The Lord’s Day, January 29, in the Lord’s Year 2023

Church Covenant Sunday

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words; * we invite you to stand as able.

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Arise, shine, for your light is come. And the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

* Hymn 347   The Church’s One Foundation                                               AURELIA

* Invocation

* Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Declaration of Forgiveness in Christ: If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* New Life in Christ: If you love God, keep his commandments. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

* Response (Hymn 610, verse 2)                                                                            QUEBEC

Take up your cross; let not its weight fill your weak soul with vain alarm; his strength shall bear your spirit up, and brace your heart, and nerve your arm.

    O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise.

*Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)                                            GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.

* The Peace of Christ    The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.

Announcements, Scripture Memory, & Catechism – see Bell Ringer

Prayer of Gathering (Collect for 4 Epiphany): Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Reading of the Holy Scriptures

Micah 6:1-8   

Psalm 15 – Hymn 563 What Kind of Man Can Live in the World

1 Corinthians 1:18-31            

Matthew 5:1-12          The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Sermon – “The Power of Logos and the Limits of Logic”

The Apostles’ Creed – hymnal page 845

Renewal of Church Covenant and Reception of New Members

                      Hymn 355   We Are God’s People                                        SYMPHONY

Welcoming New Members – Gloria Coleman, Edward Doucette,

and Patricia Ferrick

The Covenant of Ward Hill Church of Christ the King

1. Having been led by the Holy Spirit to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and to confess him as Lord, and having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do hereby, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully covenant with one another, as one body in Christ, to lead a life worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing to him.

1. We promise that we will watch over and counsel one another in the spirit of brotherly love; that we will remember one another in our prayers and aid each other in sickness and distress; and that we will cooperate in the total mission of winning others to Jesus Christ.

1. We further agree by the aid of the Holy Spirit to strive for the advancement and purity of this church; to support and promote its work, spiritually and materially; to attend its worship services and unite in its ordinances, always giving it a sacred priority over all institutions of human origin.

1. We will endeavor to live exemplary Christian lives to study and grow in the knowledge and practice of our faith, and to promote the Christian education of our children in the home and in the fellowship of this church. We also agree that when we move from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of the Word of God.

Song – Welcome to the family, we are glad that you have come

To share your life with us, as we grow in love,

And may we always be to you what God would have us be,

A family always there, to be strong and to lean on.

May we learn to love each other more with each new day,

May words of love be on our lips in ev’ry thing we say.

May the Spirit melt our hearts, and teach us how to pray,

That we might be a true family.

Prayers of the People, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer (saying ‘debts’)

Offertory (Hymn 729)                                                                      HERR JESU CHRIST

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

* Doxology (Hymn 731)                                                                           OLD HUNDREDTH

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Offertory Prayer

* Hymn 352   Renew Thy Church, Her Ministries Restore                       ALL IS WELL

* Benediction

Postlude