Call to Worship​ Psalm 95:6-8a

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

Invocation ​and The Lord’s Prayer

Hymn of Praise ​​​“Holy, Holy, Holy”​​#262

Scripture Reading​ Romans 6:12-23

Confession of Sin and Assurance of Pardon  ​Psalm 86:5

​For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Hymn of Assurance ​​“Not What My Hands Have Done”​​HMA #94

Confession of Faith ​Heidelberg Catechism #69-71

Q. 69​ How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally?

In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul’s impurity, in other words, all my sins.

Q. 70​ What does it mean to be washed with Christ’s blood and Spirit?

To be washed with Christ’s blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ’s blood poured out for me in His sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.

Q. 71​ Where does Christ promise that we are washed with His blood and Spirit?

In the institution of baptism where He says: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins.

Pastoral Prayer​

Choral Anthem​​ “O God of Light, Your Word, a Lamp Unfailing” ​

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

The Preaching of God’s Word  ​“The Danger of the Unfettered Word of God”

​​​​​​ Acts 24:22-27

Hymn of Respons e​“Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy” ​​​#334

Benediction​ Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.