Song 1 – Behold Our God

Hear God call you to worship:

Daniel 7:13b-14

[…] behold, with the clouds of heaven
    there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
    and was presented before him.
¹⁴ And to him was given dominion
    and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
    should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
    which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
    that shall not be destroyed.

Let us worship the Lord!

Song 2 – How Great is Our God

Song 3 – Jesus, Strong and Kind

Song 4 – Knowing You, Jesus

Our welcome team members will pass an offering basket during this song.

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Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen

It is good to come together in worship and praise before our good and gracious God with our praise and with our worship. It is right that we also take a moment together as brothers and sisters to bring to our God our burdens and our confession, for He is ready to hear and quick to forgive.

Please pray with me the words on the screen:

Confession of Faith
Lord, we have sinned,
without considering how much you love us.
You see our sins more clearly
than we can ourselves.

Lord, you know
when we are indifferent to your Word, the Bible;
how often we forget to pray;
the times we come unwillingly to worship;
and yet we turn to you
when we are in trouble.

Lord, you know when we are untruthful
and when we think evil of others.
You see our anger and unfairness to our friends.
You know how hard it is for us to forgive.

Help us to cast our burdens upon you, Jesus,
Upon you, who are strong and kind,
Upon you, who are good and faithful.
Upon you, who are perfect and just.

Forgive us and make us clean,
so that we can obey your call
to take up your cross and follow you.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
We proclaim the forgiveness, goodness, and presence of our God with us with the words of Psalm 28:6-7; please read these verses out loud:

“6 Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”

Let us pray.

A warm welcome to all, and especially to any visitors joining us today – if you’d like to get connected or find out more about UCC, please see our digital visitors card or speak to us after the service!

If you have children, they are welcome to now join our Sunday school classes! 

Our Scripture reading today is 1 Samuel 4:1-11. Hear the Word of God:

4:1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. ² The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. ³ And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it^[a] may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, ⁷ the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. ⁹ Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.¹¹ And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Going Without God
          –1 Samuel 4:1-11

1. Reducing God (vv 1-3)
2. Presuming on God (vv 4-11)

Song 5 – Christ Be Magnified

Song 6 – Ancient of Days

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 sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. 
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.

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