Worship Notes for 5/9/2010 (PDF)

Greetings Redeemer family,
This week, we return to John’s description of the Last Supper celebrated by
Jesus and His disciples. After Judas had left, Jesus turned to the remaining
disciples and made this proclimation: “Now is the Son of Man glorified and
God is glorified in him.”
Isn’t that an amazing statement? As I read that phrase this week, I was
reminded that this is our goal as we gather each week on Sunday morning: to
bring glory to Jesus, and to glorify God in Jesus. We come to give honor and
praise to the great God who reigns supreme over all that He has made. Our
call to worship this week, from Psalm 93, is a meditation on the power and
majesty of our God.
*The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty
and is armed with strength.
The world is firmly established; *

*it cannot be moved. *

*Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity. *

*The seas have lifted up, O LORD,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. *

*Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the LORD on high is mighty. *

*Your statutes stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days, O LORD.*
Our opening hymns continue this theme. The first, “Our Great God,” reflects
on the eternal glory of God revealed to His people. The second, “O For A
Thousand Tongues,” more specifically praises Christ for the gift of
salvation that He offers to us.
*Eternal God, unchanging *

*Mysterious and unknown*

*Your boundless love, unfailing *

*In grace and mercy shown*

*Bright seraphim in ceaseless flight*

*Around Your glorious throne*

*They raise their voices day and night*

*In praise to You alone*
*Hallelujah glory be to our great God*

*Hallelujah glory be to our great God*
*O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!*

*He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.*
One of the ways that we worship and glorify God together is by corporately
affirming the Truth of who He is, as taught by Scripture. To this end, we
use historic creeds and catechisms of the church. These words were written
by our forefathers in the faith, men who loved Jesus and searched the
scriptures to know Him well. Their legacy of writings are a valuable gift
for us as we follow in their footsteps: seeking to know Christ and to make
Him known to future generations. This reading is taken from the Heidelberg
Catechism.
*Q. Why is He called Christ, that is, Anointed?*

*A. Because He has been ordained by God the Father, *

*and anointed with the Holy Spirit, *

*to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, *

*who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning
our redemption; *

*our only High Priest, *

*who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us, *

*and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; *

*and our eternal King, *

*who governs us by His Word and Spirit, *

*and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.*
As I read over this question and answer, I’m reminded of a job description
– that Jesus is our prophet and He fulfills that role in these ways, and He
is also our Priest and fulfills that role in these ways, and so forth. Many
of us fill multiple roles in our lives as well, as husbands/wives,
sons/daughters, employees/bosses, civic volunteer, friend, student. And some
of us can do this very well, for a time. We live our lives in a balancing
act between these different responsibilities, sometimes choosing to accept a
setback in one area to gain a success in another. But Jesus never did this.
He filled all of His roles perfectly. Our confession of sin this week
recognizes that we over-estimate our own glory, rather than acknowedging the
surpassing glory of Christ.
*Heavenly Father, we confess that we have thought too highly of ourselves.
*

*In our arrogance, we have failed to acknowledge Your Holiness. *

*In our rebellion, we ignore Your will for our lives. *

*In our pride, we have not loved others as ourselves. *

*Forgive us, we pray. *

*Come and rule in our hearts, Lord Jesus. *

*May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing
to You, *

*our Rock and our Redeemer. *

*Amen.*
We close our service this week celebrating that Christ has come and
revealed His glory to us. “Joy to the World” is most often associated with
Christmas, but its words of kingdom joy need not be limited just one season
of the church year.
*Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.*
*No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.*
*He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.*
Living to prove the wonders of His love,

Tim Sharpe

Worship Director