By Grace

Our Reformation Day/All Saints' Day worship service this morning seems to have been well received. I noted to all present that many of the elements were plagiarized without credit. I do, however, include the locations where they were found below.

Worship Theme

Saved by Grace through Faith

Meditation in Preparation for Worship:

Therefore being justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,

and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2 [KJV]

Prayer: Lord God of hosts, the Refuge of every sinner and the Strength of all who put their trust in you, we praise you for having made us partakers of the blessings of your Reformation. Without any merit on our part, you have sent your Holy Spirit into our hearts and brought us to faith in your dear Son, Jesus Christ. You have made known to us the perfect merit of Christ. You have directed our faith to rest on the exceedingly great and precious promises of your Gospel. You have revealed the beauty of your grace, which rescued us from a just condemnation and assured us of certain salvation in Christ. Grant us your grace that we may receive your forgiveness with thanksgiving. Use us as your witnesses in bringing the message of pardon in Christ to people everywhere. Open our eyes to a better understanding of your Word and a deeper appreciation of your grace that our faith in Christ Jesus may grow and flourish with the fruits of righteous living. Amen. (Source: http://www.desperatepreacher.com/reformation.htm)

I.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A Litany (Psalm 46)

Leader: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Congregation: Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

Hymn: A Mighty Fortress (verse 1)                         

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

Hymn: A Mighty Fortress (verse 2)                         

The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; God speaks and the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord!

God makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

God breaks the bow, shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire.

Hymn: A Mighty Fortress (verse 3)                         

Be still, and know that the Lord is God!

God is exalted among the nations; God is exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us;  

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Hymn: A Mighty Fortress (verse 4)
(Source: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/worship/worship-reformationsunday/worship-mightyfortresslitnany/)

II.

Five Solas

Leader: Sola Gratia – Saved by Grace Alone: As those who were dead in our trespasses and sins, we could do nothing to earn or deserve God’s mercy. Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace -— His unmerited favor freely bestowed through Jesus Christ and His atoning death.

Congregation: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

Sola Fide - Through Faith Alone: We respond to God’s gracious initiative in salvation through personal trust in the Redeemer. Not by our works, but rather by faith in Christ’s provision on our behalf, do we enter into the blessings of eternal life.

Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

Solus Christus - In Christ Alone: Salvation has been accomplished and is applied solely on the basis of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.

Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'

There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)

Sola Scriptura – According to Scriptures Alone: The Holy Scriptures have once and for all revealed to us the nature and purposes of God, the work of Christ, the call of the gospel, and the way of salvation.

You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.' (1 Peter 1:23-25)

Soli Deo Gloria – For the Glory of God Alone: God has created and redeemed us in order to display the glory of His majesty and His mercy, the wonders of His greatness and His grace.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) (Source: http://www.thousandtongues.org/blog/general/suggestions-for-reformation-sunday)

Hymn: Amazing Grace

III.

Pulpit Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 13-16.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. …. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Hymn: For All the Saints                              

Benediction (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.