THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER TIME THE


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Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, Calling for you and for me. See, on the portals, He’s waiting and watching; Watching for you and for me. Come home, come home, Ye who are weary come home; Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me? Why should we linger and heed not His mercies, mercies for you and for me. Come home, come home, Ye who are weary come home; O for the wonderful love He has promised, Promised for you and for me. Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon; Pardon for you and for me.

THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER TIME “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

THE PRAYER RESPONSE

COME HOME ECBC CHOIR • JOSH CARPER, SOLO Words to this hymn anthem are on left side bar this page Reflection on this hymn on back cover

ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST SOVEREIGN GRACE MUSIC

I once was lost in darkest night Yet thought I knew the way The sin that promised joy and life Had led me to the grave I had no hope that You would own A rebel to Your will And if You had not loved me first I would refuse You still But as I ran my hell-bound race Indifferent to the cost You looked upon my helpless state And led me to the cross And I beheld God’s love displayed You suffered in my place You bore the wrath reserved for me Now all I know is grace Hallelujah! All I have is Christ Hallelujah! Jesus is my life Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone And live so all might see The strength to follow Your commands Could never come from me Oh Father, use my ransomed life In any way You choose And let my song forever be My only boast is You

OFFERTORY

PRAISE MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN • ECBC ORCHESTRA

CONGREGATIONAL GREETINGS

A REFLECTION ON TODAY’S PRAYER RESPONSE ANTHEM

COME HOME ALBERT MOHLER

My heart was already full as John Piper began his message that would close the recent Together for the Gospel conference. I prayed that God would use his message to implant a passion within our hearts that would shape our lives and ministries for the length of our days. I was very moved by John’s faithful, careful, and precise exposition of Romans 9. He pointed us to the infinite grace of God and to the assurance of his sovereignty and then pointed us to Paul’s agony over the lostness of his own people, his “kinsmen according to the flesh.” Are we driven by the same agony when we see the lost around us? I was honestly unprepared for where John would take us at the conclusion of his message. He took us into a crowded tent where he, as a young boy, saw his own father, an evangelist, plead with sinners to come to Jesus — “Won’t you come? . . . Won’t you come?” Time and space seemed to collapse for me as I remembered being in the same kind of meeting, hearing the same gospel pleading, many, many times as a boy. I remember one time in particular, when as a nine-year-old boy I heard a part-time preacher who was a full-time phosphate miner preach the gospel and then plead with us to come to Christ. And I did. I know there was more to my salvation than was evident in that moment. I know that my salvation is secured in the eternal plan of a sovereign God. I know that I was effectually called by the Holy Spirit. I had the blessing of Christian parents and constant Christian witness. But I also know that the Holy Spirit used a simple preacher who was willing to plead with sinners, and thus I came to Christ. When John began to sing, “Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling,” and to sweetly call a generation of young Reformed Christians to sing it with fervor and broken-hearted pleading, my heart broke. I tasted again the sweetness of my own conversion, and I felt more at home than words can describe. But I was also broken-hearted with a sense of loss that so many of the 8,000 young people in that great room had never seen an evangelist plead, a godly father present the gospel, a sinner called by the Holy Spirit flee to refuge in Christ. Imagine what it was like to hear 8,000 voices, mostly young and mostly male, singing — some surely for the first time — “Come home, come home, you who are weary, come home; Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling. Calling, O sinner, come home!” I was overcome with joy and profound thankfulness for what happened in that room that Thursday afternoon. We all got to see an evangelist pleading with sinners, pointing to Christ, unashamed to plead with emotion and passion and agonized urgency. I heard the conviction in the voices of a rising generation as we sang that hymn, and my spirit rose within me. I was thrilled to lose my composure for the sake of a moment of such joy. “Softly and tenderly” still rings in my ears, and John Piper’s anointed exposition still rings in my heart. I am thankful beyond words to know that others will hear this message. Don’t dare miss it. Come Home.

