THE LORD’S DAY

THE LORD’S DAYThe Thirty-First Day of January, Two Thousand Twenty-OneMORNING WORSHIPEight-thirty and Eleven O’ClockThe Reverend Dr. David T. A. Strain — Senior MinisterThe Reverend Mr. Gary W. Sinclair — FPDS ChaplainAPPROACHING GOD’S THRONEThe Greetings and Announcements (8:25 and 10:55 a.m.)The Prelude — “Adagio”. Antonio VivaldiWilliam Wymond, OrganThe Introit — “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”The Call to WorshipThe Hymn No. 53 — “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!All ye who hear,now to his temple draw near,join me in glad adoration.2. Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!Hast thou not seenhow thy desires e’er have beengranted in what he ordaineth?3. Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;ponder anewwhat the Almighty will do,if with his love he befriend thee.4. Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee.How oft in griefhath not he brought thee relief,spreading his wings to o’ershade thee!5. Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him!Let the amensound from his people again;gladly fore’er we adore him.SEEKING GOD’S FACEThe Prayer of Adoration and ConfessionThe Assurance of PardonThe Apostles’ CreedI believe in God the Father, Almighty,Maker of Heaven and Earth:And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell;the third day He arose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church;the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sinsthe resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen.The OfferingThe Anthem — “Know My Heart”. Benjamin HarlanLord, you have searched me, You know everything I do.When I rise, when I lie down, You are with me.Before I speak, You hear me. Your presence follows day by day.O know my heart, O God.Lord, you have searched me, You know everything I do.When I rise, when I lie down, You are with me.Before I speak, You hear me. Your presence follows day by day.O know my heart, O God.If I ascend into heaven, You are there on the wings of the morning.Or in my deepest despair, His hand shall lead me, His right hand will guide me.Though darkness should cover me, light shall surround me,And I will praise the Lord: I will praise Him with my whole heart!Lord, you have searched me, You know everything I do O know my heart, O God.The Hymn No. 128 — “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”1. God moves in a mysterious wayhis wonders to perform;he plants his footsteps in the sea,and rides upon the storm.4. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,but trust him for his grace;behind a frowning providencehe hides a smiling face.2. Deep in unfathomable minesof never-failing skillhe treasures up his bright designs,and works his sovereign will.5. His purposes will ripen fast,unfolding ev’ry hour;the bud may have a bitter taste,but sweet will be the flow’r.3. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;the clouds ye so much dreadare big with mercy, and shall breakin blessings on your head.6. Blind unbelief is sure to err,and scan his work in vain;God is his own interpreter,and he will make it plain.The Pastoral PrayerHEARING GOD’S VOICEThe Old Testament Reading — Psalm 105:23-452324252627282930Then Israel came to Egypt;Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.And the Lord made his people very fruitfuland made them stronger than their foes.He turned their hearts to hate his people,to deal craftily with his servants.He sent Moses, his servant,and Aaron, whom he had chosen.They performed his signs among themand miracles in the land of Ham.He sent darkness, and made the land dark;they did not rebel against his words.He turned their waters into bloodand caused their fish to die.Their land swarmed with frogs,even in the chambers of their kings.

313233343536373839404142434445He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,and gnats throughout their country.He gave them hail for rain,and fiery lightning bolts through their land.He struck down their vines and fig trees,and shattered the trees of their country.He spoke, and the locusts came,young locusts without number,which devoured all the vegetation in their landand ate up the fruit of their ground.He struck down all the firstborn in their land,the firstfruits of all their strength.Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.Egypt was glad when they departed,for dread of them had fallen upon it.He spread a cloud for a covering,and fire to give light by night.They asked, and he brought quail,and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.He opened the rock, and water gushed out;it flowed through the desert like a river.For he remembered his holy promise,and Abraham, his servant.So he brought his people out with joy,his chosen ones with singing.And he gave them the lands of the nations,and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,that they might keep his statutesand observe his laws.Praise the Lord!The Reading of Holy Scripture — John 3:1-15Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of theJews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, weknow that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do thesesigns that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly,truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom ofGod.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesusanswered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and theSpirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of theflesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvelthat I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where itwishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comesfrom or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answeredhim, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand thesethings? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bearwitness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 IfI have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can youbelieve if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heavenexcept he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And asMoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Manbe lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.The Sermon — The Marks of the New Birth I .Dr. Strain

The Hymn No. 644 — “May the Mind of Christ My Savior”1. May the mind of Christ my Saviorlive in me from day to day,by his love and pow’r controllingall I do and say.3. May the peace of God my Fatherrule my life in everything,that I may be calm to comfortsick and sorrowing.2. May the Word of God dwell richlyin my heart from hour to hour,so that all may see I triumphonly through his pow’r.4. May the love of Jesus fill meas the waters fill the sea;him exalting, self abasing,this is victory.The BenedictionThe Postlude — “Sonata III (Con mote maestoso)”. Felix MendelssohnRGUIDE TO THE MORNING SERVICEThe Apostles’ CreedThis brief affirmation of basic Christian belief is called the Apostles’Creed, not because one or several of the apostles of the NewTestament were its author, but because it expresses the faith theapostles taught. So, it is “apostolic” in the sense that it affirms andpreserves the faith which they learned from Jesus. You will noticethat we use the traditional translation of the Creed which retainsboth a beauty of language and some unfamiliar words: “Ghost” isemployed where we would use “Spirit,” the word “quick” where wewould use “living,” and “catholic” where we would use “universal.”Also, when we say that Christ “descended into hell,” we are notsaying that upon His death, Jesus actually went into hell; instead, weare affirming that Jesus suffered all the pains and torments of hell asHe endured the unmitigated wrath of God.WELCOMEWe welcome all to this service of worship. If you are a Christian visitingwith us today, we greet you in the name of our common Lord. If you are nota believer, we greet you as a friend and trust that you will sense the warmthand genuineness of our reception. We invite everyone here to participatewith our congregation as we sing, pray, and give attention to God’s Word.VISITORSWelcome to First Presbyterian Church! We are so glad you are here. Youcan text fpcjwelcome to 955-77 to learn more about how to get connectedto the life of our church.

EVENING WORSHIPSix O’ClockThe Reverend Mr. William E. Dempsey — Minister of Congregational CareThe Reverend Mr. Wiley P. Lowry III — Minister of Pastoral CareThe Greetings and Announcements (5:55 p.m.)The Prelude — “Prayer”.HumperdinkThe String QuartetThe Call to WorshipThe Hymn No. 97 — “We Praise You, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator”1. We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,in grateful devotion our tribute we bring.We lay it before you, we kneel and adore you;we bless your holy name, glad praises we sing.2. We worship you, God of our fathers, we bless you;through life’s storm and tempest our Guide you have been.When perils o’ertake us, escape you will make us,and with your help, O Lord, our battles we win.3. With voices united our praises we offer,to you, great Jehovah, glad anthems we raise.Your strong arm will guide us, our God is beside us,to you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise.The InvocationThe Hymn — “Thy Mercy”1. Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue;Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.2. Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;Sin soon would reduce me to utter despair;But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,And He that first made me still keeps me alive.3. Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.4. Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divineSeals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.The GreetingsThe Prayer . Dr. JoJo PayneThe Hymn — “Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul”1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,On Thee, when sorrows riseOn Thee, when waves of trouble roll,My fainting hope reliesTo Thee I tell each rising grief,For Thou alone canst healThy Word can bring a sweet relief,For every pain I feel