Song 1 – Living Water

Hear God call you to worship:

Psalms‬ ‭63:1–5‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.”

Let us worship the Lord!

Song 2 – Look and See

Song 3 – I Surrender (At Your Feet)

It’s a constant truth in the life of any Christian in this broken world that we can honestly say with all our heart that we long for Christ and only he can fully satisfy us, but we can also honestly say with all our heart that it is sometimes hard to Christ in the place of first priority in our hearts. We sin against the holiness of God constantly; but it’s a deep and abiding comfort and joy that we can come into the presence of God because of the blood of Christ; that we can confess our sin; and that we can know that we are forgiven through the work of the cross and be at peace.

Please join me now in reading the prayer on the screen to our almighty and gracious God: 

Confession of Faith
Almighty God,
we confess how hard it is to be your people.
You have called us to be the church,
to continue the mission of Jesus Christ
to our lonely and confused world.

Yet we acknowledge we are
more lazy than active,
more isolated than involved,
more uncaring than compassionate,
more stubborn than obedient,
more legalistic than loving.

Gracious Lord, 
have mercy upon us and forgive our sins.
Remove the obstacles preventing us
from being your representatives to a broken world.
Awaken our hearts to the promised gift
of your indwelling Spirit.
This we pray in Jesus’ powerful name.
Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Hear and rejoice in the words of assurance from 1 Corinthians 1:7-9:

Because of the grace of God given to you in Christ, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us pray.

Song 4 – Take My Life

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 for more info. 

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 now join our Sunday school classes! 

Our Scripture reading today is John 5:1-18.

Hear the Word of God:

5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵ One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Five Signs of Jesus Christ’s Power to Save 

– John 5:1-18

I. A Sign of the Human Condition Without Christ vv 5-7 
II. A Sign of the Saving Work of Christ v 6
III. A Sign of the Divine Word vv 7-9a
IV. A Sign Of the Moral Effect of Christ’s Work v 6
V. A Sign of the Cost Christ Would Pay vv 9b-18

Song 5 – May the Peoples Praise You

Song 6 – Amazing Grace

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.

For all church announcements, please see our digital announcements page: ucclife.fi/announcements

Coming soon!