Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Greetings Redeemer family,

This week we celebrate the ordination and installation of two new deacons.  God has greatly blessed us by continuing to raise up new leaders to aid us in our mission to carry the Gospel to our community and to the world.  The service this week is a celebration of the calling this calling that God has given to His people – the Church, and our dependence on the gift of His Spirit to do this work.

Our service this week begins with a call to worship from Psalm 84.  This passage focuses on the blessing of being welcomed into the presence of the Living God.  To serve Him and dwell in His presence is a joyful honor.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor;
No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Those last phrases are quite lofty: “whose walk is blameless”, “the man who trusts in you.”  How do we make claim to the promises of this psalm, when we know that we do not deserve them?  Our first hymn anticipates this tension.  “Come Thou Fount” is a prayer that God would change our hearts.  Only then will we be able us to love and worship Him as He deserves.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

While “Come Thou Fount” is our prayer that God would come into our midst, the song “Satisfied” focuses on how Christ came and rescued us when we were lost in sin.  The verses reflect back on our lost estate, following after every worldly promise that is ultimately empty.  The chorus is a joyful celebration of Jesus who found us and decisively redeemed us.

All my life long, I had panted
For a drink from some clear spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! He has found me,
The one my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies all my longings,
Through His blood I now am saved.

When we read the life and teachings of Jesus, it is quickly apparent that He desires for more than just to forgive us for past wrongs.  He has called us to follow Him.  As members of His body – the church – we are the chief vessels of the Kingdom in the world.  This high calling is the focus of our Confession of Faith this week.   This reading comes from the Christian Reformed Church document, Our World Belongs to God.

Joining the mission of God, the church is sent with the gospel of the kingdom to call everyone to know and follow Christ and to proclaim to all the assurance that in the name of Jesus there is forgiveness of sin and new life for all who repent and believe.  The Spirit calls all members to embrace God’s mission in their neighborhoods and in the world: to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and free the prisoner.  We repent of leaving this work to a few, for this mission is central to our being.

This reading ends with a call to repentance – recognizing that we have failed to be faithful in this calling.  It is appropriate then that we take some time to soberly consider our need of God’s grace – both for forgiveness and to live new lives of obedience.

Almighty God, We confess how hard it is to be your people.  You have called us to be the church, to continue the mission of Jesus Christ to our lonely and confused world.  Yet we acknowledge we are more apathetic than active, isolated than involved, callous than compassionate, obstinate than obedient, legalistic than loving.  Gracious Lord, have mercy upon us and forgive our sins.  Remove the obstacles that prevent us from being your representatives to a broken world.  Awaken our hearts to the promised gift of your indwelling Spirit.  This we pray in Jesus’ powerful name.  Amen.

After confessing our need for God’s grace, we close our service this week with a celebration of the sufficiency of that Grace.  His love towards His people is never-ending.  As we read in our call to worship, “no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”  Because of Jesus’ blood and perfect righteousness, we are are made recipients of this great inheritance.  Moreover, we are given the great privilege of serving our brothers, sisters, and the world out of this abundance.

Great is Your faithfulness O God
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

Leaning on the everlasting arms of His grace,
Tim Sharpe