Worship on Sunday, January 29

HI all--a bit about this coming Sunday's service. It's the third of a series of four sermons on Jonah, a guy who looks all too much like most of us: unable to appreciate God's gifts, except when he finds himself in a pickle (or a whale's belly, in his case). The text is Jonah 3:1 - 4:5, when Jonah speaks, Nineveh repents, and Jonah broods.

Sunday’s service is to focus us in on God’s goodness and our need to change our hearts so we can see how truly good God is. Sometimes, sin clouds our understanding; the things that seem right are actually wrong, and the things that seem wrong are actually right. So sometimes we the fact we are human and fallen makes us not see how good God truly is.

Such certainly was the case with Jonah, the subject of the morning’s text. And so the other things we will do in worship Sunday will focus us in on these themes—God’s goodness and our desire to change so we can see how good God truly is. Our call to worship is based on Hebrews 3: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Right from the beginning, we want to be open to what God is saying to us. Our hearts thus opened, we will invite the Triune God into our presence through the hymn “Come, Thou Almighty King;” each of the first three verses focus on one aspect of the God we invite: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our prayer again focuses on God shaping us into a fit vessel for His presence and work in the world.

Following the children’s sermon and the anthem, we will read Psalm 100, again about God’s goodness; and then as our prayer together, I will offer a solo: “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian.” After the offering and sharing of God’s peace, we’ll sing “Change My Heart, O God.” Following this, we’ll share the word of God together and close by singing “Like A River Glorious,” a final reminder of God’s goodness and our hope to “trust him fully” by following in His ways.

Hope many will join us--invite a friend and see you then!