September 20, 2026

Service Leader

Call to Worship

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” (Psalm 95:6–7)

This call to Worship God, our Great Shepherd, comes from Psalm 95. And as faithful sheep, we love to come to the sound of His voice. As we do, we come to Him singing praises for all he has done and will do for His people.

Service Leader

Prayer

Service Leader

Confession of Sin

We ask God for hearts to praise Him fully, because we know how fickle and weak we are. That is why we will take the time now to confess our sins to God in prayer. Today we will do this by reading an adaption of a prayer made by Nehemiah.

Corporate Prayer of Confession
Adapted from Nehemiah’s prayer of confession in Nehemiah 9:6–38.

Leader

O God,

You are the LORD, you alone.
You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them;
and you preserve all of them;
and the host of heaven worships you.

You are YHWH, the God who chose Abraham.
You found his heart faithful before you,
and made with him the covenant to bless all of his descendants.
And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.
You redeemed Israel out of Egypt.
You made a name for yourself, as it is to this day.
You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Congregation

However, like them, we have acted presumptuously and stiffened our necks and not obeyed your commandments.

Leader

We praise you that you are a God ready to forgive,
gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
We praise you for not forsaking us.

For you gave us your good Spirit to instruct us and lead us
and you have not withheld your Word from us.
You have sustained us in our wildernesses
and we have lacked nothing.

Yet in our spiritual prosperity, we were filled and became fat
and delighted ourselves in all our blessings…

Congregation

Then we quickly turned and became disobedient
and rebelled against you
and cast your law behind our backs.

Leader

Our sins increased our sorrows,
so, in the time of our suffering we cried out to you
and you heard us from heaven,
and according to your great mercies you gave us a way out.

Congregation

But after this, we only turned to do evil again before you

Leader

Yet every time we turned and cried to you,
you heard from heaven,
and many times delivered us according to your mercies.
Plus, you warned us from your Word
in order to turn us back to your law.

Congregation

Yet here we are again.
We have acted presumptuously again
and not obeyed your commandments nor your rules

Leader

You have borne with some of us for many years
and warned us by your Spirit through your Word.

Congregation

Yet so often we have not listened.

Leader

Nevertheless, because of your great mercies in Jesus Christ our Lord,
you do not make an end of us nor forsake us,
for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God,
who keeps covenant and steadfast love,
please forgive us for all our sins.

Congregation

You have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.
We have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments
and your warnings that you gave us.

Leader

Even with all the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus,
we have not served you with our whole heart.
nor turned fully from our wicked ways.

Congregation

So we plead again for your forgiveness.

AMEN

Service Leader

Assurance of Pardon

1 John 1:9

Lead Elder

Catechism & Confession of Faith

Question 38
What is prayer?

Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God.

Lead Elder

Pastoral Prayer

Lead Elder

Scripture Reading

Romans 11:1–25

Complementary Scripture Reader

Complementary Reading

Listen to the Word of God as I read of our great love for God for His gracious salvation.

“I love you, O LORD, my strength!”

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me…”

“In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.”

“He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.”

“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 18:1–4, 6, 16–19, 30)

This reading was from Psalm 18.

Preacher

Sermon

Romans 11:1–25

Preacher

The Lord's Supper

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)