Ward Hill Church of Christ the King
A Christ-Centered Community of Faith, Hope, & Love
The Lord’s Day, May 14, in the Lord’s Year 2023
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Happy Mother’s Day!
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 529 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling BEECHER
* 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 3) Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive DOVE OF PEACE
In blazing light your cross reveals the truth we dimly know; how small the debts men owe to us; how great our debt to you, how great our debt to you.
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 be with you. And also with you.
Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer
Honoring and Praying for Mothers
Hymn Faith of Our Mothers (Hymn tune on p. 570) ST CATHERINE
Faith of our mothers, loving faith, fount of our childhood’s trust and grace,
Oh, may thy consecration prove, source of a finer, nobler race:
Faith of our mothers, living faith! We will be true to thee till death.
Faith of our mothers, guiding faith, for youthful longing, youthful doubt,
How blurred our vision, blind our way, thy providential care without:
Faith of our mothers, guiding faith! We will be true to thee till death.
Hymn 288 Jesus Christ Has Triumphed Now RESURRECTION (WILSON)
Gathering Prayer (Collect for Easter VI): O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; 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
Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 68:8-20
1 Peter 3:13-22 John 14:15-21 The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon – “Our Sure Defense”
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 478 I Love to tell the Story I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY
* Benediction
Postlude
The Ward Hill Church Bell Ringer
The Lord’s Day, May 14, 2023
wardhillchurch.org
Happy Mother’s Day!
Abundant thanks to all mothers and all who have been like mothers. We appreciate you and are grateful to God for you. May God bless you all!
Lectionary and Hymns for Next Sunday, May 21, 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
Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 21 – Ascension Sunday
Lectionary: Acts 1:1-14; Psalm 47; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11
Hymns: 290 – Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise; 292 – Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord; 289 – A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing; 287 – Morning Sun; 134 – God Will Take Care of You
Monthly Prayer Focus for May
Local Church Focus: West Congregational Church (CCCC), Haverhill – Chris Ziegler, pastor
Missions Focus: CCCC’s World Relief and CCCC’s Micronesia
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
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 June
Service – 10 am (Lord’s Supper observed on 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month)
Fellowship & Study – 11 am to 12 noon * Communion
May 21 Easter VII* – Ascension Jun 11 2 Pentecost (Children’s Day)
May 28 Pentecost (Memorial Day Wkd) Jun 18 3 Pentecost* (Father’s Day)
Jun 4 Trinity Sunday* Jun 25 4 Pentecost
Monthly Scripture Memory for May
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Weekly Catechism: Outline of the Faith
Q. What is Ordination?
A. Ordination is the rite in which God gives authority and the grace of the Holy Spirit to those being made Ministers of Word and Sacrament, through prayer and the laying on of hands by the congregation and other ordained ministers.
Q. What is Holy Matrimony?
A. Holy Matrimony is Christian marriage, in which the woman and man enter into a life-long union, make their vows before God and the Church, and receive the grace and blessing of God to help them fulfill their vows.
Q. What is Unction of the Sick?
A. Unction is the rite of anointing the sick with oil, or the laying on of hands, by which God’s grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind, and body.
Q. Is God’s activity limited to these sacraments and other ordinances?
A. God does not limit himself to these rites; they are patterns of countless ways by which God uses material things to reach out to us.
Q. How are the sacraments and other ordinances related to our Christian hope?
A. Sacraments and other ordinances sustain our present hope and anticipate its future fulfillment.
Ward Hill Church of Christ the King 