January 15 Worship

Hi all...have picked the hymns and Scripture texts for worship this Sunday. Please take some time to reflect on these texts and songs that we'll be using together to glorify God.

The service is designed to bring us face to face with God's sovereignty, a key theme of the book of Jonah. Throughout the book, it is clear that it is God that is ultimately in charge--of the sailors, of the seas, of the Ninevites, and most importantly, of Jonah. The texts and songs this week are chosen to give us a strong sense of God's power and rule. We start by reading Psalm 81:1-4 as a call to worship: "Sing aloud to God our strength..." in essence because God desires us to sing his praise. We will sing together "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty," a magnificent hymn of the church that moves us to awe both lyrically and through the powerful music.
Following the prayer, children's sermon, and anthem, we will join together to read Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble...The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."

Following the offering and the peace of Christ, we will sing "May the Mind of Christ My Savior" as a plea for God to enter and rule our minds. We will then read the Scriputre for the day, Jonah 1:1-16, and I will preach on the text focusing on Jonah's stubborn resistance to God, which gives way to his danger and ultimate yielding to God. We will close the service with the singing of "All Heaven Declares," a new hymn that again focuses on God's sovereignty and the praise due him:

All heaven declares the glory of the risen Lord
Who can compare with the beauty of the Lord?
Forever he will be
The Lamb upon the throne
I gladly bow the knee
And worship him alone.

I will declare the glory of the risen Lord
Who once was slain to reconcile us to God
Forever he will be
The Lamb upon the throne
I gladly bow the knee
And worship him alone.

Hope the service is meaningful to you, made moreso with a little bit of preparation beforehand.