PROVIDENCE CHURCH

      July 31, 2022

 

Welcome

Passing of the Peace: Though we are separated by distance our hearts are one in Christ. The peace of Christ be with you!  And also with you!

 

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

 

Call to Worship:   Psalm 106:1-5

Leader:  Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.

Congregation:  Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?  Who can declare all His praise?

Leader:  Blessed are those who keep justice, And he who does righteousness at all times!

Congregation:  Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.  Oh, visit me with Your salvation,

ALL:  That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,  that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.

 

 

Songs of Praise:

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson, 1758; tune Asahel Nettleton, 1825)

Come, thou fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unchanging love.

 

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come;

And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of God:

He, to rescue me from danger, bought me with his precious blood.

 

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be;

Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to thee.

Prone to wander—Lord, I feel it—prone to leave the God I love:

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

 

Shout to the Lord (Darlene Zschech, 1993 CCLI #1406918)

My Jesus, my Savior

Lord, there is none like You

All of my days I want to praise

the wonders of Your mighty love

 

My comfort, my shelter,

tower of refuge and strength

let every breath, all that I am

never cease to worship You

 

Chorus:

Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing

power and majesty, praise to the King

Mountains bow down and the seas will roar

at the sound of Your name

 

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands

forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand

1st time: Nothing compares to the promise I have in You (Repeat all)

 

2nd time: Nothing compares to the promise I have

Nothing compares to the promise I have

Nothing compares to the promise I have in you

 

Mighty to Save (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan CCLI#4591782)

Everyone needs compassion

Love that’s never failing, let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness

The kindness of a Savior, the Hope of nations

 

Chorus: Savior, He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save

Forever Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

 

So take me as You find me

All my fears and failures, fill my life again

I give my life to follow

Everything I believe in, now I surrender

 

Chorus: Savior, He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save

Forever Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave

 

Shine Your light and

Let the whole world see, we’re singing

For the glory of the risen King, Jesus

Shine Your light and

Let the whole world see, we’re singing

For the glory of the risen King

 

Chorus: Savior, He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save

Forever Author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave (2X)

 

Tag: You are mighty to save

 

Confession/Assurance    Select verses from 1 Corinthians 15

​

Respond in Praise: 

Wonderful, Merciful Savior (Eric Wyse & Dawn Rodgers, 1989  CCLI #106879)

Wonderful, merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and Friend,

Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men?

Oh you rescue the souls of men.

 

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper, Spirit we long to embrace,

You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost our way,

Oh, we’ve hopelessly lost the way.

 

Chorus: You are the One that we praise,

You are the One we adore,

You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for,

Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

 

3.Almighty, Infinite Father, faithfully loving your own,

Here in our weakness you find us, falling before your Throne,

Oh we’re falling before your Throne. (Chorus 2X)

 

Musical Offering PEACE (Lillian and Caroline Dale)

 

PEACE
Peace, You give me peace
When the storms come and I’m afraid
Peace, You give me peace
When I trust in the words You say
You give me peace

If You can calm the sea
Then You can comfort me
If winds obey Your voice
Why should I fear their noise?
And though my eyes can’t see
I know You’re with me

Peace, You give me peace
When the storms come and I’m afraid
Peace, You give me peace
When I trust in the words You say
You give me peace

When someone starts to fight
And does things I don’t like
I hear Your gentle voice
Saying I have a choice
To make an enemy
Or to spread Your peace

Peace, You give me peace
When the storms come and I’m afraid
Peace, You give me peace
When I trust in the words You say
You give me peace

 

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 Spirit,

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 is seated at the right hand

of God the Father Almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.   Amen

 

 

Scripture Reading:   Nehemiah 13

 

On that same day, as the laws of Moses were being read, the people found a statement which said that the Ammonites and Moabites should never be permitted to worship at the Temple.  For they had not been friendly to the people of Israel. Instead, they had hired Balaam to curse them—although God turned the curse into a blessing.   When this rule was read, all the foreigners were immediately expelled from the assembly.

 

Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as custodian of the Temple storerooms and who was also a good friend of Tobiah, had converted a storage room into a beautiful guest room for Tobiah.  The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, frankincense, bowls, and tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil. Moses had decreed that these offerings belonged to the priests, Levites, the members of the choir, and the gatekeepers.

 

I was not in Jerusalem at the time, for I had returned to Babylon in the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (though I later received his permission to go back again to Jerusalem).   When I arrived back in Jerusalem and learned of this evil deed of Eliashib—that he had prepared a guest room in the Temple for Tobiah— I was very upset and threw out all of his belongings from the room. 9 Then I demanded that the room be thoroughly cleaned, and I brought back the Temple bowls, the grain offerings, and frankincense.

 

I also learned that the Levites had not been given what was due them, so they and the choir singers who were supposed to conduct the worship services had returned to their farms.   I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple been forsaken?”  Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties.  And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple treasury.

 

I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the Levite in charge of the administration of the storehouses; and I appointed Hanan (son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah) as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and their job was to make an honest distribution to their fellow Levites.

 

O my God, remember this good deed and do not forget all that I have done for the Temple.

