God's People Gather for Worship

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God’s People Gather for Worship May 24, 2020 “By God’s grace alone and to his glory alone, we exist to worship God in his greatness and his holiness with Gospel-driven passion and integrity…” (excerpted from FPC Rome Mission Statement) As you, and any with you, get ready for the live streamed service to begin, we encourage you to get your Bibles to have with you during the message. When the live stream does begin, please let us know you have joined the service by typing a greeting or message in the comments section on Facebook Live.

Preparing for Worship Prelude

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” Robert A. Hobby

Ms. Faye Kesler

Invocation

Declaring God’s Praise Call to Worship

Psalm 68:32-35

Leader: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice. People: Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. ALL: You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Hymn

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” CORONATION

All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all! Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, Ye ransomed from the fall, Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all;

Hail Him who saves you by His grace, And crown Him Lord of all! Let every kindred, every tribe On this terrestrial ball, To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all; To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all! O that with yonder sacred throng We at His feet may fall! We’ll join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all; We’ll join the everlasting song, And crown Him Lord of all!

Affirming Our Faith The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Congregational Response

“The Doxology”

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him, all creatures here below! Praise him above, ye heavenly host! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! AMEN

Confessing Our Sin and Embracing Our Forgiveness Silent Prayers of Confession

Corporate Prayer of Confession ALL: Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Divine Pardon Hymn

“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” ST. DINO

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious- Thy great name we praise. Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love. To all, life Thou givest- to both great and small; In all life Thou livest- the true life of all. Thy wisdom so boundless, Thy mercy so free, Eternal Thy goodness for naught changeth Thee. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; All praise we would render- O help us to see 'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

Welcome and Announcements Offering and Passing of the Peace (If you have already become familiar with online giving options, this would be a great time to go to our web site, or use the mobile app, to make your financial gift to the Lord to support the life and ministry of our church.)

As a part of our worship today you are asked to “pass the peace” to those who worship in your home with you, and also to do so with someone else in our church body, or who may need someone to reach out to them today. To pass the peace you simply turn and say to one near you or text to someone, some variation of “May God’s peace be with you”. If someone “passes the peace” to you, your response is some variation of “And also with you”.

“Passing the Peace” is a tradition rooted in Scripture that embodies our identity as peacemakers (Matt. 5:9; 2 Cor. 5:20) and models a greeting that Jesus himself used with his disciples (Luke 24:36; John 20:19, 26), Peace was what Jesus promised to give to his disciples as he prepared to leave them (John 14:27). The apostle Paul opened many of his letters to his brothers and sisters with the words “Grace and peace be with you” (i.e. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2). Today many congregations pass the peace during a mutual greeting time in worship, through which we acknowledge our unity in Christ, our covenant membership vow to promote the peace of the Church, and our sincere desire that our fellow worshippers would know the overwhelming presence of God’s peace.

Anthem

“Give Me Jesus” arr. Perez

Ms. Judy Powell, trumpet Mr. J. Kyle Coleman, piano

Interceding for God’s World Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer ALL: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Hearing God’s Word Scripture Reading

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 ESV

Sermon

“A Mote of Dust and a Mass of Joy” Rev. Bill Pardue

(see sermon outline)

Scattering as Christ’s Church Hymn

“O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” EBENEZER

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me, Is the current of Thy love; Leading onward, leading homeward To my glorious rest above.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, Changeth never, nevermore; How He watches o’er His loved ones, Died to call them all His own; How for them He intercedeth, Watcheth o’er them from the throne. O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Love of every love the best; ‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing, ‘Tis a haven sweet of rest. O the deep, deep love of Jesus, “Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me; And it lifts me up to glory, For it lifts me up to Thee.

Commissioning and Benediction Postlude

“Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Dark Bonds” J.S. Bach

Ms. Faye Kesler

God’s People Scatter to Live as Faithful, Fruitful Followers of Jesus Christ

A Mote of Dust and a Mass of Joy I.

II.



Scripture Lesson Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (ESV) 1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. Introduction “Ecclesiastes is an Israelite sample of a literary tradition, widely attested in the ancient Near East, knows as ‘wisdom literature’…the OT itself testifies to the international character of wisdom in its references to Egypt, Edom, Arabia, Phoenicia, Babel, and Persia…in Israel the techniques of the wisdom writers were known and used from its earliest days…Solomon, however, gave Israel’s wisdom its greatest impetus…in Ecclesiastes, wisdom given by God, acted out in the presence of God, is allowed; autonomous, self-sufficient wisdom as a remedy’s to man’s plight ‘under the sun’ is disallowed…the fear of God which he recommends (3:14; 5:7; 8:12; 12:13) is not only the beginning of wisdom; it is also the beginning of joy, of contentment and of an energetic and purposeful life.” - Eaton, TOTC, 32-55. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III.

Big Idea The Gospel interrupts the dull rhythm of frustrating activity in a broken world to restore value and purpose to life and work under the sun. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Like a Rembrandt painting, in which darkness and light play off of each other and blend together in seemingly inexplicable ways, the gray pieces of Ecclesiastes do eventually connect with God, who is at the center of the picture and is bright in all his incomprehensible glory and wisdom.” - O’Donnell, REC, 9.

IV.

Darkness ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vanity (hebel): temporary, transitory, meaningless, senseless, futile, ephemeral, contingent, incomprehensible, absurd, empty, a striving after wind, a bubble, smoke that curls up into the air, mist, or breath.

Romans 8:20 (NIV) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it…

V.

Light

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“Jesus Christ redeemed us from the vanity that the Preacher so wrestled with and suffered under. Jesus subjecting himself to our temporary, meaningless, futile, incomprehensible, incongruous, absurd, smoke-curling-up-into-the-air, mere-breath, vain life. He was born under the sun. He toiled under the sun. He suffered under the sun. He died under the sun. But his subjection to the curse of death by his own death on the cross, this Son of God ‘redeemed us from the curse’ (Gal. 3:13). By his resurrection, he restored meaning to our toil. And by his return, he will exact every injustice and elucidate every absurdity as he ushers those who fear the Lord into the glorious presence of our all-wise, nevercompletely-comprehensible God. In the small book of Ecclesiastes a great God brings rock-solid meaning to everything under the sun by means of his Son.” - O’Donnell, REC, 12-13 Let us cling to Christ for our satisfaction and witness in world full of frustration. VI.

Conclusion ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________