July 5, 2020

Thanks for joining us for this week’s Home Worship!  As you gather, we invite you to take a moment to set up your space differently. Sit at your dining room table or arrange chairs in your living room.  Set out a candle, a bowl, and a small pitcher of water before you.  If you’ve gathered with a group, you can take turns reading and praying so that everyone has a chance to help lead us in worship.  The sections in bold can be read aloud together.

GATHERED BY GOD

WELCOME

Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth, Amen.
-Psalm 124:8

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

LIGHTING THE CANDLE

Action: Light a candle

One:   Jesus Christ
All:     is the Light of the World. 
One:   The Light shines in the darkness
All:     and the darkness did not overcome it.

INVITATION TO WORSHIP

“How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.”
-Psalm 84:1-4

SONG OF PRAISE

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

As the deer longs for the water
So my soul longs after you
Why, O Lord, have you forgotten?
Will I see your face again?
O my soul why are you downcast?
Why disquieted within?
Hope in God, my help and savior
For I shall praise Him again

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount— I’m fixed upon it—
mount of God’s unchanging love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’ve come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.

PRAYER FOR RENEWAL

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.

PROMISE OF GRACE

Action: Pour water into the bowl and remember your baptism!

Through Jesus Christ forgiveness of sins
 is proclaimed to you.
 In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
 according to the riches of his grace.
-From Acts 13:38, Ephesians 1:7

“My Hope is Built”

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
Refrain

His oath His covenant and His blood
Support me in the 'whelming flood:
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless we stand before His throne.
Refrain

OFFERING

We respond to the love and grace of Jesus by giving back our whole lives to God in worship. In this offering, we give our financial gifts as a symbol that all we have comes from God and is to be used for God’s glory. Even though we aren’t worshiping together, our ministry still continues!  Please continue to support us!

DOXOLOGY

May be spoken or sung

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.

LISTENING TO GOD

Scripture: Psalm

Sermon: Psalms for the Journey
Rev. Dr. Trygve Johnson
Hope College Dean of the Chapel

DISCUSSION

What did you hear?

What are you going to do about it this week?

RESPONDING TO GOD

APOSTLES’ CREED

We join our voices together with Christians throughout the ages and across the world to proclaim these words:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth. 

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Use space following each ellipsis to offer your own prayer silent or aloud, before speaking together the words in bold.

O God, in your we find fullness and wholeness. In you resides mercy and grace, righteousness and justice. With all our heart and with all our mind, let us we pray to you, saying "Lord, have mercy."

For the peace of the world, the unity of all peoples, and the fortitude of the church, let us pray to the Lord…
Lord, have mercy. 

For the aged and infirm, for the widowed and orphans, and for the sick and the suffering, let us pray to the Lord…
Lord, have mercy. 

For the poor and the oppressed, for the unemployed and the destitute, for prisoners and captives, and for all who remember and care for them, let us pray to the Lord…
Lord, have mercy. 

For the good earth which God has given us, and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord…
Lord, have mercy.

Almighty God, as we hope and work in your name, we offer up the prayer you taught us saying,
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

SENDING SONG

“All Thy Fullness”

You are my fullness, firm and steady;
To lavish mercies, at the ready;
Despite my wand'ring, Despite my weakness
Unrelenting strength and goodness

Holy, Holy God almighty
All thy fullness here beside me

You are my courage, truth and wisdom
Guiding hand and purest vision
Hope in fear, joy in victory
endless song, hope and yearning

I am breaking, you are building
I am empty, you are filling
In my silence, you are speaking
In my dying, ever living

Holy, Holy God almighty
All Thy fullness here beside me

Holy, Holy, Alleluia
All Thy fullness here among us

SENT WITH GOD’S BLESSING

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his presence to you and give you his peace,
Now and always, Amen.
-Numbers 6:24-26

To stay connected with what’s going on at WRC, check out the following video of announcements

Our congregation is able to do what it does because of your contributions!  Even though we aren’t meeting in person during this season, you can continue to give your gifts to God.  Visit www.wyckoffreformed.org/give to set up your one-time or recurring gift online.  You’re also welcome to mail a check or set us up as an automatic payment through your bank!

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, Words: vs 1 Andrew Kadzban, vs 2-4 Robert Robinson, 1758. Music: J. Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part II, 1813, Public Domain

“My Hope Is Built”, Words: Edward Mote, 1834; Music: William Bradbury, 1863; Public Domain. Arrangement by Norton Hall Band

“All Thy Fullness”, Words and Music: Zachary Pedigo, © 2013 Zachary Pedigo, Used by Permission