Ward Hill Church of Christ the King
A Christ-Centered Community of Faith, Hope, & Love
The Lord’s Day, April 30, in the Lord’s Year 2023
Fourth Sunday of Easter – Christ the Good Shepherd Sunday
Please speak bold words and sing italicized words. *we invite you to stand if 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.
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!
* Hymn 184 The King of Love My Shepherd Is DOMINUS REGIT ME
* 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: 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 494, verse 1) DOVE OF PEACE
“Forgive our sins as we forgive,” you taught us, Lord, to pray; but you alone can give us grace to live the words we say, to live the words we say.
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.
* The Peace of Christ Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
The peace of Christ the Good Shepherd be with you. And also with you.
Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer
Song – In Christ alone, my hope is found; he is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought & storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save,
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied,
For every sin on Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious Day, up from the grave He rose again.
And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.
From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand,
Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
Gathering Prayer (Collect for Easter IV): O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for the Reading of the Holy Scriptures
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23 – Hymn 87 The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want CRIMOND
1 Peter 2:19-25
John 10:1-10 The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Sermon – “He Left Us His Example”
The Apostles’ Creed – hymnal page 845
Prayers of the People, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer (saying ‘debts’)
Offering Gifts
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 605 All the Way My Savior Leads Me ALL THE WAY
* Benediction
Postlude
The Ward Hill Church Bell Ringer
wardhillchurch.org
Midweek Prayer – Tuesday, May 9 at 7 pm
Lectionary and Hymns for Next Sunday, May 7, 2023
Season: Eastertide–50 days from Easter Day to Pentecost (Apr 9–May 28, 2023)
Color: White – for the glory of Christ’s resurrection life
Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 7
Lectionary: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5,15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14
Hymns: 284–This Joyful Eastertide; 278–That Easter Day with Joy was Bright
Monthly Prayer Focus for April
Local Church Focus: April – Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe, Ward Hill – Fr Vart Gyozalyan, pastor
Missions Focus: Barnabas Ministries
Community Resources – Food, Clothing, Shelter, & Other Help
www.communityactioninc.org/phocadownload/resource_guide_english_october_2017.pdf National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 or 988
Refugee Ministries: Interserve USA (interserveusa.com); Emmanuel Gospel Center’s Greater Boston Refugee Ministry (www.egc.org/refugee)
Global Crisis Help: World Relief – worldrelief.org
Information on Persecuted Christians: Open Doors USA –opendoorsusa.org
Pray for Turkey and Syria; Pray for Sudan – worldrelief.org
VISITORS – Thank you for joining us. We very much appreciate your presence, and we hope you feel at home with us. If you have any questions, please ask. We hope to see you again soon. Email – wardhillchurch@gmail.com
Look us up on Facebook, Twitter, and wardhillchurch.org!
Lord’s Day Schedule through Trinity Sunday
Service – 10 am (Lord’s Supper observed on 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month)
Fellowship & Study – 11 am to 12 noon * Communion
May 7 Easter V* May 28 Pentecost (Memorial Day Wkd)
May 14 Easter VI (Mother’s Day) Jun 4 Trinity Sunday*
May 21 Easter VII*–Ascension Sunday
Monthly Scripture Memory for April
Romans 10:9-13 (ESV) – 9 Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Weekly Catechism: Outline of the Faith
Q. What is Holy Baptism?
A. Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ’s Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.
Q. What is the outward and visible sign in Baptism?
A. The outward and visible sign in Baptism is water, in which the person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Q. What is the inward and spiritual grace in Baptism?
A. The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.
Q. What is required of us at Baptism?
A. It is required that we renounce Satan, repent of our sins, and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
The following two questions are for those in our congregation who believe that the children of believers should be baptized. Like many churches in the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Ward Hill Church affirms as biblical and proper both this traditional Congregationalist understanding as well as the Baptist view that children of believers should wait to make their own profession of faith prior to baptism. In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.
Q. Why then are infants baptized?
A. Infants are baptized so that they can share citizenship in the Covenant, membership in Christ, and redemption by God.
Q. How are the promises for infants made and carried out?
A. Promises are made for them by their parents and sponsors, who guarantee that the infants will be brought up within the Church, to know Christ and be able to follow him.
Ward Hill Church of Christ the King 