Faith Community Church

June 6, 2008 – Forgiveness

Gathering of the Congregation

Greeting- Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.   Galatians 1:3-5

Call to Worship-

 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.  Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.  Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. Ps 145:1-3,11

Hymn of Praise 43: Praise My Soul the King of Heaven

Invocation        Pastor Jeff Gregory

Psalm 145:8-14

We Sing of God

 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.  Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Psalm 96:1-2

Kind and Merciful God  455 TWC

Depth of Mercy HLC 238

Blessed Redeemer BH 258

You are My King (Amazing Love) BH 305

Grace Greater Than All Our Sin HLC 240

Prayer

We Read the Sacred Writings

Devote yourself   to the public reading of   Scripture, to preaching and to  teaching..  Timothy 4:13

New Testament Deuteronomy 9:13-29

New Testament: Acts 8:3 Saul was ravaging …9:1-19

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

We Rejoice in Forgiveness

Psalm 32:1f Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt.

            O Happy Day HLC239

All My Sins Have Been Forgiven HLC 291

My Sin O the Bliss.. It Is Well with My Soul HLC 401

We Present Our Petitions to God

May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.  Ps. 88:6

Prayers of the People

 We Give Our Offerings to God

On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income... 1 Cor. 16:2

Prayer of Dedication

                Offering Song- I Then Shall Live As One            W&R 372

         We Hear the Word of God Proclaimed

 “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?”

Scripture Text- Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon- “Great Debt; Great Pardon" by Jeff Gregory

            Hymn of Response – “Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”  W&R 382

        We Share in the Lord's Table       led by Mark Bahr

The Forgiven Are Invited

Congregation of Jesus Christ, the Lord has prepared this table for all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them from their sins.  This table is a fellowship of the forgiven.  All forgiven sinners are invited to this table.

Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him.

Those who want to follow him must first be fed by him.

Those who would wash his feet must first let him make them clean.

The Institution   from Luke 22:14-20

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."  After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.  For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

With these words our Lord commands all believers

to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup

in true faith and in the confident hope of his return in glory.

In this supper God declares to us

that our sins have been completely forgiven

through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

which he himself finished on the cross once for all.