ORDER OF WORSHIP
ANNOUNCEMENT
Call To Worship
Psalm 34 : 3
Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.
詩篇 34 : 3
你們和我當稱耶和華為大，一同高舉他的名。
Worship Through Songs
Good day beloved people of God—adopted into his family through Christ, and bearers of his precious and powerful Name.
Klyne Snodgrass, writing about the utter importance of believers having a robust sense of identity in Who God Says You Are: A Christian Understanding of Identity, wrote…
“Identity is the sum of everything that pertains to us and shapes us. Identity is that sense of being and self-understanding that frames our actions, communicates to others who we are, and sets the agenda for our acts. Identity drives life; it provides the energy and motivation for all else. It is the well from which life is directed and sustained. If you know who you are, you know what you must do, and if your identity is healthy, it provides a confidence that enables action. We live out of a sense of identity. It may be unexpressed or even unconscious, but it still determines us. Who are you and what made you who you are? More importantly, who should you be and how does the Christian gospel redefine who you are?”
What then is the essence of this Christian gospel that should define who we are—engendering our sense of identity? It is that in the cross of Christ, the Best and most Beautiful willingly took on himself our worst and ugliest. There he drank the bitter cup of God’s wrath to the dregs and purchased for us freedom, forgiveness, and life forevermore. Timothy Keller wrote that a genuine encounter with this gospel makes us realize that… “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
This truth, when accepted and lived out, will powerfully transform everything about us. If the core of who we are is truly grounded in the fact that a Holy God in love reconciled us, sinful men, to himself through the atoning death of his beloved Son, then everything important about us is renewed and realigned—our identity and our purpose; our values and our ideals; our thoughts and our actions; our pursuits and our relationships. Gradually, these will reflect those of our Lord Jesus’. We will experience in increasing measure what it means to have the old gone and the new come.
When, in each of our lives, Christ increases and our own ego decreases through the presence and power of The Spirit, we then become more and more the selves we were meant to be—reflections of our Heavenly Father’s goodness and glory, and the actualized delight of his heart. And from the perspective of the only One whose opinion truly matters—God—that is who we are.
‘We bless You O God Eternal, King of the universe, our dearest Abba.
We bless You Great I am, Lord of all creation, King of our hearts.
We bless You our Good Shepherd, our strong Defender, the Rock of our salvation.
You are worthy of our adoring love; our unwavering trust; of our cheerful surrender.
You are worthy of every breath that we breathe; of every beat of our hearts; of every song that we sing.
We have nothing to give You that You have not given us first. Yet, since You desire our willing offering of all that You have gifted us in love, then by your grace, and for the joy You set before us, we lay down all that we are and all that we have before You—to be used as You see fit—for your glory and your pleasure.
This is who we are—your children.
And this is what we do—love and honor You.
For the sake of Christ. Amen’
Anthem
Blessed Be Your Name
Scripture Reading
James 4 : 1 – 12 (ESV)
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
雅 各 書 4 : 1 – 12 (CUV)
1 你 們 中 間 的 爭 戰 鬥 毆 是 從 那 裡 來 的 呢 ？ 不 是 從 你 們 百 體 中 戰 鬥 之 私 慾 來 的 麼 ？
2 你 們 貪 戀 ， 還 是 得 不 著 ； 你 們 殺 害 嫉 妒 ， 又 鬥 毆 爭 戰 ， 也 不 能 得 。 你 們 得 不 著 ， 是 因 為 你 們 不 求 。
3 你 們 求 也 得 不 著 ， 是 因 為 你 們 妄 求 ， 要 浪 費 在 你 們 的 宴 樂 中 。
4 你 們 這 些 淫 亂 的 人 （ 原 文 是 淫 婦 ） 哪 ， 豈 不 知 與 世 俗 為 友 就 是 與 神 為 敵 麼 ？ 所 以 凡 想 要 與 世 俗 為 友 的 ， 就 是 與 神 為 敵 了 。
5 你 們 想 經 上 所 說 是 徒 然 的 麼 ？ 神 所 賜 、 住 在 我 們 裡 面 的 靈 ， 是 戀 愛 至 於 嫉 妒 麼 ？
6 但 他 賜 更 多 的 恩 典 ， 所 以 經 上 說 ： 神 阻 擋 驕 傲 的 人 ， 賜 恩 給 謙 卑 的 人 。
7 故 此 ， 你 們 要 順 服 神 。 務 要 抵 擋 魔 鬼 ， 魔 鬼 就 必 離 開 你 們 逃 跑 了 。
8 你 們 親 近 神 ， 神 就 必 親 近 你 們 。 有 罪 的 人 哪 ， 要 潔 淨 你 們 的 手 ！ 心 懷 二 意 的 人 哪 ， 要 清 潔 你 們 的 心 ！
9 你 們 要 愁 苦 、 悲 哀 、 哭 泣 ， 將 喜 笑 變 作 悲 哀 ， 歡 樂 變 作 愁 悶 。
10 務 要 在 主 面 前 自 卑 ， 主 就 必 叫 你 們 升 高 。
11 弟 兄 們 ， 你 們 不 可 彼 此 批 評 。 人 若 批 評 弟 兄 ， 論 斷 弟 兄 ， 就 是 批 評 律 法 ， 論 斷 律 法 。 你 若 論 斷 律 法 ， 就 不 是 遵 行 律 法 ， 乃 是 判 斷 人 的 。
12 設 立 律 法 和 判 斷 人 的 ， 只 有 一 位 ， 就 是 那 能 救 人 也 能 滅 人 的 。 你 是 誰 ， 竟 敢 論 斷 別 人 呢 ？
Sermon
Dr. Ricky Recodo
中文翻譯
Tithes And Offering
If you are led by the Lord to give for the purpose He has placed in your heart as a way of sharing your blessings or giving thanks to the Lord, kindly click here for more information.
Response Song
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