Sermon Tone Analysis

* *

*Prelude*

*Welcome*

*Call to Worship*

/1//     O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

/

*2**     Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

*

/3//     Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

/

*4**     Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”*

[1]

 

*~*Praise                                   #*11           A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

*~*Invocation        (Lord’s Prayer)           *O Lord, our God, we pray that in worship today those who have grown weary of life will find hope, those confused will find clarity, those bitter will discover happiness, those who live in peril will find safety, those who are lonely will find friendship, and those who have lost life’s meaning will find holiness again.

All for the cause of Jesus Christ.

*~*Gloria Patri       # 575*

*Special Music*

*Presentation of 80 years Certificates  *Alice Bullock and Ruth Frazel

*Our Offering to God               *“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor.

9:10 RSV).

*~*Doxology          #572*

*~*Prayer of Dedication          *Heavenly Father, may your Kingdom be uppermost in our heart, minds, and lives.

Accept our gifts, given in love and devotion, and with them our renewed dedication of all that we are and have to your eternal glory.

*~*Hymn                                    *#398         In The Garden

*Scripture Reading                 Psalm 118:  5-9*

5     Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

6     With the Lord on my side I do not fear.

What can mortals do to me?

7     The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

8     It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals.

9     It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

[2]

 

*~*Hymn of Prayer                   #*392 Take Time to Be Holy

*Pastoral Prayer  *

/In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. / / //  //Luke 6:12 /  

 

*P*raise God for... the birth of new churches thanks to church planters across the country.

*A*sk God for... safety as Kit Ripley (IM missionary) returns to her mission field in Thailand where God will use her to meet the needs of his children.

*T*hank God for... the desire for Bibles in Russia.

*H*ealing for... Barb’s granddaughter who was born prematurely.

Creator God, on windswept beaches your saints of old held their hands up to you in wonder and amazement, felt your power through the roar of wind and surf, and exposed to the elements felt a unity with the One who had created all things.

This world does not often allow us such intimacy, Father.

We are crowded out by circumstances of our own choosing, seeking fellowship with each other rather than with you.

Forgive our unwillingness to follow in the footsteps of your saints to meet you in the solitude of your creation.

Forgive our unwillingness to get our feet wet.—John

Birch

*~*Hymn of Praise                   #*417 Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

*Scripture Reading                 Psalm 118:14-29*

14The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

15There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:  “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; 16the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”

17I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

18The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.

19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

20This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

21 thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.c

25Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!  O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.d

We bless you from the house of the Lord.

27The Lord is God, and he has given us light.

Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.e

28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

29O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.[3]

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*Message                                *Look for the Blessing*    *

A tried and tested spiritual exercise practiced by many Christians is to begin each new day with a repetition of the psalmist’s words, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Regardless of the weather or the circumstances of the world or any other condition, the discipline of repeating that refrain gives energy and optimism to those who say it.

I.

If we speak those words as our first waking thought, we give ourselves a framework in which to place all of the day’s activities and events.

We create order out of the jumble of experiences that come our way.

We reverse the question that sometimes confronts us—the question about “What am I going to do about this so that it will become a creative instead of a disabling experience?”

Repeating that verse enables us to look for the blessing that abides beneath the rush and tumble of outward circumstance.

Notice that the psalmist says, “Let us rejoice and be glad” in the day that God has given.

Saying “us” instead of “me” suggests two things.

First, God bestows blessings freely and widely.

Jesus made this point by his comment that God makes the sun rise “on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteousness.”

“Let us rejoice,” said the psalmist, not limiting it to just my vision or just yours.

The second implication of this plural pronoun is that we can be a blessing ourselves.

Not only are we to assist one another in recognizing the gifts of God in each new day, but we can offer ourselves to the people around us, giving gifts of friendship and caring, encouragement and help.

We have the privilege of helping others to rejoice and be glad, sharing these important feelings beyond ourselves.

II.

At day’s beginning, this Bible verse becomes our guide.

One translation of it says, “This is the day of the Lord’s victory; let us be happy, let us celebrate!”

Once more there is that emphasis on God’s authority over each day, followed by each believer’s enthusiastic response.

We are to claim God’s gifts; as well as point others to them, and we are to share them widely.

Finally, at day’s end, it suits us to review those blessings.

Having looked for blessings and found them, we then can appreciate their power to displace hurt and negativity and any other demoralizing thing.

It becomes evident to us that God’s grace is more than sufficient.

God’s provision for our need is more than we can ask or think.

Look for the blessings.

Such blessing will be discovered when each and every day is received from God as a product of divine handiwork—a gift worthy of glad acceptance.

Look for the blessings.

Look for the wonderful surprises.—John

H. Townsend

We must appreciate each day as a gift from God \\ Notice the only day that is mentioned in this verse is this day.

He does not talk about yesterday or tomorrow, only this day.

Every minute that you have, every breath you take, is a gift from God. \\ Have you ever heard the statement, “I wish I had as much time as you do.”

Now think about how silly that sounds.

We all have the same amount of time.

\\ And if you are here this morning and you think, “I don’t have the time to do everything that I want to do.” Guess what, join the crowd.

There was a study done by USA today that showed that the average time needed to do everything we want to do would require 42 hour days.

Almost double the time that we have in a day.

That means it is practically impossible for us to get everything we want done in a days time.

\\ But there is good news.

We all will die not having done everything we want to do.

How often to you hear, “I’ve always wanted to do that”.