PROVIDENCE CHURCH

MARCH 26, 2023

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:   Exodus 15 (select verses)

Leader:   “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

 

Congregation:  The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

 

Leader:  Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.  In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

 

Congregation:  Who is like you, O Lord, among the so-called gods?   Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

 

Leader:  You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

 

Congregation:  You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

 

ALL:  The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

 

Songs of Praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber, 1800; tune John Dykes, 1861)

1.Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

 

2.Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,

Who wert , and art, and evermore shalt be.

 

3.Holy, holy, holy! Through the darkness hide thee,

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,

Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

 

4.Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea.

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

 

 

God of Wonders (Marc Byrd & Steve Hindalong, 2000  CCLI #3118757)

Lord of all creation, of water, earth and sky,

The heavens are your tabernacle; glory to the Lord on high.

Chorus:

God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy.

The universe declares your majesty, you are holy, holy…

Lord of heaven and earth, Lord of heaven and earth,

 

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth,

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth,

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth!

 

Early in the morning, I will celebrate the light,

And as I stumble in the darkness, I will call your name by night. (Chorus)

 

 

 

We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought  (Thomas Benson Pollack, 1889; adapted and 4th verse by Renée Allsbrook)

We have not known thee as we ought,

Nor learned thy wisdom, grace and power;

The things of earth have filled our thoughts,

And trifles of the passing hour.

Lord, give us light, thy truth to see,

And make us wise in knowing thee.

 

We have not feared thee as we ought,

Nor bowed beneath thine awesome eye,

Nor guarded deed and word and thought,

Remembering that God was nigh.

Lord, give us faith to know thee near,

And grant the grace of holy fear.

 

We have not loved thee as we ought,

Nor cared that we are loved by thee;

Thy presence we have coldly sought,

And feebly longed thy face to see.

Lord, give a pure and loving heart,

To feel and own the love thou art.

 

Great God, whose power no mind can know,

Great God, whose love the sky o’erflows,

Great God, who speaks in mercy’s tongue,

Great God, in whom our victory’s won:

Come, fill each desert place with rain;

Thirsty, we drink from thee again.

 

 

 

Confession/Assurance    Titus 3:2-7

 

to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

Respond in Praise: 

 

When All Your Mercies, O My God (Joseph Addison, 1712)

When all your mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys,

transported with the view, I’m lost in wonder, love and praise.

 

Unnumbered comforts to my soul your tender care bestowed,

before my infant heart conceived from whom those comforts flowed.

 

When worn with sickness, oft have you with health renewed my face;

and when in sins and sorrows sunk, revived my soul with grace.

 

Ten thousand, thousand precious gifts my daily thanks employ;

nor is the least a cheerful heart that tastes those gifts with joy.

 

Through every period of my life your goodness I’ll pursue;

And after death, in distant worlds, the glorious theme renew.

 

Scripture   Revelation 13 

  

The First Beast

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

 

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

 

10 If anyone is to be taken captive,

    to captivity he goes;

if anyone is to be slain with the sword,

    with the sword must he be slain.

 

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

 

The Second Beast

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of[d] the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[e] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

 

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

 

Sermon “A Worship War”                                          

 

Hymn of Dedication

Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend  CCLI #4779872)

Holy Spirit, living breath of God, breathe new life into my willing soul.

Breathe the presence of the Risen Lord to renew my heart and make me whole.

Cause your word to come alive in me;

Give me faith for what I cannot see,

Give me passion for your purity,

Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

 

Holy Spirit, come abide within, may your joy be seen in all I do;

Love enough to cover every sin, in each thought and deed and attitude.

Kindness to the greatest and the least,

Gentleness that sows the path of peace,

Turn my striving into works of grace,

Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.

 

Holy Spirit, from Creation’s birth, giving life to all that God has made,

Show your power once again on earth, cause your Church to hunger for your ways.

Let the fragrance of our prayers arise,

Lead us on the road to sacrifice,

That in unity the face of Christ

will be clear for all the world to see.

 

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

Jesus Shall Reign (Isaac Watts, 1719; Chorus Keith & Kristyn Getty, Ed Cash, 2017)

Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun does His successive journeys run;

Hs kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more.

 

Blessings abound where e’er He reigns; the prisoner leaps to lose his chains;

The weary find eternal rest, and all the sons of want are blessed.

 

 

Chorus:

To our King be highest praise,

Rising through eternal days.

Just and faithful He shall reign:

Jesus shall reign!

 

Where He displays His healing power, Death and the curse are found no more.

In Him the tribes of Adam boast more blessings than their father lost.

 

People and realms of every tongue dwell on His love with sweetest song;

And infant voices shall proclaim their early praises to His name. (Chorus)

 

Let every creature rise and bring blessing and honor to our King;

Angels descend with songs again, and earth repeat the loud Amen! (Chorus)

 

 

 

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 – boys meet downstairs and girls upstairs at the end of the hall.

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.

Welcome Baby Taylor!  Taylor Jean Roberts was born 3/21/23 at 7:58am weighing 5lbs. 13oz and 18 7/8 long.  Christina and daughter are doing well.

Holy Week Schedule –

4/7 – 6:30pm – Good Friday Service

4/9 – 8:30am – Church wide Pancake Breakfast

4/9 – 9:45am –  Easter service (NO Sunday School)

Financial Support Summary:   (current thru end of February)  Total Income:  $15, 426;              Total Expense:  $30,376:  Surplus/Deficit:  -$14,950  Through the end of the month (February), the total expenses of the church exceeded total income resulting in a net budgetary deficit/shortfall in the amount of $14,950.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! – Spring is just around the corner. With its arrival comes beautiful spring grass around the church. Unfortunately, that green grass needs cutting but this gives you an opportunity to serve in a unique, “cutting edge” way. If you are interested in helping us this summer we would love to have you come on board. We have the necessary equipment (riding mower, weed eaters and petro to feed them). We work in groups of two or more with a rotation of about once every 6 weeks. If you are interested, which I KNOW you are, please call Sam M.  at (828)734-1392.

 

 

GROW

Women’s Prayer Group – 10:15am Tuesday mornings, contact Linda Roberts,  828) 506-3101

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

 

GO

Prayer Requests

For Healing:  Renee Mitchell surgery 3-27

For Mercy and Grace:  Bill and Glenda White, Bill Silverthorne, Robbie Hargrove