Home Worship Guide

February 28, 2021

Welcome

Thank you so much for joining us! The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday.

If you are new, welcome! We also want to invite you to learn more about us. You can do so by selecting the button below.
A few tips for parents:
  • Plan for your time – read through the guide and prepare the room where you are gathering
  • Make your time joyful – have fun!!!
  • Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
  • Have your kids participate in age and maturity appropriate ways – reading, singing, etc.
  • You are welcome to print out this week's Children's Bulletin here.

Time of Reflection

“Worldliness is that system of values, in any given age, which has at its center our fallen human perspective, which displaces God and his truth from the world, and which makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange. It thus gives great plausibility to what is morally wrong and, for that reason, makes what is wrong seem normal.”
~David Wells (1939-present), Contemporary professor and author

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
~Martin Luther (1483-1546), German professor, author and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation

“The soul is torn apart in a painful condition as long as it prefers the eternal because of its Truth but does not discard the temporal because of familiarity.”

“The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.”
~St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Theologian and philosopher
 
“We have zero motivation to repent, unless we see the mercy of God awaiting us. Not the slap of God, but the embrace of God. Repentance is not just turning from sin, not even that primarily. Repentance is primarily turning to God, moment by moment, because He has promised His mercy to the penitent.”
~Ray Ortlund, American minister and author

“True repentance always terminates on Jesus. It does not wallow in self-loathing or delight in self-flagellation. Rather, it allows an honest sense of our sinfulness to drive us toward the depth of Christ’s mercy in the gospel.”
~Kendal Haug & Will Walker, an excerpt from their Lenten Devotional Journey to the Cross
 

Opening Prayer

(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)

Call to Worship

Psalm 4:1-5 (ESV)

LEADER: Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
 
PEOPLE: O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?


LEADER: But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

PEOPLE: Be angry, and do not sin;
ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. 
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in the Lord.

Songs & Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
O COME TO THE ALTAR
 (Chris Brown, Mack Brocken, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye)
Are you hurting and broken within?
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling.
Have you come to the end of yourself?
Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling.

CHORUS:
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide.
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Leave behind your regrets and mistakes.
Come today, there’s no reason to wait.
Jesus is calling.
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy.
From the ashes, a new life is born,
Jesus is calling.
(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:
Oh, what a Savior,
Isn’t He wonderful?
Sing Hallelujah, Christ is risen.
Bow down before Him,
For He is Lord of all.
Sing Hallelujah, Christ is risen.
(CHORUS)

Bear your cross as you wait for the crown,
Tell the world of the treasure you found.
©2015 Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC) CCLI #1791178
PSALM MEDITATION Psalm 67 (ESV)

LEADER: May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.


PEOPLE: Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
 
LEADER: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.


PEOPLE: Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

ALL: The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Sharing

(as a lead into the Prayer Time, as a group share how you are feeling and what you are learning; below are suggested questions)

Prayer Time

(You may have an open time of prayer or select someone to pray)

  • Pray for our church’s short and long-term meeting place needs, that God would give us favor in the eyes of those in authority and that He would give us provision that would go far beyond all that we could ask or imagine.
  • Pray for our world – that the good news of Jesus Christ would flourish and that many would come to know God genuinely and personally.
  • Pray for those experiencing injustices; specifically, that God would bring hope, reconciliation, and restoration through the good news of His Son, and that we would be agents of this reconciliation.
  • Pray for those in authority at every level in our country, that they would govern wisely and justly.

Listen to Sermon

“Consider Your Ways”
Haggai 1:1-15
preached by Pastor Chris Audino
We hope to upload a recording of the sermon from the early service by 11:30 am.
Scripture Passage

Haggai 1:1-15 (ESV)

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Song of Response

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions) 
FAIREST LORD JESUS
(17th Century German hymn)
Fairest Lord Jesus! Ruler of all nature!
O Thou of God and man the Son!
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown!

Fair are the meadows, Fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing!

Fair is the sunshine, Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer,
Than all the angels heaven can boast!

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!
PUBLIC DOMAIN

Confession of Faith

from the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934)

LEADER: What claim does the Lord Jesus Christ have on your life?
 
CONGREGATION: We confess that as Jesus Christ is God’s assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so in the same way and with the same seriousness is he also God’s mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures. We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords- areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.

Sharing Time

(have everyone share one thing that struck them from the sermon)

Closing Meditation

Psalm 4:6-8 (ESV)
 
LEADER: There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”


PEOPLE: You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.

ALL: In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Benediction

(The leader or individual should read this aloud relishing in the confident assertion that Christ has conquered.)

Luke 12:29-32

LEADER: Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

PEOPLE: Amen!

Worshipping God through Giving

God has called us to be generous. He has entrusted this earth and all that is in it to us, but it is, ultimately, His! The Father gave what was most precious to Him, His own Son, in order to die for our sins. He has given to us abundantly beyond all that we could possibly ask or imagine! He is a benevolent and generous Giver! So, we give.

First, we want to remind you to continue your regular giving to CRC. This supports the ongoing work and ministry here in the Upper Valley and around the world through our missions support. Second, please consider giving to our Benevolence Fund, which supports local community care, both inside and outside the church. This is vitally important right now! As we see needs sprouting up around the community, we want to be positioned to extend a loving hand of support to those in need.

Giving Numbers
Budgeted Giving: $60,570
Actual Giving to Date: $49,928
Difference: (-$10,642)
Missions Giving YTD: $9,241
updated as of 1/31/21