Welcome to Sunday Worship at Port Towns Church
Updated: April 24, 2021
We’re so glad you’ve joined us! To view our service online head over to our YouTube channel or find us on Facebook. Then follow along using the guide below. May God bless you through worship.
Call to Worship from Psalm 134
Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!
Nitamwimbia Bwana
Nitamwimbia bwana kwa kuwa yey ameniona
(I will sing for the Lord because he sees me)
Nitamrukia bwana kwa kuwa yeye ameniona
(I will jump for the Lord because he sees me)
Ameniona, ameniona, ameniona, ameniona
(He sees me)
Nitamchezea bwana kwa kuwa yeye ameniona
(I will dance for the Lord because he sees me)
Nitamsifu bwana kwa kuwa yeye ameniona
(I will glorify the Lord because he sees me)
Ameniona, ameniona, ameniona, ameniona
(He sees me)
Nitamtangaza bwana kwa kuwa yeye ameniona
(I will tell about the Lord because he sees me)
Nitabariki bwana kwa kuwa yeye ameniona
(I will bless the Lord because he sees me)
Ameniona, ameniona, ameniona, ameniona
(He sees me)
Confession
Dear God, we cry out in desperation for you to come again! Death is laid out in front of us yet again. The curse of our sin is heavy upon us all. Only you can free us from its clutches, and you have promised to just that when Jesus comes again. Help us to have hope in your promised future, and give us strength to continue following after your ways and calling the world to obedience to you. Amen.
Receive God’s Grace from Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Announcements
Reading from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Sermon: Grieving with Hope
Pastoral Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name!
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For the kingdom and the power and the glory are Yours, now and forever. Amen.
O Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship
Are you hurting and broken within
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself
Do you thirst for a drink from the well
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today there’s no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes a new life is born
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Oh what a Savior
Isn’t He wonderful
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Bow down before Him
For He is Lord of all
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Oh what a Savior
Isn’t He wonderful
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Bow down before Him
For He is Lord of all
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Bear your cross as you wait for the crown
Tell the world of the treasure you’ve found
Benediction from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.