August 30, 2026

Service Leader

Call to Worship

“Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” (Psalm 96:1–5)

This call to worship the one true God, the Creator of all things, comes to all of us from Psalm 96. Every other so-called god is a worthless idol. So, turn from your foolish ways and come worship the great and glorious King!

Service Leader

Confession of Sin

Jean Calvin coined this memorable phrase to describe our ability to find things to worship besides God: “Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.” — John Calvin, Institutes 1.11.8
He was only summarizing what Paul wrote to the Romans:

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:22–25)

What we did all the time before God saved us, is what we are tempted to do all the time after He saves us: to make idols, to worship created things instead of our glorious, happy, Creator. Reflecting on this propensity to worship idols instead of the God who saved them, the Psalmist wrote of God's displeasure toward His people Israel:

“They served their idols, which became a snare to them. Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;” (Psalm 106:36, 40)

Service Leader

Silence & Meditation

Not many of us bow down to statues or make sacrifices on altars, but if our hearts are idol factories, then we ought to carefully examine what it is we tend to worship instead of God. Here are four questions for you to ponder, in order to help you find your idols and repent from them. What thing or person do I feel like I cannot live without? Who or what is the first thing I turn to when I need help or feel afraid? What do I spend much of my free time and disposable income on? Where in my life am I purposely ignoring or disobeying God’s commands so I can get what I want?

Upon reflection, we might discover that our greatest idol is ourself. That hiding behind all these other things we worship, is a deep love for me.

Service Leader

Assurance of Pardon

Brothers and Sisters, the same Psalm that spoke of terrible idolatry, also spoke of one who stood in the gap to rescue His people:

“Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” (Psalm 106:23)

Of course, we all turn to the Greater Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ. He stood before the eternal wrath of God on our behalf and cleanses us Christians from even our worst idolatries.

So, as we just sang:

"To Christ be all the honour given, The glory to His name."

Lead Elder

Pastoral Prayer

Lead Elder

Catechism & Confession of Faith

Once you begin to see how deformed our inner spiritual compass is, that we are still prone to make idols instead of love God, you have no problem understanding, believing and accepting the truth of this week's catechism question. [read thru Q and A, then read Q and get congregation to read A]

Question 35
Q: Since we are redeemed by grace alone, through faith alone, where does this faith come from?

A: From the Holy Spirit.

Lead Elder

Scripture Reading

1 Kings 11:1–43

Preacher

Sermon

1 Kings 11:1–43

Complementary Scripture Reader

Complementary Reading

Listen to this invitation… and warning… from the Word of God

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:19–21)

This reading was from 1 John 5.

Service Leader

Benediction

Leave this service with a reminder of Who is most important of all:

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25)