Sunday, April 19, 2020

The Dear GBC Family,

Below is what you need for an at-home time of worship. There are scripture reading and sermon videos along with suggestions for hymns and prayers.  

I pray our time around common portions of God's Word be a blessing and encouragement to us these Lord's Days we are apart, and I hope we are filled with longing for the time we can meet together again face to face.

Since giving is part of what we do when we gather on the Lord's Day, if you are able to continue financially giving during this time (and we understand if you are not able!), we ask that you mail checks only (no cash) to our new P.O. Box:

Grace Baptist Church of Warsaw
P.O. Box 1383
Warsaw, IN  46581-1383

May God bless us all as we seek to honor him on his day!

Here are a few suggestions on how to use these resources: 

• We've tried to keep a similar order of service to what we do when we gather together, but it's ok if you don't go in that exact order. 
• For the hymns, please sing along. You might have to overcome a little awkwardness, but that's ok!
• We plan to suspend our regular OT and NT Scripture readings and resume them when we can meet together again. In the meantime, I plan to choose passages related to the message.
• The sermon resumes our series in the Gospel of John! 

Order of Service

Prayer: Ask God to bless your time of worship and to bless others as they meet in their homes.

Call to Worship/OT Scripture Reading: Psalm 42-43. These two Psalms go together and lament a time when the Psalmist can't get to the gatherings of God's people. We've talked about lament - a Biblical response of mourning our own sin, tragic circumstances, attacks of the enemy, or other difficulties. We are certainly in difficult days and lament is appropriate response.  **This week we have pre-recorded Scripture readings. This one is just below.**

​Hymn: Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call - This is taken from Psalm 42. We've been learning it as a congregation and continue that this morning.

Hymn: TH 80 - How firm a foundation -  Instrumental with lyrics; congregational singing - part of lament is confessing our trust in God; he has been faithful in the past and we fully expect he will continue to to be faithful all the way home. This hymn is a sweet expression of that trust in our faithful God. The links are to a different (but familiar) tune than the one printed in the Trinity Hymnal. Both links have just 4 of the 6 verses that are in the TH. Here's a favorite of mine that is missing:
     When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
     The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
     For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless,
     And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

Scripture Memory: Proverbs 15:8-9 “8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. 9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.” (ESV)

Prayer: - Confess sin and rejoice in God's forgiveness; thank God for blessings; pray for our missionaries to the FE; pray that God would help you to receive the Word of God as it is preached; pray for other family needs and needs of others in the church; pray for the various needs related to the pandemic - the sick, those caring for the sick, the unemployed, the decision makers, efforts to slow it to be successful

NT Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 - Faith in Christ is the only way to true healing of our spiritual sickness, the forgiveness of our sins. **This week we have pre-recorded Scripture readings. This one is just below.** 

​Hymn: TH 582 - My hope is built on nothing less - Instrumental with lyrics; Congregational Version - we want to see Jesus the healer and Savior today from John's gospel and we sing of our faith in him here. (The links are to a different tune than the one printed in the Trinity Hymnal.)

Preaching: See video below

Prayer and Benediction: Included in the video below.

Closing Hymn: TH 432 Jesus what a friend for sinners - Instrumental with lyrics, congregational singing - we sing of our merciful Savior and healer 

You may want to take a little time to talk about what you've heard. And don't forget to join our Zoom prayer meeting tonight at 5pm. Watch your email for the link.