Worship: January 15th, 2017

On Sunday, January 15th, Pastor Tony continued his sermon series in Isaiah: The Lord Saves, preaching from Chapter 49. The message centered around the truth that all of our blessings come from the unfailing commitment of God to our faithful Representative (The Servant/Messiah) and no one else.

Preaching: Rev. Tony Felich (Sermon Audio Page| Other Sermons)

Text: Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49:1-26  Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.  [2]  He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.  [3]  And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”  [4]  But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.”  [5]  And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—  [6]  he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  [7]  Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”  [8]  Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,  [9]  saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture;  [10]  they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.  [11]  And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up.  [12]  Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.”  [13]  Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.  [14]  But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”  [15]  “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  [16]  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.  [17]  Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.  [18]  Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.  [19]  “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.  [20]  The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’  [21]  Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?'”  [22]  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.  [23]  Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”  [24]  Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?  [25]  For thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.  [26]  I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Worship Hymns:
Hymn of Adoration: # 53 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Hymn or Spiritual Songs: # 529 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Hymn of Response: # 447 Christ for the World We Sing
Dismissal Hymn: # 243  Praise the Savior Now and Ever  (4)

Additional Reading: The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Full Liturgy for January 15th, 2017 (PDF)

Sermons from the Exposition of Isaiah
(click on the link for the sermon page with audio) 

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