NKJ)
“Gather … Into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.”
Memory Verse for April 21, [from Cory]
Reading from Joel 1:1-4, 12-14 (NKJ)
“The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation.
4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten…. 12 The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree– All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.”
Song of Praise # 684 “Precious Lord”
Tithes and Offerings
WE CRY TO THE LORD IN TRIALS
Children’s Bible Chat:
After the chat, children 7 and under are invited to attend the Children’s Church by leaving through the door next to the organ.
Sermon from Joel 1, What should we do in face of a disaster?
Context: Joel, one of the shortest books of the OT (73 verses), was written as a response to a natural disaster that threatened Israel with starvation but one that shall be relieved by the coming Day of the Lord and the outpouring of God’s Spirit. Let’s use Joel’s introduction to help us prepare for whatever lies ahead.
Continuation of reading from Joel 1:15-20 (NKJ)
“Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.19 O LORD, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.”
[1] Joel writes by Inspiration (v.1)
- The opening claim of inspiration starts in Gen 15:1
- Inspiration means God speaks through prophets like Joel the son of Pethuel, so will you listen?
[2] Joel lives in an Invasion (2-12]
- An Invasion of Locusts is pictured as a destroying army (2-6)
- This invasion comes with drought and wildfires (7-12; 17-18)
- In the Background are the Covenant curses of Deut 28:36ff.–how applicable are they to us today?
[3] Joel issues an Invitation (13-14a)
- To get in the right attitude before God (13a; James 4:9)
- To get in the right position before God (13a; Jer 4:8)
- To get in the right assembly before God (14a; Heb 10:25)
[4] Joel finds a solution by Invocation (14b-20)
- It’s a call in our desperation (14b; Ps 107:13)
- It’s a call for God’s intervention (19; Ps 86:3)
- It’s a call from all creation (20; Ps 145:15).
Closing Application: Whatever disaster you face or fear, the first step is to cry out to the Lord, so have you done so? (Joel 2:32)
WE CRY TO THE LORD IN COMMITMENT
Hymn of Commitment # 408 “How Firm a Foundation”
COMMITMENT VERSE FOR REFLECTION Psalm 145:18 (NKJ)
“The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.”
BENEDICTION FROM Revelation 7:9-10 (NKJ)
“Behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!””
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