Obadiah 1-21
Psalm 87 AND 117
John 12:17-19, 37-50
1Corinthians 15:27-50 (51-57)
CALL TO WORSHIP (Pss 87 and 117)
On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.
Of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in it”;
for the Most High himself will establish it.
The LORD records, as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.”
Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.”
Praise the LORD, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!
INVOCATION
Sovereign God, King of the Universe, you have put all things in subjection under the feet of your Son, Jesus Christ, whom you have raised imperishable from the dead! His physical body, like a seed, was sown in weakness and dishonor, yet now he is raised with a spiritual body, in power and glory. Though the first man, Adam, a man of dust, became a living being, Christ Jesus, the last Adam, the man of heaven, has become a life-giving spirit! And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. For, by your design and intention, O God, this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality, and then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Thanks be to you, Eternal God, for giving us the victory through Christ our King, who, in subjection to you, will fully and finally give the kingdom into your hands, and you, our God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, shall at last be all in all!
CALL TO CONFESSION
Though you say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”, though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, for your proud heart has deceived you, says the LORD. For the day of the LORD is near. As you have done, it shall be done to you. Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Some people have no knowledge of God. But you are to come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Therefore, let us confess our sins, first silently, and then in unison, using the prayer that is printed in your bulletin.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Truly, yours is the Kingdom, O LORD, and Christ Jesus is our Savior and King! Yet we confess we have loved human glory more than the glory that comes from you. Though we profess to believe in the resurrection to eternal life, we live like those who do not believe, saying, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” We have served and exalted ourselves by neglecting and looking down on others, at times, even taking satisfaction at their misfortunes. Forgive us, LORD, for the wrongs we have done to you, and to our brothers, sisters, and neighbors. Forgive us for failing to love our enemies and to pray for those who treat us with hostility. Forgive us, for failing to live worthily: as subjects of your heavenly kingdom, as children and heirs of Christ our King. Let not our sinful deeds return upon our own heads. But apply the full payment of Christ’s sacrifice to our sins. Give us courage, O LORD, to die every day to the temptations of the world! Help us to release our grip on merely human hopes, that we might gain what you divinely promise, intend, and command: eternal life! This we ask in Jesus’ name.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, here is a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. For Jesus said: “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge. I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life.” Friends, give thanks to God and believe in the LORD Jesus Christ, for in him we have eternal life, and in Christ is hidden our hope of glory!
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