ECBC STORIES VIDEO MORNING SERMON

CONRAD “BUSTER” BROWN, SENIOR PASTOR

CONGREGATIONAL SUNG RESPONSE BENEDICTION 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

COME HOME

SCRIPTURE LITANY SACRIFICE OF PRAISE

The Church in Corporate Worship Please use the following prayer to prepare your hearts for worship:

Today we join our hearts and voices in joyful praise, giving thanks for the mercy of our great King that makes us... “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

O GREAT KING, come and give us... a pure heart that we may see you; a humble heart that we may hear you;

JUNE 25, 2017

REFLECTION

THOUGHTS FOR WORSHIP PREPARATION

Our passion to know Christ often fades when the trinkets and cares of this world allure. It is important to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day to remind us of Who Christ is and what He has done for us. Let that reality sink in. Nothing in this world can compare. a heart of faith -- DKH a heart of love that we may serve you; that we may live in you;



God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead. He does not give saintliness to any but sinners, a hungry heart nor wisdom to any but fools. that we may In short: He has mercy on none but the wretched seek you; and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace. -- Martin Luther

a reverent heart that we may worship you;

a joyful heart that we may walk with you... rejoice in you... and praise you... day after day after day... as long as you give us breath.

Amen.



Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and power.



Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome, God’s free bounty glorify; True belief and true repentance, Every grace that brings you nigh.



Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Lost and ruined by the fall; If you tarry till you’re better, You will never come at all.



View Him prostrate in the garden; On the ground your Maker lies. On the bloody tree behold Him; Sinner, will this not suffice?



Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended, Pleads the merit of His blood: Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude.

I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms; In the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms. - Joseph Hart Jesus, what a friend for sinners... Jesus, lover of my soul. Hallelujah - what a Savior! - Wilbur Chapman

Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” The terms “sacrifice” and “praise” might seem to be opposites. We think of sacrifice as offering something at great cost to ourselves. Praise, on the other hand, sounds joyful as it bubbles from a grateful heart. We praise our dogs for fetching the ball and people for a job well done. Praise is often our response to some action that directly benefits us, and we feel generous because we extend it. We often find it easy to praise God from the same motivation. When He has blessed us, helped us, and protected us, we feel generous toward Him. We can sing, worship, and talk about how good He is because we can see it. That kind of praise, although worthwhile, does not cost us anything. It is not a sacrifice. Then there are those times when God did not come through the way we thought He would. The medical test comes back positive. The spouse wants a divorce. A child is wayward. The mortgage company calls in the loan. God seems very far away, and praise is the last thing to bubble up from our hearts. We can’t see His goodness, and circumstances scream that He has forgotten us. To praise God in those times requires personal sacrifice. It takes an act of the will to lay our all on the altar before a God we don’t understand. When we bring a “sacrifice of praise,” we choose to believe that, even though life is not going as we think it should, God is still good and can be trusted (Psalm 135:2; Nahum 1:7). When we choose to praise God in spite of the storms, He is honored, and our faith grows deeper (Malachi 3:13-17; Job 13:15).

THE PRELUDE

ELENA CRUDGE, ORGANIST

MORNING WELCOME

AND ANNOUNCEMENTS VIDEO

CALL TO PRAISE HYMN

COME THOU FOUNT, COME THOU KING Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace Streams of mercy, never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it Mount of Thy redeeming love I was lost in utter darkness ‘Til You came and rescued me I was bound by all my sin when Your love came and set me free Now my soul can sing a new song, Now my heart has found a home Now Your grace is always with me And I’ll never be alone Come, Thou Fount, come, Thou King; Come, Thou precious Prince of Peace Hear Your bride, to You we sing, Come, Thou Fount of our blessing Come, Thou Fount, come, Thou King; Come, Thou precious Prince of Peace Hear Your bride, to You we sing, Come, Thou Fount of our blessing

Lit - a - ny: n.

JESUS, WHAT A FRIEND FOR SINNERS HYFRYDOL

1: a prayer consisting of a series of invocations and supplications by the leader with alternate responses by the congregation. 2: a resonant or repetitive chant; a repetition of cheering phrases, often sung. Our Scriptrue Litany this morning focuses our attention on Philippians 3, where we are reminded that in order to know Christ and gain our victory in Him (against the world) we must “keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus” and His glorious cross. The reading of God’s Word, with a congregational sung or spoken response, has been a corporate act of worship in the church for centuries. Let us receive God’s Word... and respond to it... with great joy today.

The Philippians 3 Litany

O, to grace, how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. [Sung Response] I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

[Sung Response]

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [Sung Response] Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. [Sung Response]