behold our god congregational prayer time my worth is

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One of the greatest struggles we each face is the search for significance. Our 21st-century sense of identity is grounded in individualism, self-entitlement, and narcissism. From whom we marry to what career choice we make to what church we attend to what we think of church music, every choice is geared around what these things do for us. This attitude of consumerism is one of the most prevalent idols in Western culture and has become an epidemic even in the church. “My Worth Is Not in What I Own” [lyrics] is a song that speaks to the subject of worth by reminding us that true significance is found in our identity in Christ.

BEHOLD OUR GOD SOVEREIGN GRACE MUSIC

Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Kings and nations tremble at His voice All creation rises to rejoice

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of studying worship with Bruce Leafblad. He offered the following working definition of worship, and since that time it has been foundational to both my theology and practice: Worship is communion with God in which believers, by grace, center their minds’ attention and hearts’ affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying God in response to his greatness and his word.

Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His Words? Who can teach the One who knows all things? Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

In particular, the phrase “center their minds’ attention and hearts’ affection on the Lord” has influenced my thinking around both corporate worship and worship as all of life.

Who has felt the nails upon His hands Bearing all the guilt of sinful man? God eternal humbled to the grave Jesus, Savior risen now to reign! Men: You will reign forever! Women: Let Your glory fill the earth

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER TIME MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN GETTY MUSIC

My worth is not in what I own Not in the strength of flesh and bone But in the costly wounds of love At the cross My worth is not in skill or name In win or lose, in pride or shame But in the blood of Christ that flowed At the cross I rejoice in my Redeemer Greatest Treasure, Wellspring of my soul I will trust in Him, no other. My soul is satisfied in Him alone.

But there’s another truth we want to convey: given our pervasive rebellion—what R. C. Sproul calls “cosmic treason”—against the king, we are all unworthy of the value with which he crowns us.

The chorus of this song draws from the rich imagery of 1 Peter, which depicts Jesus as an inheritance and treasure far greater than anything this world has to offer.

RICK MELSON

Behold our God seated on His throne Come let us adore Him Behold our King nothing can compare Come let us adore Him!

[This song is] an attempt to reclaim two glorious truths. The first is that we, as men and women created in the image and likeness of the Creator, are created with intrinsic worth.

Yet God sent his Son so our worth might be found in something far grander than ourselves. In Christ, no longer do we look to our own accomplishments and achievements to find significance. We look instead to his perfect work on our behalf, and there our souls find the true sense of identity we so crave.

WORSHIP: OUR RESPONSE TO HIS GREATNESS

As summer flowers we fade and die Fame, youth and beauty hurry by But life eternal calls to us At the cross I will not boast in wealth or might Or human wisdom’s fleeting light But I will boast in knowing Christ At the cross Two wonders here that I confess My worth and my unworthiness My value fixed - my ransom paid At the cross

Almost everything in our society works against focus. We are inundated with a constant stream of distractions vying for our minds’ attention and hearts’ affections. The idea of centering or focusing our mind and heart on anything for more than a few minutes is an ongoing challenge for most of us in our diversion-oriented society. As worshipers, we increasingly need to develop spiritual disciplines to prepare ourselves to focus, disciplines to be attentive with our mind, and disciplines to awaken the affections of our hearts and have them focused on God. We need a form of aggressive resolve to set aside every distraction, and set our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). O, how we need God’s help to do this. We would love to do this on our own, to just sit down and focus, but the reality is, we need God’s help. And to do this focusing, we must begin with prayer — asking for God’s help. But such prayer doesn’t begin when we enter into the corporate gathering for worship; it is an overflow of the prayers we have been praying throughout the week. In fact, corporate worship is an overflow of our worship as all of life (Romans 12:1–2). Yet we need to stop and recognize that corporate worship is bound by time and place, so the gathered people need to focus together, to pray together, to sing together, to listen to God’s voice together in his word, and to respond together. The beauty of this phrase “minds’ attention and hearts’ affection” is that it clearly articulates that right worship is not an either-or proposition of a cognitive experience or an emotive experience; it is a both-and experience. The elements of our worship service should aim at kindling and carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, especially joy, but should not manipulate people’s emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things based on shareable evidences outside ourselves. So while right thinking about who God is and who we are is imperative, right worship is also about right feeling and right emotions and right delighting in God. We are called to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23–24), and our right worship must include both head and heart. John Piper expresses it this way in God’s Passion for His Glory: “Mind corresponds to the understanding of the truth of God’s perfections. Love corresponds to the delight in the worth and beauty of those perfections. God is glorified both by being understood and being delighted in.” So as you gather together in corporate worship [each Sunday], and as you prepare your head and your heart for worship, begin now by praying that God would center your “minds’ attention and hearts’ affection on the Lord” — for his glory and your exceeding joy.

