Exeter Presbyterian Church
Family Worship Guide
Sunday: Review morning sermon (evening service @ 5pm)
Monday: John 20:1-10
Tuesday: Hosea 2:1-13
Wednesday: Hosea 2:14-23
Thursday: Psalm 16
Friday: Exodus 20:16
Saturday: John 20
Next Sunday: September 12, 2010
Preaching: Pastor Steve Magee
Sermon text: John 20:1-10
Sermon title: “The Empty Tomb”
Music: Opening – “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul” (#57)
Preparation – Psalm 16 (Psalter)
Response – “Thine Be the Glory” (#274)
Closing – “Worship Christ, the Risen King!” (#286)
Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism
OT Reading: Psalm 16
Suggested Bible Study and Prayers
(Passages that we will refer to in next Sunday's worship)
Hosea 2
Lord God, there is hope now for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should put away our foolish sinning, for we have been redeemed by Your Son. When we look back upon our lives of sin, we hate our rebellion against You. You continued to provide for us day by day, and yet we used Your good gifts for more and more sinning. Our false lovers were no good for us at all. How could we have ever thought that idols would be the answer for us? Turn us back home again moment by moment. Keep us far away from the love of sinning. Open up our hearts to the great hope that is ours in Christ the Lord. Make us lie down in safety again. We receive Your steadfast love for us with amazement. Our glorious God, Your grace is great, and Your mercy is very powerful.
Psalm 16
Merciful Lord, we love You. You have heard us when we cried out to You. We faced distressing thoughts and agonizing fears. You heard our cry, and have caused us to rest again in Jesus Christ. Your promises are very secure. We will not be moved. The age of resurrection is surely coming. We are the payment of Your Son’s holy vow. We will praise You in the land of the living. We long for the coming of the perfect Jerusalem. We are there even now in Christ.
John 20
Lord God, we marvel at the empty tomb. We consider the placement of the linen cloths lying there, cloths that once covered the dead body of Your Son. We think of the other cloth that once covered a lifeless face, now folded in a place by itself. We believe. Then we consider the familiar voice of Jesus calling His friend by her own name, the voice of a risen Man who walks in the presence of angels. Yes, we believe. He is risen. He is the firstborn of many brethren. As He is, so shall we be. Though we die, there is no point in anyone clinging to our flesh, for our spirits shall ascend on high, and when the Son of Man calls us out from the grave, we shall rise again, not with mortal flesh, but with immortal bodies. We long for Your coming, O Lord! Your Father is our Father. Your God is our God, and we have peace. Father God, fill Your church with Your Holy Spirit. As You sent Your Son, not to be served, but to serve, send us forward in Your love. Use Your church to declare the forgiveness of sins. Grant us a very secure faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in our coming resurrection. Though we have not yet seen, we do sincerely believe.
