Worship Service for January 8, 2023, at 11 AM

Welcome

Invocation

Confession and Forgiveness:

P: As we gather, today, let us cleanse our hearts and our consciences by confessing our sin to God.

(Time of silence for reflection and confession)

C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we are sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you and against our neighbor in our thoughts, words, and actions.  We are truly sorry for our sins and sincerely repent of them. We ask for Your mercy. For the sake of Jesus Christ’s bitter suffering and death, please forgive us and renew us that we may walk in Your Spirit to the glory of Your holy name.

P: The Lord has heard your confession. Therefore, 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

Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving – God So Loved

Verse 1:

Come all you weary, Come all you thirsty
Come to the well that Never runs dry
Drink of the Water, Come and thirst no more

Verse 2:
Come all you sinners, Come find His mercy
Come to the table, He Will satisfy
Taste of His goodness, Find what you’re looking for

Chorus 1:
For God so loved the World that He gave us His
One and only Son to save us
Whoever believes in Him will live forever

Verse 3:

Bring all your failures, Bring your addictions
Come lay them down at the Foot of the cross
Jesus is waiting There with open arms

(Chorus)

Chorus 2:
The power of Hell forever defeated
Now it is well, I’m Walking in freedom
For God so loved, God so loved the world

Bridge:
Praise God, praise God, From whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, praise Him for the Wonders of His love
(Repeat)
His amazing love

Chorus 1:
For God so loved the World that He gave us His
One and only Son to save us
Whoever believes in Him will live forever

Chorus 2:
The power of Hell forever defeated
Now it is well, I’m Walking in freedom
For God so loved, God so loved the world

Bring all your failures. Bring your addictions
Come lay them down at the foot of the cross
Jesus is waiting. God so loved the world
God So Loved –

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 36:25-27a

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you,

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

New Testament Reading: Revelation 7:13-17

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

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

Gospel Reading: John 4:1-30

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

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

Sermon Song – Living Hope

Verse 1:
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written, Jesus Christ, my Living Hope

Verse 2:
Who could imagine so great a mercy
What heart could fathom such boundless grace
The God of ages stepped down from glory To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of Kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever, Jesus Christ, my Living Hope

Chorus:
Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain, there’s salvation in Your Name
Jesus Christ, my Living Hope

Verse 3:
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the roaring Lion Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me Jesus, Yours is the victory

Chorus:
Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain, there’s salvation in Your Name
Jesus Christ, my Living Hope
Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain, there’s salvation in Your Name
Jesus Christ, my Living Hope
Jesus Christ, my Living Hope
Oh God, You are my Living Hope

Sermon Series: “A New Beginning”

This Week – “A New Heart”

Sign up for the New Beginning Challenge now!
– Text the word “begin” to (813) 602-0694.

Prayers

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, 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

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

Benediction

Closing Song: Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen

Upcoming Events

Today, After the Service, God Squad (Youth Group)
Faith Lutheran Church

Jan 10, 7pm, Growth Group Bible Study
Wesley Chapel District Park

Jan 17, 7 PM Council Meeting
The Chmiels

Jan 22, 1 PM Bowling (for the whole church)
Pin Chasers – 6816 Gall Blvd. Zephyrhills, FL 33542

New Beginning Challenge!
We will not only learn from this series but will grow together in our New Beginning Challenge! This will be an opportunity for all of us to put into practice what we are learning each week.

Sign up for this challenge right now

Text the word “begin” to (813) 602-0694.

It will send you 2-3 text messages and 2-3 emails a week with more about the series. The goal is to help you grow deeper in your faith throughout the week!