Greetings Redeemer family!
Each week, I sit down to write this e-mail. My hope is that, by talking through some of the various songs and prayers that we will use in our services, you will be prepared to engage with each element in the service. Our aim on Sunday morning is to go beyond simply reciting words on a page. Our time together should be corporate worship – where all of us together are actively participating in praise and prayer with the God of the Universe. This is an awesome and weighty thing that we have the privilege to do each week. I pray, even as I write this, that God will use our time together this week both for His Glory and your encouragement.
Last week, we talked about Christ’s claim to be “the Light of the World.” As we continue in the book of John this week, we look at how that light goes out into the world. We have the great privilege as a body to be a sending church. We have had many individuals and families get involved with the life of our church and then feel God’s leading to take His Good News into other areas of our world. The past two summers, we have sent two groups from our church to North Africa, to participate in how Christ’s Kingdom is going forward on the other side of the ocean.
Our call to worship this week from Ps 67 is a prayer that God would bless us, and, through that blessing, the nations would see and praise the glories of God.
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us, that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise You.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You.
Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.
John Piper famously said, “Missions is not the goal of the church, worship is.” Because we desire to see God glorified in all places and by all peoples, we are passionate about missions and evangelism. We aren’t looking just for homes to be built, medicines delivered, or even sermons preached (although all of these are good things). We desire to see hearts transformed by the Gospel. We want to see lives changed from the darkness of sin to the light of Christ. We want people to turn from false gods to worship the True and Living God.
Our service starts this week with 3 songs that speak of this desire to see God glorified throughout the world.
Come people of the risen king, who delight to bring Him praise;
Come all and tune your hearts to sing to the Morning Star of grace.
From the shifting shadows of the earth we will lift our eyes to Him,
Where steady arms of mercy reach to gather children in.
Rejoice, Rejoice! Let every tongue rejoice!
One heart, one voice; O Church of Christ, rejoice!
….
May our light shine in the darkness
As we walk before the cross
May Your glory fill the whole earth
As the water over the seas
From the mountain to the valley
Hear our praises rise to You
From the heavens to the nations
Hear our singing fill the air
…..
Immortal, invisible God only wise
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes
Most holy, most glorious the ancient of days
Almighty, victorious Your great name we praise
All life comes from You Lord, to both great and small
In all life you live Lord, the true life of all
We blossom and flourish, but quickly grow frail
We wither and perish, but You never fail
Most Holy, Most glorious
The Ancient of Days
Almighty, victorious
Your great name we praise
In our passage this week, Christ makes references to the Pharisees “dying in their sins.” Sin is any violation of God’s Holy Law, and each of us sin multiple times every day. Moreover, there’s no good thing we can do that makes up for the guilt of our sins. The violation is too severe. Our salvation must come from somewhere else. Our Confession of Faith this week points to how God saves us from our sins through our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
Our corporate prayer of confession gives us an opportunity to confess together before God both our sins and our need of redemption.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent; according to Your promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. Grant that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life; to the glory of His holy name. Amen.
Following our time of confession, we will hear a Scriptural assurance of Christ’s pardon. The middle verse of this reading will be very familiar to all of us. I hope that you will hear anew in God’s Word the hope that Christ saves us from death in sin by giving us the hope of His eternal life. And this hope is not just for us assembled in Lynchburg, but is for the entire world.
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:15-17
We close our service this week with a song of hope and celebration. Because we have been made alive in Christ, we can go out and share this good news of eternal life in a world that is dying in sin. Participating in missions is a joyful act of worship for the glory of God.
Arise, my soul, arise, shake off your guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice, on my behalf appears;
Before the throne my Surety stands,
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”
Arise (arise), arise (arise), arise
Arise, my soul, arise.
Shake off your guilty fears and rise
Thankful for the eternal life of Christ,
Tim Sharpe
Worship Director
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Lynchburg VA
