July 12, 2026

Service Leader

Call to Worship

“Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.”

“God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!” (Psalm 47:1–2, 5–7)

This call to worship God in song comes from Psalm 47.
Loud shouts require effort.
Claps require humilty.
Singing praise requires the mind.
How can we do all of this unhypocritically and with our whole heart? We will need His help. So, let's pray to Him and ask for it.

Service Leader

Prayer

Service Leader

Corporate Reading

Please read out loud with me all the words of Psalm 147:1–11. Let's read out loud together.

“Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.”

“Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” (Psalm 147:1–11)

Service Leader

Confession of Sin

I am sure you remember the Parable of the Talents… a story Jesus told about three slaves who had been entrusted with different amounts of money by their master. (A talent is a currency, like a dollar.) When the master came to settle accounts, the first two slaves are rewarded for their diligence. So, the master said to the slave who had been diligent and doubled his two talents…

“His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.””

But the story continues…

“He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant!” (Matthew 25:23–26)

Each of us has been entrusted something from the Lord. He expects us to use our gifts to His glory, not bury them in the sand.

What have you been burying?
Are there acts of service you have been avoiding?
Have you felt compelled to use your money for His purposes, but held it back?
Have you selfishly clung to your time instead of giving it to others?

Please take a moment to confess your spiritual slothfulness or laziness to the Lord. Then ask Him to forgive you and give you grace to live diligently for Him.

Service Leader

Confession of Sin

Service Leader

Assurance of Pardon

“‘They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (Malachi 3:17–18)

Lead Elder

Pastoral Prayer

Lead Elder

Scripture Reading

Luke 5:27–6:11

Complementary Scripture Reader

Complementary Reading

Listen to the Word of God

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” (Jeremiah 17:9–10)

This reading was from Jeremiah 17.

Preacher

Sermon

Luke 5:27–6:11

Service Leader

Benediction

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24–26)