PROVIDENCE CHURCH

      November 20, 2022

 

Welcome

Passing of the Peace: Though we are separated by distance our hearts are one in Christ. The peace of Christ be with you!  And also with you!

 

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise him all creatures here below,

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen

 

Call to Worship:   Psalm 86

Leader:  Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.  Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.

Congregation:  Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.  Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

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

Congregation:  Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.  In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Leader:  There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.

Congregation:  All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord,     and shall glorify your name.  For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

Leader:  Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

ALL:  I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your steadfast love toward me.

Songs of Praise:

For the Beauty of the Earth (Folliott Pierpoint, 1864; tune C. Kocher, 1838)

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

For each perfect gift of thine to our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine, flowers of earth and buds of heaven,

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

For thy Son, who from on high humbly came to earth to die,

For redemption from our sin for all who believe in him,

Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

 

We Bow Down (Twila Paris, 1984  CCLI #20003)

You are Lord of Creation and Lord of my life,

Lord of the land and the sea;

You were Lord of the heavens before there was time,

and Lord of all lords You will be!

 

Chorus: We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

Lord of all lords You will be!

 

You are King of Creation and King of my life,

King of the land and the sea;

You were King of the heavens before there was time,

And King of all kings You will be!

 

Chorus: We bow down and we crown you the King,

We bow down and we crown you the King,

We bow down and we crown you the King,

King of all kings you will be!

You are Lord of Creation and Lord of my life,

Lord of the land and the sea;

You were Lord of the heavens before there was time,

and Lord of all lords You will be!

 

Chorus: We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

We bow down and we worship You, Lord,

Lord of all lords You will be!

 

We bow down and we crown you the King,

We bow down and we crown you the King,

We bow down and we crown you the King,

King of all kings you will be!

 

My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness (Stuart Townend, Keith Getty, 2003 CCLI #4108704)

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who bore my pain,

who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again,

who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in his light,

and wrote his law of righteousness with power upon my heart

 

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside,

who floods my weaknesses with strength, and causes fears to fly;

whose every promise is enough for every step I take,

sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.

 

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above,

whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love.

For every day I have on earth is given by the King,

so I will give my life, my all to love and follow him,

to love and follow him.

 

Confession/Assurance    1 John 1:5-9

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.   If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Respond in Praise: 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas Chisholm, 1923)

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

there is no shadow of turning with thee;

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

 

Chorus: Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see:

all I have needed thy hand hath provided—

great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

 

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

join with all nature in manifold witness

to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. (Chorus)

 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:

blessings all mine with ten thousand beside! (Chorus)

 

Scripture Reading:   John 9:1-5      

 

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

 

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind?  Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

 

 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.   We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.  The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

This is the Word of the Lord.   Thanks be to God!

Sermon:   Taking the Light of Jesus to the Darkness”                                                                                                             

 

Hymn of Dedication

 

Living Hope (Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham, 2019 CCLI #7106807)

How great the chasm that lay between us,

How high the mountain I could not climb

In desperation, I turned to heaven

And spoke your name into the night.

 

Then through the darkness your lovingkindness

Saw through the shadows of my soul.

The work is finished, the end is written,

Jesus Christ, my Living Hope.

 

Who could imagine so great a mercy,

What heart could fathom such boundless grace?

The God of Ages stepped down from glory

To wear my sin and bear my shame.

 

The Cross has spoken, I am forgiven,

The King of kings calls me his own.

Beautiful Savior, I’m yours forever,

Jesus Christ, my Living Hope

 

Chorus: Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free,

Hallelujah, Death has lost its grip on me!

You have broken every chain,

There’s salvation in your name,

Jesus Christ, my Living Hope!

 

Then came the morning that sealed the promise,

Your buried body began to breathe.

Out of the silence, the roaring Lion

Declared the Grave has no claim on me. (Repeat verse 3)

Jesus, yours is the victory! (Chorus 2x)

Jesus Christ, my Living Hope, O God you are my Living Hope!

 

Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil:

for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.  Amen

 

Hymn of Thanksgiving

Now Thank We All Our God (Martin Rinkart, 1636, tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1858; tune Johann Cruger, 1647)

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,

who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices;

who from our mothers’ arms, hath blessed us on our way

with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

 

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,

with ever-joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;

and keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,

and free us from all ills in this world and the next.

 

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,

the Son, and him who reigns with them in highest heaven—

the one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore;

for thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

 

Benediction 

 

KNOW

Welcome to Providence Church! We are glad that you are here, joining us in person or via Zoom!.

Sunday School:   Adult and Youth Sunday School is at 11:15. Paula Rhodarmer will be teaching.   Will/Christina are leading a study in Exodus.  Children’s Sunday School – K-3 downstairs and 4-6 upstairs at the end of the hall.

Fellowship Time: Between the end of our worship service and before SS

Children of all ages are invited to participate in the entire service of worship.  Childcare for children up to 6 years of age, in our downstairs Christian Ed wing (on the left) at the end of the hallway.

Nursery Worker Needed –     Providence is looking to hire a part time nursery worker for each Sunday from 9:45 to 12noon.  Please contact Edward Brouwer 828-550-4615, or Linda Wilson, 901-230-7178, providencechurchassistant@gmail.com, if you are interested or know of anyone that might be.  Also, please be in prayer that God will guide this process. Thank you!

Church Christmas Decorating – Come join us in the fun of decorating our beautiful sanctuary and fellowship hall with Advent-inspired decorations TODAY right after the benediction!  We would love for the kids to join us, so we won’t have children’s SS this morning. See you then! And a quick heads up: we’ll be putting decorations away on Sunday, January 8th and would love your help with that.

GROW

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY – From 6:30pm until 8:00pm, we are excited to hold our Wednesday night bible study. The study will continue every other week until Advent season.  We will also have a short praise and prayer time. Childcare provided if needed. Contact the Luke       Allsbrook with any questions.

Women’s Prayer Group – No Ladies Group on 11/22

Men’s Prayer Group – 6:45am Thursday mornings, contact Sam Mitchell,        (828) 734-1392

GO

Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Shoebox gifts:   Once again we have the joy to collect a small shoebox of items to send to a child who needs to know the true joy of Christmas. Samaritan’s Purse OCC project uses these small boxes of happiness which YOU can pack to bring eternal joy through a discipleship program, The Greatest Journey Ever to bring the Good News of the Gospel to children around the globe. Collection dates for Providence shoeboxes are Sunday Nov. 13 and Nov.20.

OCC Shoebox Packing Center Opportunity– Mark your calendar to reserve Dec. 2 , 2022 for a trip to the OCC shoebox area packing center in Charlotte.  We have 14 slots available and a sign up sheet will be on the mission table in the Foyer.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing:  It’s that time of year! We have the privilege of ringing the bell for Salvation Army donations.  Providence has the date of December 6th, from 10:00am to 8:00pm.  Location will be Wal-Mart, pharmacy/grocery entrance. Each slot is for one hour, preference is 2 volunteers each hour.  The sign up sheet is available today.  If we have a large turn-out, time slots can be shortened to 30 minutes. Let’s show up with Providence pride!

Prayer Requests:   Healing: LuAnn Davis surgery recovery, Tim and Becky Brittain illness recovery    For Mercy and Grace:  Bill Silverthorne, Glenda White, Robbie Hargrove, Mike and Rhonda Lear, Chuck & Carole Torpy