Evening Worship
5:30 P.M.
We prepare for worship by hearing God’s Word: Acts 27
God Calls Us to Worship
*Call to Worship
*Prayer of Invocation
*Salutation
*Hymn #382 “God Himself Is with Us”
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins
Confession of Sin
Assurance of Pardon
*Hymn #248 “Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended”
God Calls Us to Confess Our Faith
*Confession of Faith: S/C #27-29, pg. 871
God Speaks to Us
Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:1-14
Sermon: “Sharing Christ’s Sufferings”
Congregational Prayer
*Hymn #649 “More Love to Thee, O Christ”
God Dismisses Us with His Blessing
*Benediction: 2 Corinthians 13:14
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As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death – we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world… Jesus’ summons to the rich young man was calling him to die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts… Every day [the Christian] encounters new temptations, and every day he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ’s sake. The wounds and scars he receives in the fray are living tokens of this participation in the cross of his Lord.
Dietrick Bonhoeffer
