03-01-2015 Sunday Evening Bulletin.pub

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The Lord’s Day Evening March 1, 2015 Six O’clock

Welcome and Announcements Prelude

The use of these ‘psalms of darkness’ may be judged by the world to be acts of unfaith and failure, but for the trusting community, their use is an act of bold faith, albeit a transformed faith. It is an act of bold faith on the one hand, because it insists that the world must be experienced as it really is and not in some pretended way. On the other hand, it is bold because it insists that all such experiences of disorder are a proper subject for discourse with God. There is nothing out of bounds, nothing precluded or inappropriate. Everything properly belongs in this conversation of the heart. To withhold parts of life from that conversation is in fact to withhold part of life from the sovereignty of God. Thus these psalms make the important connection: everything must be brought to speech, and everything brought to speech must be addressed to God, who is the final reference for all of life.

Call to Worship ................................................................ Psalm 77:1-9 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”

Invocation ......................................................... Dr. Sean Michael Lucas Hymn (Psalm 42A; insert) ............................................. As Pants the Deer Grace Moment ............................................................. Keith Easterling

Corporate Prayer of Lament MINISTER: The weight of grief bears heavily upon us, but it is a load we need not bear alone. Let us offer our burden to Jesus, Lord of life and death, of the present and the future. PEO PLE: W e b ring b ef ore yo u, Lor d, ou r conf us ion in t he f a ce of s h oc k, our despair in the face of tragedy, our helplessness in the face of death. MINSTER: We bring before you, Lord, the tears of sorrow, the cries for help, the vulnerability of pain. PEO PLE: W e b ring b ef or e yo u, Lo rd, o ur s ens e of f rus tra tion, o ur f eeling o f powerlessness, our fears for the future. MINISTER: We bring before you, Lord, our frustrated hopes, our unfulfilled desires, our unfettered sadness. A LL: Lif t f rom us ou r b ur den, a nd in you r pow er, ren ew us . In J es us ’ na me, Amen.

Hymn (Psalm 42B; insert) .............................My God, My Soul is In Despair (Children will be dismissed to 4 Corners on last verse.) Prayer of Illumination Scripture Reading................................................................. Psalm 42 Sermon .............................. “Asking God Why” ........... Dr. Sean Michael Lucas Hymn 518 .......................................... Christ, of All My Hopes the Ground Benediction MINISTER: Neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God. PEOPLE: Amen. Thanks be to God. MINISTER: God the Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. ALL: Amen.

Postlude

Sermon Notes Title: Asking God Why Text: Psalm 42 1. Questions

A. When shall I see God? (2)

B. Where is my God? (3, 10)

C. Why has God forgotten me? (9)

D. Why am I in turmoil? (5, 11)

2. Answers

March 1, 2015 6:00 p.m.

A. Hope in God (5, 8, 11)

B. Heart of God

Presbyterian Church in America Hattiesburg, Mississippi