OFFERTORY PRAYER OFFERTORY

I SING THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD • ECBC ORCHESTRA

CONGREGATIONAL GREETINGS THE MORNING SERMON

CONRAD “BUSTER” BROWN, SENIOR PASTOR

PASTORAL PRAYER POSTLUDE

361 Egypt Road Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 843.856.3222 Equipping people to pursue Jesus Christ passionately as they impact the culture. eastcooperbaptist.com

WORSHIPGUIDE

MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN



COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

The Church in Corporate Worship Please use the following prayer to prepare your hearts for worship: O ever-blessing God, grant that this day we may surely meet You in worship.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

We gather for worship this day to behold the King of Glory and offer Him joyful praise with hearts and voices ready to sing! Sing Praise to God Who reigns above! To God all Praise and Glory!

REFLECTION

Prepare us. Teach us. THOUGHTS FOR WORSHIP PREPARATION Convict us. Forgive us. Lead us. Bless us. Worship is communion with God Draw us.



in which believers, by grace, center their minds’ attention and hearts’ affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying God We need to be in response to His greatness and His Word. reminded that we, of all people, -- Bruce Leafblad

We need to hear from you.

are blessed beyond measure.

Never let us take for granted the benefits and blessings that you pour out upon us - new mercies every day!



Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you....



Worship power—you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay.



Worship your intellect, being seen as smart —you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

Don’t let us lose our wonder! Instead, let us praise You and bless You and rejoice in You this day as the people who have been redeemed by Your blood.

We are Your children! Accept, O Lord, the praise we bring: “bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” In Jesus name, we gather to worship. Amen.

If you worship money and things —if they are where you tap real meaning in life —then you will never have enough....



Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default-settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into....

And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default-settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. -- David Foster Wallace Behold our God seated on His throne Come let us adore Him Behold our King nothing can compare Come let us adore Him! -- Stephen Altrogge

Written by Robert Robinson, [Born: September 27, 1735, Swaffham, Norfolk, England. Died: June 8, 1790, Showell Green, Warwickshire.

Robinson’s widowed mother sent him at age 14 to London, to learn the trade of barber and hair dresser. However, his master found he enjoyed reading more than work. Converted to Christ at age 17, Robinson became a Methodist minister. He later moved to the Baptist church and pastored in Cambridge, England. He wrote a number of hymns, as well as books on the subject of theology. His later life was evidently not an easy one, judging from a well known story about this hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” One day, he encountered a woman who was studying a hymnal, and she asked how he liked the hymn she was humming. In tears, he replied, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.” Often our faith is strong. Often weak. But it is not God or the Gospel that has changed -- It is the solid rock upon which we can anchor our “prone to wander” soul...

MORNING WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS VIDEO

COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING NETTLETON

SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE

SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE MIT FRUEDEN ZART

This stately hymn penned by Johann J. Schuetz (16401690) is the product of several significant historical events occurring in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which greatly shaped the course of church history and hymnody. One was the Protestant Reformation Movement; Another was the role of the followers of John Huss, the Bohemian martyr burned at the stake in 1415 for his strong evangelical views. These people were known everywhere for their vibrant singing and Christian witness as well as for their strong missionary concern. Yet another influence was the Thirty-Years’ War (16181648). Germany, the battleground of this conflict between warring Catholic and Protestant forces from various countries throughout Europe, was reduced to a state of misery that baffles description. The German population dwindled from sixteen million to six million. Out of this terrible epoch, however, were wrung some of the noblest expressions of praise in all hymnody. As is often the case, it took the great tragedies of the time to again focus men’s attention upon God. From these important influences--the German Reformation; the dynamic beliefs and practices of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren; the terrible tragedies of the Thirty-Years’ War, causing many to realize as never before a personal dependence upon a sovereign God and not mere reliance upon a church; the rise of the Pietist Movement with its emphasis upon individual faith and holy living- there developed a great wealth of excellent German hymns, of which this hymn is a great example.

SPOKEN HYMN LITANY I WILL SING OF MY REDEEMER

LEADER: I will sing of my Redeemer, And His wondrous love to me; On the cruel cross He suffered, From the curse to set me free. CONGREGATION: Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer, With His blood, He purchased me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon, Paid the debt, and made me free! LEADER: I will tell the wondrous story, How my lost estate to save, In His boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave. CONGREGATION: Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer, With His blood, He purchased me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon, Paid the debt, and made me free! LEADER: I will praise my dear Redeemer, His triumphant power I’ll tell, How the victory He giveth Over sin, and death, and hell. CONGREGATION: Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer, With His blood, He purchased me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon, Paid the debt, and made me free! LEADER: I will sing of my Redeemer, And His heav’nly love to me; He from death to life hath brought me, Son of God with Him to be. CONGREGATION: Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer, With His blood, He purchased me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon, Paid the debt, and made me free!