Worship Notes for 2/3/2008
Feb 1st, 2008
Greetings, Redeemer Family!
“Recovering Intimacy”
Sounds a bit like a workshop title of some type, doesn’t it?? But it is actually our sermon title for this week, with Mike preaching out of Genesis 2:18-25.
We’ll begin with a reminder from Scripture that we are called to bring glory to our Father when we gather for worship:
Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
How awesome is the LORD Most High,
the great King over all the earth! (Psalm 47:1,2)
and we will respond with two songs of praise; one of which is fairly new for us at Redeemer, but which has a wonderful text which sings of all creation praising its Lord and Maker.
Hear All Creation
Verse 1
Hear all creation lift its voice,
The mountains sing and the rivers rejoice
For the name of Jesus,
for His name.
And we His people saved by grace,
We bow our hearts and we bring our praise
To the sweet Redeemer,
For His name.
Refrain
So with everything we are
And everything we have
We pour out our offerings.
And if ever we should fail,
The rocks will rise up
And crown Him King of Kings.
Verse 2
He mends our hearts He keeps our ways:
He lights our nights and He leads our days
All for His glory,
for His name.
There”s nothing greater than to be His,
To bring Him glory and to fully live
for the name of Jesus,
for His name.
Text by Margaret Becker; Music by Keith Getty
©2001 ThankYou Music. Used by permission
CCLI# 2419466
We will read Psalm 63 (my favorite Psalm!) together as we continue our worship together, and as is our custom on communion Sunday we will pray the Lord’s prayer together. May I encourage you (with your family) to consider that in the very beginning of the Lord’s prayer we find a blessed reminder of the intimacy that we are privileged to share with God-as we call him “Father” and come to him as needy children.
Psalm 63 is a beautiful text which our souls can use to cry out to God as we desire deeper relationship with him. Notice that for the psalmist, desiring intimacy with God is a very visceral experience. His soul and body “cry out for the living God.” Nothing else will do.
Psalm 63
1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
We’ll use a historic hymn of praise to remember the Lord’s father-like care for us, his children.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how all thy longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
Text : Joachim Neander, 1680; based on Psalm 103
Tune: Stralsund (Germany) Hymnal, 1665
As we worship with tithes and offerings, we’ll sing a contemporary setting of an old hymn text which was written by my friend Davide Marney. We’ll follow each verse of the hymn with a brief scripture reading which further carries out the truths we’ve just sung. When you put it all together, it is a wonderful reminder of the intimate care that the Lord exerts over us- with joy- because he has given his Son for us!
Cast Thy Burden on the Lord
[members of the worship team will read Scripture passages in brackets]
1. Cast thy burden on the Lord,
only lean upon His word;
thou wilt soon have cause to bless
His eternal faithfulness.
[As for me, I will call upon God,
And the Lord shall save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the
righteous to be moved.]
(Psalm 55:16-17; 22)
2. He sustains thee by His hand,
He enables thee to stand;
those whom Jesus once hath loved
from His grace are never moved.
[”Fear not, for I have redeemed you,
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you walk through the fire
You will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”]
(Isaiah 43:2-1b, 2b,3.)
3. Human counsels come to naught;
that shall stand which God hath wrought;
His compassion, love, and pow’r
are the same for evermore.
[Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men who cannot save.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
The Maker of heaven and earth,
The sea, and everything in them-
The Lord, who remains faithful forever.]
(Psalm 146:3, 5, 6.)
4. Heav’n and earth may pass away,
God’s free grace shall not decay;
He hath promised to fulfil
all the pleasure of His will.
[God is our refuge and strength,
An ever present help in time of trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
And the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
The God of Jacob is our fortress.]
(Psalm 46:1,2b,7)
5. Jesus, Guardian of Thy flock,
be Thyself our constant rock’
make us, by Thy pow’rful hand,
strong as Zion’s mountain stand.
(Congregation and team read together)
Cast your burden on the Lord,
And he shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Make us, by Thy pow’rful hand,
strong as Zion’s mountain stand.
Text: Anon. in Rowland Hill’s Psalms and Hymns, 1783
Music: Davide C. Marney, 1995
Scripture Readings added by John Bennetch, 1999
As we come to the Lord’s table together this Sunday, may we taste and see the goodness of the Lord, and may our hearts follow hard after him.
Blessings in Christ,
John Bennetch
–
John H. Bennetch
Director of Worship
Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Lynchburg, Virginia