Call to Worship – Psalm 103
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Opening Prayer
We have come, O Lord. Not as faithful as we should be, nor as joyful as we could be. Even so, we have been attracted by Your faithfulness and Your joy. Holy Spirit, teach us this day more about Your truth, as revealed by Jesus Christ. Fill us with Your promised happiness. Challenge us to follow You this moment, this day, this coming week. All this we ask in the name of Jesus, whom we adore as Christ the Lord. Amen.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
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 Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m 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.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness 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, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.
Words by Robert Robinson
Children’s Sermon
Prayer and Intercession
Please take a few moments to pray for:
- Chelsea Mends-Cole
- Brady Adams
- The Paradee Family
- Kevin Fleming
- Donna Waguespack
- Healthcare workers
- Other personal concerns
Scripture Reading – Genesis 23
The Death of Sarah
23 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty princeamong us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver,according to the weight current among the merchants.
17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
Sermon: Buying Burial Plots – Rev. Jason McConnell
Before the Throne of God Above
Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great High Priest whose name is Love, who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heav’n he stands,
No tongue can bid me thence depart, no tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free,
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on him and pardon me, to look on him and pardon me.
Behold him there, the risen Lamb! My perfect spotless Righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM, the King of glory and of grace.
One with himself, I cannot die, my soul is purchased by his blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God, with Christ, my Savior and my God.
By Charitie Lees Bancroft & Vikki Cook
CCLI #2487144