Behold Your God!

Prelude                                                                   

Welcome and Announcements

Introit                                                                                               Choir

“Ebenezer”  

Send Thy Spirit, I beseech Thee, Gracious Lord, send while I pray;

Send the Comforter to teach me, Guide me, help me in Thy way.

Sinful, wretched, I have wandered Far from Thee in darkest night;

Precious time and talents squandered – Lead, O lead me into light.

Thou hast heard me; light is breaking, light I never saw before;

Now my soul with joy awaking, Gropes in fearful gloom no more.

O the bliss! My soul, declare it, Say what God has done for thee;

Tell it out, let others share it –  Christ’s salvation, full and free.

Please use this time to set your hearts on Christ and pray for the Word, our worship, and that holiness and reverence will be known among us.                  

Call to Worship*                                                               Psalm 95:1-3

“O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods!”

Hymn of Praise*                                                                               #76

“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”

Invocation*

Confession of Faith                                             Chalcedonian Creed

“We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.”

Preparation for Confession of Sin                      Psalm 32:3-5a

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD…”

Confession of Sin

Assurance of Pardon                                             Psalm 32:5b-7

“And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not reach him. Thou art my hiding place; Thou dost preserve me with songs of deliverance.”

Hymn of Thanks*                                                                           #689

“Be Still, My Soul”    

Giving of Tithes and Offerings                                 

Prayer of Response

Scripture Reading*                      

Daniel 3:36-44; Philippians 3:7-14

Doxology*                                            #731

Preaching of God’s Word                                      Rev. Jim Claycomb

“Behold Your God!”

Isaiah 40

The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Hymn of Affirmation*                                                                  #343

“Christ is Made the Sure Foundation”          

Benediction*             

Postlude*

Outline:

40:1-3      The threefold Comfort

40:4-5      Revelation of Yahweh's Glory!

40:6-8      The Word of our God stands forever!

40:9-11     Like a Shepherd He will feed His flock

40:12-30  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, Yahweh, Creator...

40:31         Yet they who wait upon the LORD (Yahweh) shall...