 

One day I was on a farm and saw some men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, hauling in sheaves, and loading their donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all sorts of produce, which they took that day into Jerusalem.  So I opposed them publicly. There were also some men from Tyre bringing in fish and all sorts of wares and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Jerusalem.

 

Then I asked the leaders of Judah, “Why are you profaning the Sabbath?  Wasn’t it enough that your fathers did this sort of thing and brought the present evil days upon us and upon our city? And now you are bringing more wrath upon the people of Israel by permitting the Sabbath to be desecrated in this way.”

 

So from then on I commanded that the gates of the city be shut as darkness fell on Friday evenings and not be opened until the Sabbath had ended; and I sent some of my servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day.   The merchants and tradesmen camped outside Jerusalem once or twice, but I spoke sharply to them and said, “What are you doing out here, camping around the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” And that was the last time they came on the Sabbath.

 

Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the gates in order to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath. Remember this good deed, O my God! Have compassion upon me in accordance with your great goodness.

 

About the same time I realized that some of the Jews had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab, and that many of their children spoke in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak the language of Judah at all.   So I confronted these parents and cursed them and punched a few of them and knocked them around and pulled out their hair; and they vowed before God that they would not let their children intermarry with non-Jews.

 

“Wasn’t this exactly King Solomon’s problem?” I demanded. “There was no king who could compare with him, and God loved him and made him the king over all Israel; but even so he was led into idolatry by foreign women.   Do you think that we will let you get away with this sinful deed?”

 

One of the sons of Jehoiada (the son of Eliashib the High Priest) was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, so I chased him out of the Temple.   Remember them, O my God, for they have defiled the priesthood and the promises and vows of the priests and Levites.   So I purged out the foreigners and assigned tasks to the priests and Levites, making certain that each knew his work.   They supplied wood for the altar at the proper times and cared for the sacrifices and the first offerings of every harvest. Remember me, my God, with your kindness.

 

This is the Word of the Lord.   Thanks be to God!

Sermon:  “ Remember Me O God”                                                                                                 

 

Communion Hymn

 

Behold the Lamb (Keith & Kristyn Getty, Stuart Townend   CCLI #5003372)

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away, slain for us,

And we remember

the promise made that all who come in in faith find forgiveness at the cross.

So we share in this bread of life and we drink of his sacrifice

As a sign of our bonds of peace, around the table of the King.

 

The body of our Savior Jesus Christ, torn for you,

Eat and remember

The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life paid the price to make us one.

So we share in this bread of life and we drink of his sacrifice

As a sign of our bonds of grace around the table of the King.

 

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin, shed for you,

Drink and remember

He drained death’s cup that all may enter in to receive the life of God.

So we share in this bread of life and we drink of his sacrifice

As a sign of our bonds of love around the table of the King.

 

And so with thankfulness and faith we rise to respond,

And to remember

Our call to follow in the steps of Christ as his body here on earth.

As we share in his sufferings, we proclaim: Christ will come again!

And we’ll join in the feast of heav’n, around the table of the King.

 

Communion

 

Lord’s Prayer:

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.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil:

for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.  Amen

 

Hymn of Thanksgiving

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (Edward Mote, 1834; tune William Bradbury, 1863)

1.My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

 

Chorus: On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

 

2.When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace;

in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. (Chorus)

 

3.His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood;

when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. (Chorus)

 

4.When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found:

dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. (Chorus)

 

Benediction 

 

KNOW

Welcome to Providence Church! We are glad that you are here, joining us in person or via Zoom!.

Sunday School:   Adult and Youth Sunday School is at 11:15. Paula Rhodarmer will be teaching.   Will/Christina are leading a study in Genesis.  Bill/Jerry are leading the Youth SS in a classic book by CS Lewis.

Fellowship Time: Between the end of our worship service and before SS

Children of all ages are invited to participate in the entire service of worship.  Childcare for children up to 6 years of age, in our downstairs Christian Ed wing (on the left) at the end of the hallway.

Nursery Worker Needed –     Providence is looking to hire a part time nursery worker for each Sunday from 9:45 to 12noon.  Please contact Edward Brouwer 828-550-4615, or Linda Wilson, 901-230-7178, providencechurchassistant@gmail.com, if you are interested or know of anyone that might be.  Also, please be in prayer that God will guide this process. Thank you!

Mark your Calendars!  Baseball, hot dogs, fellowship and fun for the whole family!  Providence Church is going to an Asheville Tourists baseball game August 12th, 6:30pm.  Tickets are $9 if we get at least 20 fans to join us.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the Narnex for RSVP so we can get a head count.  Please be sure to let us know who can go and how many.

 

GROW

Women’s Prayer Group – NO PRAYER GROUP MTG THIS WEEK

Men’s Prayer Group – 6:45am Thursday mornings, contact Sam Mitchell for more info.

 

GO

Prayer Requests:    For Mercy and Grace:  Bill Silverthorne, Glenda White, Judd and       Susanne Heriot, Robbie Hargrove, Mike and Rhonda Lear, Chuck & Carole Torpy; Lisa Rhodarmer’s mother Ruth