Welcome

Introit |

Call to Worship (Psalm 8)
Leader: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
People: You have set your glory above the heavens.
Leader: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
All: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Hymn | “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above”

Prayer of Confession (unison)
Merciful God, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue pollute both the planet and our souls. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression.

Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ.

Silent Prayer

Assurance of Pardon (Romans 8:15-17)
Leader: We did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but we have received a Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
People: God’s Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. **
Leader: And if children, then heirs of eternal life. In Christ we are forgiven!
All: **Thanks be to God.

Gloria Patri

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen. Amen.

Scripture | Romans 8:18-24a

Sermon | “Heaven on Earth” - Rev.Dr. Barnabas Sprinkle

Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by 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. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen.

Anthem | “This Is My Father’s World” arr Joel Raney

Offering

Ministry Focus

Affirmation of Faith (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter VII)
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

Hymn | “We’re Marching to Zio”

Benediction

Postlude |