Order of Worship

Sunday, April 18, 2021

We extend a warm welcome to all our visitors this morning! Visitors, please complete the Welcome card in the pew rack and put it in the offering plate, so we may know how best to minister to/with you. Let’s prepare our hearts with silent Bible reading, meditation, and prayer before the service begins.

PRAISE (We Acknowledge God’s Majesty)

PRELUDE                  Eternal Weight of Glory                                                                              

*HYMN 57                 Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah! 

*CALL TO WORSHIP                           Micah 5:2, 4, 5a; 6:6, 8; 7:7

Leader: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

All: And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

Leader: And he shall be their peace.

All: With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? 

Leader: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

All: But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

*PRAISE SONGS                       Psalm 24

                                            Be Unto Your Name

*INVOCATION

CORPORATE PRAYER OF CONFESSION

All: “Whom have I in heaven besides you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” This we declare! This we know to be true. But, O Lord, we sin against You in disobedience, in faithlessness, and in joyless obedience. We trust in our own ways, we seek our own ends. We put our trust in the things of this world when we know that our hope, our home, our rest, our life rests only with You in Your eternal kingdom. We are ever ready to defend ourselves; ready to justify our sinful hearts and its fruit when You alone are able to justify in love and mercy. We turn to you in Christ our Lord. We have no merit of our own, but plead His shed blood as our only hope. He took our sin upon Himself, canceling our debt, having paid it in full! It is His righteousness that covers us as we trust in Him for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Forgive us through our savior Jesus Christ, the Lord and giver of life, the justifier of God’s elect. O Lord, hear us we pray. Amen. 

SILENT CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON                         Luke 18:13-14

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

CONSECRATION (We Surrender Our Lives to Christ)

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

*HYMN 347              The Church’s One Foundation                               

THE OFFERING                                                      Proverbs 11:25

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”

OFFERTORY                                                            Faith Choir

* Doxology: Hymnal, p. 733

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below: alleluia, alleluia! Praise Him above, ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION                                           Tom Maestri

SCRIPTURE TEXT                                               Matthew 22:1-14

SERMON       “Parable of the Wedding Feast”                John Armstrong

*HYMN 355                     We Are God’s People

*BENEDICTION

*POSTLUDE                                                                                              

For 2021, we are continuing to provide a basic Family Worship plan to help enable our families to more regularly worship together during the week. In each weekly bulletin, we will provide a Daily Bible Reading plan from “A Daughter of the Reformation”, weekly questions from the Heidelberg Catechism, and a hymn for you to learn together.

Week 16:

Weekly Hymn:   598 Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

                        https://youtu.be/SN_xKwxVktQ

Heidelberg Catechism–

and still upholds them by his providence? /

Answer: We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love; for all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they cannot so much as move.

Bible Reading:

Mon – 4/19 – Deuteronomy 33-34

Tue – 4/20 – Acts 1-3

Wed – 4/21 – Acts 4-6

Thurs – 4/22 – Acts 7-9

Fri – 4/23 – Acts 10-12

Sat – 4/24 – Psalms 49-51

Sun – 4/25 – Proverbs 17

A Look at Next Week

Sermon Text: Matthew 22:15-22

Praise Music:    Every Ditch, Every Valley

                        Eternal Weight of Glory

Hymns: 310 Rejoice, the Lord is King

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hearing assistance and large print pew Bibles are available during the worship service.  Please contact an usher for assistance.

Bring a Broom 2021 – Faith Church will be participating in the Downtown Frederick Partnership’s annual Bring a Broom event scheduled for April 24^th from 8:30am to 11:30am. Please review all of the details on the website before registering.https://downtownfrederick.org/event-pro/bring-a-broom-saturday/You must register on the website to serve. If anyone has any questions please reach out to Jared Custer at 301-788-7592.

Men’s Prayer Group – This is an ongoing small group of men that meet on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 PM at the home of Richard Phillips (917 Sweet Gum Ct., Frederick).The first 30 minutes is typically spent sharing our lives and concerns; the last 30 minutes is spent praying for those needs and other supplications that the Holy Spirit inspires. New members are always welcome, as are “drop-ins!” Men, come join us as we seek to be obedient to Paul’s three-fold exhortation to the church at Rome: “Be joyful in hope; patient in affliction; faithful in prayer”(Rom. 12:12).

Church Retreat – The 2021 church retreat is on!  Mark your calendars for Friday, June 4 to Sunday, June 6, 2021.  It will be held at Bongiorno Retreat Center near Carlisle, PA, the site of the 2019 retreat

WE NEED A HEADCOUNT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  Please contact john@faithreformed.org if you plan to attend.  Please include your name, the number in your family attending and your preference with regard to accommodations.  A non-refundable $50 deposit is due April 25.  

Custer Small Group – Join us, starting April 29^th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the Custer Home, as we meet weekly to feast, study and serve alongside one another. The first meeting each month will be a pot luck style meal. The second and fourth meetings each month will be reading and discussing the scripture and sermon from the prior Sunday, although this could change based on the group’s ideas pending Session approval. The third meeting each month will be devoted to some sort of service either at Faith or in our wider community.

Sign Up in the Narthex!

Please reach out to Angie or Jared with any questions you might have. We look forward to this time together!

Mark Your Calendar for VBS! – Vacation Bible School will be held the week of July 26-30.  We’re looking for volunteers to help.  If you are interested, please contact Gwen Grant.