Order of Worship
30th of March 2025 | 10:30 (Espoo)
Song 1 – Blessed Be Your Name
Matthew 5:14–16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Song 2 – Holy, Holy, Holy
Song 3 – His Mercy is More
Song 4 – All Creatures of Our God and King
Our welcome team members will pass an offering basket during this song.
For information about giving online, please visit ucclife.fi/give or follow the QR code on the screen. You can also speak to our pastors or leaders for more information about giving and generosity. You can also ask the welcome team or any of our staff team members for more info on giving online.
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
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 join our Sunday school classes!
Our Scripture reading today is 2 Corinthians 5:12–21 (ESV). Hear the Word of God:
12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is the Word of the Lord.
A Life Reshaped by the Cross
Because of the cross, we no longer live for ourselves but live as new people with a new purpose in Christ.
I. We Live in the Fear of the Lord vv 11–12
II. We are Compelled by the Love of Christ vv 13–15
III. We are Made New and Sent Out vv 16–21
Song 5 – Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
Song 6 – He Will Hold Me Fast
For all church announcements, please see our digital announcements page: ucclife.fi/announcements
Introduction
1. Have you ever had a moment, funny or serious, where you realized you were building something on the wrong foundation? What happened?
2. In what ways do people today try to “fix” their lives without actually being transformed?
Into the Text
3. Read verse 11. What does it mean to “live in the fear of the Lord”? How does this kind of fear lead to persuasion, not paralysis?
4. In verses 14–15, Paul says “the love of Christ controls us.” How is that different from being driven by guilt, fear, or ambition?
5. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (v. 17). What does this practically mean for your identity? How do we live like that’s actually true?
6. Verse 21 is one of the clearest summaries of the gospel. How would you explain it to someone who doesn’t yet know Christ?
Apply the Text
7. The sermon said, “The fear of the Lord doesn’t drive us into shame. It drives us into mission.” Where is God calling you to be more bold in love or truth?
8. Paul says we are ambassadors, God is making His appeal through us. How might your week look different if you believed that?
9. The sermon ended with this line: “You don’t have to perform your way into God’s acceptance. In Christ, you are already known, already loved, already made new.” What’s one area of your life where you need to stop striving and start living in that truth?
Order of Worship
30th of March 2025 | 16:00 (Helsinki)
Song 1 – Turn Your Eyes
Song 2 – Come Thou Fount
Song 3 – You Hold It All
Song 4 – Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me
Our welcome team members will pass an offering basket during this song.
For information about giving online, please visit ucclife.fi/give or follow the QR code on the screen. You can also speak to our pastors or leaders for more information about giving and generosity. You can also ask the welcome team or any of our staff team members for more info on giving online.
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
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 join our Sunday school classes!
Our Scripture reading today is Psalm 96 (ESV). Hear the Word of God:
1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Sing a New Song!
“The pivot point for Bonhoeffer’s reading of the Psalms is that we are among the disciples of Jesus who asked him to “teach us to pray” (Luke 11:7). Like those ancient disciples, we know a great deal about praying. But we also recognize that much of what we know about praying is inadequate for serious faith. Thus like Jesus’s disciples, we seek to learn to pray in a way that is informed by and responsive to the rule of Christ in our lives. And of course Jesus’s response to his disciples’ request is his offer of what we call the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4). That is Bonhoeffer’s starting point, as it is for Luther in his catechism. He follows the lead of Luther, who declares, “It [the Psalter] penetrates the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer penetrates it, so that it is possible to understand one on the basis of the other and to bring them into joyful harmony.”
Song 5 – God Omniscient, God All-Knowing
Song 6 – Your Name
For all church announcements, please see our digital announcements page: ucclife.fi/announcements
Introduction
1. In the sermon it was said that, “The creation has been singing a song of praise since the very beginning, declaring the glory of God, and every one of us has experienced this in some way.” Think about a time when something in nature caught your attention as if it was “declaring” the glory of God. What were you thinking? How did it make you feel? In what way did it help you to know God or appreciate Him more?
Into the Text
2. Psalm 96 is a global call to worship. The psalmist proclaims in verse 1, “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” If the creation has been singing a beautiful song of praise since the very beginning (see Job 38:7; Rom 1:19-20; Ps 19: 1-6), why do we need a new song? What can’t nature tell us about God for which he should be praised?
3. Read 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 and notice that the words of Psalm 96 are almost an exact quote of vv 23-33. When these words were first sung, Israel’s relationship with the Lord was strong. When the same words were collected into the Psalms, God’s people had seemed to have lost everything. Since the very beginning of their relationship with God Israel had struggled to remain faithful to him. What did their experiences teach them about God? What do they still have to teach us today?
4. Read vv 7-9. The psalmist calls all the rest of the peoples of the world to join in worship. These are the nations who worship “worthless idols” (v 5). In verse 8b-9a God, through the psalmist, calls these pagan nations to “bring an offering, and come into his [holy] courts.” What does this tell us about God’s heart towards sinful people?
5. Read vv 10-13. If you heard that the rulers of your nation (or your city, or your place of employment) were “coming to judge” you, what would be going through your mind? How would you be feeling? Would it be a moment for spontaneous celebration? What does the gospel teach us about God that calls for exactly the joyful response as we see here in Psalm 96?
Application
6. Verse 5 says that the “gods of the peoples are worthless idols”. Think of some specific things we tend to give glory (“weight”, honor, value, imortance) to that, compared to God, are not worthy of glory. What would it look like if instead we were to “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name” in these situations?
7. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, following Luther, noted that there was an vital connection between the Psalms and the Lord’s prayer saying that, “It [the Psalter] penetrates the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer penetrates it, so that it is possible to understand one on the basis of the other and to bring them into joyful harmony.” What does Psalm 96 have to teach us to understand and pray as the Lord taught us? Asked another way: How does the Psalm infuse life into and develop the content of our prayers?