ORDER OF WORSHIP
Call To Worship
1 Chronicles 16 : 25
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.
歷代志上 16 : 25
因耶和華為大，當受極大的讚美；他在萬神之上，當受敬畏。
Worship Through Songs
Good day dear people of God— beloved in the Lord in Jesus Christ, the delight of his heart and the apple of his eye.
The Christian community is a worshiping community. And Christian worship, in the liturgical sense, has almost always been musical. Tracing back to the Old Testament and God’s dealings with the Jewish people, music and singing have always been an intuitive and natural form of expressing praise, worship and thanksgiving to God.
Darlene Zschech, in her book Extravagant Worship, puts it this way … “From the beginning of time God has been worshiped with music and praise. Even as God laid the earth’s foundation, “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (Job 38:4–7). The first account we have of God’s people praising Him with music is when Moses and the Israelites sang an incredible hymn of praise, thanking God for His spectacular win over Pharaoh and his army. Their shouts of joy must have sounded so victorious as they sang, “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:1–7). Singing was the immediate response of the children of Israel to God’s incredible deliverance. Notice they never sang to each other, but they responded to the Lord with a song of praise to Him. Music is a powerful force, created by God to stir the core of a person like nothing else can.”
The praise and worship of God is described and expressed all throughout Scripture. Praise is the instinctive response to divine intervention and rescue—as typified by Moses’ song borne out of God’s miraculous deliverance; while worship is the natural heart response to an encounter with the living God—as displayed in the life of King David and the many Psalms he wrote. And music is a most natural companion of both.
Jack Hayford, in The Heart of Praise, writes … “We recall that King David, the author of so many of the Psalms, was a singer and harpist himself. One of the Bible’s earliest portraits of David depicts him playing and singing for King Saul in order to calm the king’s … We can well imagine Saul’s mad ravings subsiding under such reassuring lyrics as, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. . . . I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” … Part of the power of song is that it is a beautiful expression of devotion both for the solitary worshiper in private devotions, at work or in the car, and for the congregation gathered for public worship. People can make no sound more expressive than when they sing. Singing releases the pent-up joy and thanksgiving we feel because of God’s grace and goodness. For this reason the psalmist sings, “To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises””
There is no greater deliverance than when our Lord Jesus Christ rescued us from the dominion of sin and death—when on the cross He, with absolute finality declared, ‘It is completed!’. There is no more intimate encounter with the living God than when, in the divine mystery, Christ dwells inside us, God’s children, in the person of the Holy Spirit—our eternal fountain of truth, life and power. That is why jubilant praise is but the natural fruit of a believer’s lips, and adoring worship, the natural disposition of a child of God.
Sincere praise to God is a revealing sign of the glorious redemption we have in Christ—a testament to the good and gracious God who saves. He is the God who hears the cry of the oppressed and champions the cause of the poor and defenseless. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. From the beginning of time, He has always been our dwelling place; our refuge; and our deliverer—the God in whom we trust. Let us render grateful praise unto him today, for He is good and his faithful love endures forever.
‘“OUR FATHER, life in this sin-cursed world
sometimes seems full of anguish—
and we are too prone to fatigue and discouragement.
Sometimes we can only groan inwardly,
echoing the sigh of all creation in this fallen realm.
We desperately need the help and comfort of Your Holy Spirit
to endure the ravages of sin amid the trials of daily life.
Often we don’t even know how to pray,
but He makes intercession for us with groanings of His own
that are too deep for human words.
And His prayers, unlike our feeble efforts
to express the agony of our hearts,
are always in accord with Your perfect will.
As Your children, we thirst for You and trust in You deep down.
We long to sense Your presence.
We need Your tender mercy.
We crave Your heavenly comfort.
We stand in awe of Your wisdom,
Your faithfulness,
and Your perfect timing.
Our experience confirms the testimony of Your Word:
You have never forsaken us.
Thus with settled confidence
we echo the bold expectancy of the psalmist:
We shall yet praise You.
Bearing in mind those precious truths,
we approach Your throne once again
with both fearful trembling and holy boldness.
You are both glorious and merciful;
almighty and full of compassion;
a righteous Judge but extravagant with tender mercies.
We seek Your blessed favor in our times of need,
although we know we are unworthy,
because You have summoned us
to come confidently to the throne of grace.”*
Through the blood, and in the name, of Jesus your Son—our Lord and Savior, Amen.’
* [John Macarthur]
Anthem
It’s Still The Cross
Scripture Reading
Luke 18 : 1 – 8
1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
路 加 福 音 18 : 1 – 8
1 耶 穌 設 一 個 比 喻 ， 是 要 人 常 常 禱 告 ， 不 可 灰 心 。
2 說 ： 某 城 裡 有 一 個 官 ， 不 懼 怕 神 ， 也 不 尊 重 世 人 。
3 那 城 裡 有 個 寡 婦 ， 常 到 他 那 裡 ， 說 ： 我 有 一 個 對 頭 ， 求 你 給 我 伸 冤 。
4 他 多 日 不 准 。 後 來 心 裡 說 ： 我 雖 不 懼 怕 神 ， 也 不 尊 重 世 人 ，
5 只 因 這 寡 婦 煩 擾 我 ， 我 就 給 他 伸 冤 罷 ， 免 得 他 常 來 纏 磨 我 ！
6 主 說 ： 你 們 聽 這 不 義 之 官 所 說 的 話 。
7 神 的 選 民 晝 夜 呼 籲 他 ， 他 縱 然 為 他 們 忍 了 多 時 ， 豈 不 終 久 給 他 們 伸 冤 麼 ？
8 我 告 訴 你 們 ， 要 快 快 的 給 他 們 伸 冤 了 。 然 而 ， 人 子 來 的 時 候 ， 遇 得 見 世 上 有 信 德 麼 ？
Sermon
Rev. Vicente Sia
謝國智牧師
Communion
Song of Reflection
English:
中文:
Tithes And Offering
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Benediction Song
