August 24, 2025

*Call to Worship | Psalm 42:7-8 | Rev. Blake Arnoult

^{God invites and calls us into his presence to worship him.}

⁷ Deep calls to deep

    at the roar of your waterfalls;

all your breakers and your waves

    have gone over me.

⁸ By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

    and at night his song is with me,

    a prayer to the God of my life.

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*Song of Adoration | Holy, Holy, Holy

^{We begin by responding with praise to God for who he is and for what he does.} 

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

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Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,

Who wert and art and ever more shall be.

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Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;

Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,

Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

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Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;

Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

_{Music and Lyrics: John Bacchus Dykes, Reginald Heber}

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*Confession of Faith | Matthew 28:18-20

^{With the church in history we confess a basic statement of what Christians believe.}     

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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*Song of Confession | Be Thou My Vision

^{Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are simply prayers that are sung. We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.}

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart.

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

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Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true word;

I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord.

Thou my great Father and I, Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

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Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance, now and always.

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

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True Light of heaven, when victory is won,

May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!

Heart of my heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all

_{Music and Lyrics: Eleanor Henrietta Hull, Mary Elizabeth Byrne}

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Confession of Sin | Psalm 69:1-2; 51:1-4

^{We fight the temptation to hide our sin and instead acknowledge it openly to God, but we do so in light of the grace offered in Jesus.}

69¹ Save me, O God!

       For the waters have come up to my neck.

² I sink in deep mire,

         where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

    and the flood sweeps over me.

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51¹ Have mercy on me, O God,

         according to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

      blot out my transgressions.

² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

        and cleanse me from my sin!

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³ For I know my transgressions,

          and my sin is ever before me.

⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned

        and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words

     and blameless in your judgment.

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Assurance of Pardon | Romans 6:4 | Rev. Blake Arnoult

^{The good news of the gospel is that we are forgiven in Jesus Christ. This assurance is based on God’s words of promise and it is therefore certain.}

⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

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*Song of Response | O The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus

^{We respond in repentance and praise for God’s redemptive work in Christ.}

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!

Rolling as a mighty ocean

In its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me,

Is the current of Thy love

Leading onward, leading homeward

To Thy glorious rest above!

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O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Spread His praise from shore to shore!

How He loveth, ever loveth,

Changeth never, nevermore!

How He watches o’er His loved ones,

Died to call them all His own;

How for them He intercedeth,

Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

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O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Love of every love the best!

’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,

’Tis a haven sweet of rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

’Tis a heaven of heavens to me;

And it lifts me up to glory,

For it lifts me up to Thee!

_{Music and Lyrics: Samuel Trevor Francis, Thomas J. Williams}

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Prayer of Thanksgiving 

^{We offer our gratitude to God in prayer in response to his gifts and blessings to his people and ask that he make us faithful managers of these gifts.}

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Song of Thanks | Grace And Peace

^{As we offer our prayers so we also offer up our thanks in song.}

Grace and peace, oh how can this be

For lawbreakers and thieves, for the worthless, the least

You have said that our judgment is death

For all eternity without hope, without rest

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Oh, what an amazing mystery, what an amazing mystery

That Your grace has come to me

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Grace and peace, oh how can this be?

The matchless King of all paid the blood price for me

Slaughtered lamb, what atonement You bring!

The vilest sinner's heart can be cleansed, can be free

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Chorus

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Grace and peace, oh how can this be?

Let songs of gratefulness ever rise, never cease

Loved by God and called as a saint

My heart is satisfied in the riches of Christ

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Chorus

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Oh, what an amazing love I see, what an amazing love I see

That Your grace has come to me

_{Music and Lyrics: Joel Sczebel}

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Prayer for Christ’s Church

^{We lift up our requests to God knowing that he hears us when we pray.}

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*Reading of Scripture | Matthew 3:1-17 | Rev. Blake Arnoult

^{God reveals himself and his work and speaks to us his people through his Word.}

3¹ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

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“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

    make his paths straight.’”

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⁴ Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

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⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

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¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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Pastor: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

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The Preaching of the Word | Rev. Blake Arnoult

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“The Last Prophet”

Matthew: The Gospel to the Church

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Pastoral Prayer

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Sacrament of Communion

Sacraments are visible signs of the invisible grace of God - what Christ does by his Holy Spirit within us. Communion (also called the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist), as the distribution of the elements of bread and wine, symbolizes a meal. Communion is a sign of fellowship. That sign signifies more than just the future heavenly fellowship that is to come. The outward sign signifies the inner reality that sinners already experience fellowship with God in the Spirit because of Jesus. Communion is not a meal for good people. It functions as a renewing seal to desperate sinners of that fellowship we have with our holy and gracious God.

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You will be invited to come forward. If you are not a Christian we encourage you to spend this time in reflection on what you’ve seen and heard in the worship. Children who have not received their first communion are welcome and encouraged to come forward with their families to witness their partaking. We invite children who are ready to make a public profession of faith in Christ to arrange a meeting with the elders, and thus become “communicants” at the Lord’s Table. 

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Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts!

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

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Prayer of Thanksgiving and Words of Institution

Pastor: Let us proclaim the mystery of the faith: 

People: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Hallelujah! 

Pastor: Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us. Hallelujah! 

People: Therefore, let us keep the feast. 

Pastor: The gifts of God for the people of God.

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Please let an usher know if it is difficult for you to come forward. We would be happy to serve you at your seat. All communion bread is gluten-free. All communion wine is made from  grape juice.

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A communion prayer for those searching for the truth:

Lord Jesus, you claim to be the way, the truth and the life. If what you claim is true, please guide me, teach me, and open to me the reality of who you are. Give me the ability to follow you no matter what it might cost me. Give me an understanding for you that is coherent, convincing, and leads to the life that you promise. Amen.

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Communion Song | All Glory Be Forever

^{We celebrate our communion in faith and song.}

We had turned from God to sin’s disgrace, we chose the path to hell

Perfect law of God condemned our race, for all in Adam fell

But the righteousness of God appeared

and the world found hope again

For the Righteous One has come down to bear 

all the curse of sin and death

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Now to Him Who's seated on the throne, 

All glory be forever

Oh, the depths of wisdom, grace, and power, 

All glory be forever

All glory be forever

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Every bond of sin that held us fast is left in Jesus’ grave

We’ve been freed from all that gripped our past

from Satan’s rule and reign

We’ve been raised to life to breathe His grace

As captives now reclaimed

All our guilt is gone, all our strivings ceased, 

We’re alive to seek His fame

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Chorus

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Now our future’s fixed, our journey clear; God will not let us go

Every trial that tempts our hearts to fear He’ll use to give us hope

All creation groans as we await what our eyes have longed to see

Every pain and evil we’ve long endured

will be crushed by Christ our King

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Chorus

_{Music and Lyrics: Jordan Kauflin}

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Departing Song | Doxology

^{We begin to end in faith and song.}

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow

Praise Him, all creatures here below

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen

_{Lyrics & Music: Thomas Ken}

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*Benediction | Isaiah 43:1-2 | Rev. Blake Arnoult

^{God sends us out with his blessing. A benediction is not a prayer. We don’t bow our heads. We lift them up and even lift up our hands to receive his blessing as we are sent out as participants in his mission to the city of man.}

¹ But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

    he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by name, you are mine.

² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

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