Worship Service for February 25, 2024, at 11 AM

Welcome

Opening Song: Holy Spirit Ever Dwelling

 

Holy Spirit, ever dwelling, in the holiest realms of light;

Holy Spirit, ever brooding, o’er a world of gloom and night;

Holy Spirit, ever raising, those of earth to thrones on high;

Living, life-imparting Spirit, you we praise and magnify.

Holy Spirit, ever living, as the Church’s very life;

Holy Spirit, ever striving, through us in a ceaseless strife;

Holy Spirit, ever forming, in the Church the mind of Christ;

You we praise with endless worship, for your gifts and fruits unpriced.

Holy Spirit, ever working, through the Church’s ministry;

Quick’ning, strength’ning, and absolving,

Setting captive sinners free;

Holy Spirit, ever binding, age to age and soul to soul

In communion never ending, you we worship and extol.                                                                                                                © Public Domain

Invocation

Confession and Forgiveness:

P: Come into the presence of the Lord our God.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand; but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(A time of silence to reflect and personally confess our sins)

P: I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Let us confess our sin before the Lord. Let us confess together.
C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we are sinners.  We have sinned against you and our neighbors. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your punishment.  For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.  Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name.  Amen.

P: The Lord is gracious and merciful. He promises to forgive our sins. Therefore, upon this, your confession, as a called and ordained servant of the Lord, in the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

Song of Praise and Thanksgiving – King Of Kings    

In the darkness we were waiting, without hope, without light,
Till from heaven You came running. There was mercy in Your eyes.
To fulfil the law and prophets, to a virgin came the Word;
From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt. 

Chorus:
Praise the Father, Praise the Son, Praise the Spirit, Three in One!
God of glory, Majesty. Praise forever to the King of Kings! 
To reveal the kingdom coming and to reconcile the lost,
To redeem the whole creation, You did not despise the cross.
For even in your suffering You saw to the other side.
Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus, for our sake, You died 

(Chorus)
And the morning that You rose all of heaven held its breath,
Till that stone was moved for good; for the Lamb had conquered death.
And the dead rose from their tombs. And the angels stood in awe, For the souls of all who’d come to the Father are restored.

And the church of Christ was born. Then, the Spirit lit the flame.
Now this Gospel truth of old shall not kneel, shall not faint.
By His blood and in His name, in His freedom, I am free;
For the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me. 

(Chorus 2x)                                                     © 2018 Hillsong Music Publishing

Epistle Reading – 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading – John 17:20-21

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise be to You, o Christ.

Children’s Message

Sermon Hymn – The Church’s One Foundation

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is his new creation by water and the Word:
From heav’n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

 

Elect from ev’ry nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with ev’ry grace endued.

Through toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

 

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:
O blessed heav’nly chorus! Lord, save us by Your grace,
That we, like saints before us, may see You face to face.

                                                                                                                                            © Public Domain

Sermon – “Behold, The Communion of the Saints”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

Prayers: Text in prayer requests to (813) 326-5255 

Apostles’ Creed (stand)

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, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God
the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (stand)

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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen

Offering (sit)

Words of Institution (stand)

Peace (stand)
P: The peace of the Lord be with you all.
C: And also, with you.
P: We greet each other in the peace of Christ.

Distribution

Prayer (stand)

Benediction – The online service ends. The closing hymn video is on the Livestream page bulletin at FaithWesleyChapel.com with lyrics below. See announcements below as well. 

Closing Song – Oh, When the Saints

Oh, when the saints go marching in,

Oh, when the saints go marching in,

Oh Lord, I want to be in that number,

When the saints go marching in.

And when the sun refuse to shine,

And when the sun refuse to shine,

Oh Lord, I want to be in that number,

When the sun refuse to shine.

Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call,

Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call,

Oh Lord, I want to be in that number,
When the trumpet sounds its call.                                © Public Domain