Sunday Meditation, June 13

Christ’s Compelling Love

Scripture for Meditation: I John 5:1

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Hymn of Love: The Love of God 

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

Chorus:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Frederick M. Lehman, 1869-1953
St. 2: Attr. to Meir Ben Isaac Nehoral, c. 1050

Hymn of the Church: I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord

I love Thy kingdom, Lord, the house of Thine abode,
The church our blessed Redeemer saved with His own precious blood.

I love Thy church, O God. Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye, and written on Thy hand.

For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend,
To her my cares and toils be giv’n till toils and cares shall end.

Sure as Thy truth shall last, to Zion shall be giv’n
The brightest glories earth can yield and brighter bliss of Heav’n.

Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817

Prayer of Blessing

Responsive Reading: I John 4:7-12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Hymn of Unity: Beneath the Cross

Beneath the cross of Jesus I find a place to stand,
And wonder at such mercy that calls me as I am;
For hands that should discard me hold wounds which tell me, "Come."
Beneath the cross of Jesus my unworthy soul is won.

Beneath the cross of Jesus His family is my own—
Once strangers chasing selfish dreams, now one through grace alone.
How could I now dishonor the ones that You have loved?
Beneath the cross of Jesus see the children called by God.

Beneath the cross of Jesus—the path before the crown—
We follow in His footsteps where promised hope is found.
How great the joy before us to be His perfect bride;
Beneath the cross of Jesus we will gladly live our lives.  

Words and Music by Keith & Kristyn Getty
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music
Used by permission. CCLI #2783020

Prayer of Corporate Confession

Silence for Personal Confession

Assurance of Pardon: I John 3:1

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 

Response: Thanks be to God.

Hymn of Forgiveness: Behold the Lamb*

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us, and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.

The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Torn for you, eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you, drink and remember
He drained death's cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.

And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heav’n
Around the table of the King.

Words and Music by Keith and Kristyn Getty & Stuart Townend
CCLI #2783020

*Children may leave during this song.

Ministry of the Word

Hymn of Praise: Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer;
There is no more for heaven now to give.
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom,
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus,
For my life is wholly bound to his.
Oh how strange and divine, I can sing: all is mine!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

The night is dark but I am not forsaken,
For by my side, the Saviour He will stay;
I labour on in weakness and rejoicing,
For in my need, His power is displayed.

To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me;
Through the deepest valley He will lead.
Oh the night has been won, and I shall overcome!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven;
The future sure, the price it has been paid,
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon.
And He was raised to overthrow the grave.

To this I hold, my sin has been defeated;
Jesus now and ever is my plea.
Oh the chains are released, I can sing: I am free!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

With every breath I long to follow Jesus,
For He has said that He will bring me home.
And day by day I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne.

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus;
All the glory evermore to Him.
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat:
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
(Repeat)

When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat:
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!

Jonny Robinson, Rich Thompson, Michael Farren
© 2018 CityAlight Music

*All Scripture, English Standard Version. © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission.