Covid- 19 and Our Suffering - Part 2

 

 

congregation  of the  Presbyterian Church in America

 

Faithful to the Scriptures True to the Reformed  Faith

Obedient to the Great Commission

 Sunday, March 29,  2020

10:30 am

 

 

 Welcome to

Christ Community Church

For God's glory, to make and deploy mature and equipped  disciples of]esus Christ.

 

Whether you are a visitor or a member, it is a joy to worship our Lord Jesus Christ with you this morning.

 

If you would like more information on Christ Community Church, please let us know by emailing the church at admin@christcommunitychurchonline.org.

 

Prepare yourself now for the highest calling of the people of God which is the worship of God in spirit and in truth.    (John 4:24)

 

 

 

 

REFLECTIONS

 

 

 

 

"You know I am convinced  that...most Christians  today are  not being taught a correct Bibli­  cal theology and worldview on suffering. So, they are ill-prepared when suffering and dying comes."                                                                                                                             .....,Former Hospice Worker

 

 

 

 

"(God) whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscious, but shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf ear."                                                                                   -CS Lewis

 

 

 

"One sees great things from the valley but only small things from a peak"     -GK Chesterton

 

 

  

March 29, 2020

Second Pre-recorded Worship Service Order of Worship

 

Welcome and Announcements

 

Hearing from the Savior

 

Call to Worship                                                                 Psalm 119:71-76

 

 

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver piec­ es. Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. Those who fear you shall see me

and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. I know, 0 Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.

 

Responding to the Savior

 

Prayer of lnvocation

 

Song of Praise                                            0 Love That Will Not Let Me Go

 

O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee;   I give thee back the life I owe,

that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.

 

O Light that follow'st all my way, I yield my flick'ring torch to thee; My heart  restores  its borrowed  ray,

that in thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be.

 

0 Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain,

and feel the  promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.

 

Our Call to Worship starts a time of "Revelation and Response".

God reveals and we respond together.

 

0 Cross that liftest up my head, l dare not ask to fly from thee; l lay in dust life's glory dead,

and from the ground there blossoms red life that shall endless be.

 

Confession of Sin

 Taken from

Piercing Heaven

- Prayers of the

Puritans

 

Dear Emmanuel, in whom alone, and by whom alone, all my hopes and confidences are founded: l fall down at your feet. As the prophet cried out, so l desire unceasingly to exclaim, "l am a man of unclean lips." But if you cause the iniquity to be taken away, and my sin to be purged from me, l will be clean. For you are our New Testament altar. You are the Lord my righteousness. Precious Jesus, you are the Alpha and Omega. Even as the Father made you the glorious covenant head of your people in the begin­ ning of His way, so be my all in all. My first and last. The Author and Finish­ er of my faith.

 

Precious Lord! May l, like Paul, be able to say, "Not as though I had already attained" - but because I long to catch up to and hold fast to you, Christ Je­ sus, even as you have caught up to and hold fast to me.

 

So come, Lord Jesus, to your bride, the church. Be the foundation oflife to all your redeemed, until you bring your church below to join your church above, so they will dwell together in the light of your countenance, forever, amen.

 

Hearing from the Savior

 

Assurance of Pardon                                                      Psalm 139:9-10

 

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

 

Responding to the Savior

  

Song of Assurance                                                      He Will Hold Me Fast

 

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast; When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path; For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.

 

Chorus:            He will hold me fast He will hold me fast;

For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.

 

Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast; Precious in his holy sight, He will hold me fast.

He'll not let my soul be lost; His Promises shall last; Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast. Chorus

 

For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast; Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.

Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast 'Till our faith is turned to sight, when He comes at last! Chorus

 

Prayers of the Church

 

Hearing from the Savior

 

New Testament Reading                                            Philippians 3:14-21

 

 

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us, For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the

 

Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glori­ ous body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

 

Responding to the Savior

 

Moment of Quiet Contemplation and Worship through Tithes and Offerings

 

Please give online at our church website under the "Give" tab or mail your gifts to Christ Community Church, 700 Harrison Bridge Road, Simpsonville, SC, 29680.

 

Prayer of Thanksgiving

 

Song of Praise                                                                             Doxology

 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

 

Affirmation of Faith                               Westminster Shorter Catechism

 

Pastor:             What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

Congregation: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace and  perseverance unto the end.

 

Pastor:             What  benefits  do believers  receive from Christ at death? Congregation: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united  to Christ, do rest in their graves, until the resurrection.

 

Pastor:             What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection      Congregation:   At the resurrection, believers, being raised up in glory, will be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day ofjudgment, and made per­ fectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

 

Song of Preparation                                                When All Your Mercies

 

When all Your mercies, 0 my God, my rising soul surveys. Transported with the view, I'm lost in wonder, love and praise. Unnumbered comforts to my soul Your tender care bestowed,  before my infant heart conceived from whom those comforts flowed.

 

Chorus:           Through all eternity to You a joyful song /'II raise; For Oh, eternity's too short to utter all Your praise.

 

 

When worn with sickness, oft have You with health renewed my face; And when in sins and sorrows sunk revived my soul with grace.

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts my daily thanks employ; Nor is the least a cheerful heart that tastes those gifts with joy. Chorus

 

Thru ev'ry period of my life Your goodness 1'11 pursue,

and after death, in distant worlds, the glorious theme  renew.

Chorus

 

Hearing from the Savior

 

Sermon                                                                      Rev. Paul L. Sanders

 

"COVID-19 and Our Suffering - Part 2"                                Romans 8:16-27

 

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of   God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For l consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the  creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the crea­ tion was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subject­ ed it, in hope  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we our­ selves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints ac­ cording to the will of God.

 

Responding  to the Savior

 

Song of Response                                                        Blessed Assurance

 

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! 0 what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

born of his Spirit, washed in His blood.

 

Chorus:             This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior all the day long; This is my story, this is my song.

Praising  my  Savior all the  day long.

 

Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending, bring forth above echoes of mercy, whispers oflove.

Hymns and       Chorus

worship songs

are used by

 

permission.

CCLI# 187771

 

Perfect submission all is at rest.

I in my Savior am happy and  blest;

watching and waiting, looking above,

filled with His goodness, lost in his love.

Chorus

 

Hearing from the Savior

 

Benediction                                                 Adapted from Philippians 4:7

 

And (now may) the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

 

Questions for Families & Community Groups

 

Gospel of God#   28 /  Romans 8:16-27 COVID-19 and Our Suffering  II

1. Do some self-assessment: How have you responded to your suffering that COVID-19 has brought your way?
2. Has this COVID-19 pandemic given you any anxiety about dying?
3. How much have you thought about the resurrection of the body, new Heavens and new Earth to come? Why might those themes be healthy to think on often?
4. When hard days come, what do you typically focus upon? What have you been focusing on since this virus upended our lives?
5. Do you think the truths we have studied these last two weeks could drastical­ ly impact your viewpoint in suffering? How so? Have you ever tasted the bene­ fit of embracing such truths?
6. Discuss proper responses in our suffering and relate them to any personal experiences.
7. What is the hardest trial pressing you right now due to the COVID-19 virus?
8. Pray for one