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Midweek Devotional Service
April 8th, 2020
Invitation
Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
We will rejoice and trust in the gift of salvation that comes from Jesus Christ our Savior.
Glory to God Hymnal #215 “What Wondrous Love is This”
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul,
what wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down, sinking down,
when I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown for my soul!
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing,
to God and to the Lamb, I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb who is the great I AM,
while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
while millions join the theme, I will sing!
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on;
and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be,
and through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
and through eternity I’ll sing on.
TEXT: American folk hymn, c. 1811
MUSIC (WONDROUS LOVE 12.9.12.12.9): Walker’s Southern Harmony, 1835; harm. Carlton R. Young, 1965;
Harm. © 1965 Abingdon Press (admin. The Copyright Company)
All rights reserved. First Presbyterian Church OneLicense.net License #A-730666
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Confession
We confess to You, O Lord our God, that we are easily distracted and have difficulty paying attention to Your Word. We are much more aware of our own need for approval and validation than of the needs of the people around us. We struggle to look beyond our own fears and anxieties to see the opportunities to share Your love. Forgive us for our self-centeredness. Open our minds and hearts to the love that You have poured upon us, and enable us to share Your peace with the world.
Take a moment for silent confession and reflection.
Declaration of Hope and Forgiveness
Jesus, our Lord and Savior has come to us, offered us love and forgiveness, and freed us from all our sins. Do not live as slaves to the past, live as those who have been set free to love and share God’s grace. Hear the Good News! We are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
The Presbyterian Hymnal #579 “Gloria Patri”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Public Domain
Glory Be to the Father
TEXT: Trad. liturgical text. Composer: Henry W. Greatorex (1851)
Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9 (NRSV)
4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
7 The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
Meditation: “The Tongue of a Teacher”
Glory Be to God Hymnal #279 “Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove”
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
with all thy quickening powers;
kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold hearts of ours.
In vain we tune our formal songs;
in vain we strive to rise;
hosannas languish on our tongues,
and our devotion dies.
Dear Lord, and shall we ever live
at this poor dying rate?
Our love so faint, so cold to thee,
and thine to us so great!
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
with all thy quickening powers;
come, shed abroad a Savior’s love,
and that shall kindle ours.
Public Domain
TEXT: Isaac Watts, 1707, alt.
MUSIC (ST. AGNES, CM): John Bacchus Dykes, 1866, alt.
Blessing