How Can Creation Be True?

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Special worship service with music by Chris Driesbach

May 10, 2020 Song Service on Creation

Opening song I Love My Church (sung by Chris)

Invocation

P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit;

C: our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.

Responsive Reading Psalm 148

P: Praise the Lord. Praise the LORD from the heavens,

C: praise him in the heights above.

P: Praise him, all his angels,

C: praise him, all his heavenly hosts.

P: Praise him, sun and moon,

C: praise him, all you shining stars.

P: Praise him, you highest heavens

C: and you waters above the skies.

P: Let them praise the name of the LORD

C: for he commanded and they were created.

P: He set them in place for ever and ever;

C: he gave a decree that will never pass away.

P: Praise the LORD from the earth,

C: you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.

P: Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted;

C: his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

P: He has raised up for his people a horn,

C: the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord!

Confession of Sins

P: O Holy God and just Judge, if we look to the heavens, we remember that we’ve offended you in many ways.

C: I’ve sinned against heaven and against You. I’m not worthy to be called Your child.

P: If we look to the earth, we realize that through our sin we have disgracefully wasted creation. We’ve often wasted not only the darkness of night, but also the light of day.

C: I’ve loved and worshipped created things and have not loved and worshipped You, the Creator of all things. My body is your creation, to be used in Your service; but I have used my body in the service of sin. My heart is your creation but my heart is full of evil. My life is to shine with the light of Your love but the stars put me to shame. With sorrow I confess my sin to You, my Creator.

Pronouncement of Forgiveness

P: With joy, we flee to Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Through Christ, I believe without any doubt that Your grace and the forgiveness of sins are mine - all mine. All creation accuses me. My conscience accuses me. Both tables of the divine Law accuse me. Day and night Satan accuses me.

P: But you, O kindest Jesus, take up our defense. You desire that we forsake comfort in any created thing. A refuge has been prepared for us in the satisfaction You made for our sins.

C: I have a refuge in Your intercession for me at the right hand of the Father. I take refuge in Your wounds, O Jesus. I hide in You, My Rock. In You, I have protection. In You, I am acquitted of all my sin.

Hymn Prodigal Son (sung by Chris and congregation)

Refrain:

Father, forgive me, I know what I’ve done

Please open your arms to this prodigal son

We continue with the Word of God and with hymns and songs that speak of Creation.

1. THE CREATOR

P: For this is what the LORD says—

C: he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it.

P: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:15)

C: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Hymn How Great Thou Art (CW 256: verses 1, 3 and 4) (Chris will play and sing with the congregation)

1 O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works thy hand hath made,

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed.

Refrain:

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God, to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

3 And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,

Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,

That on the cross my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin.

Refrain

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God, to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

4 When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim: “My God, how great thou art!”

Refrain

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God, to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

Then sings my soul, my Savior-God to thee,

“How great thou art! How great thou art!”

2. THE CREATION—HUMAN BEINGS

P: God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

C: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13,14)

Hymn God Made It All (sung by Chris and congregation)

Refrain:

In six days God made it all, he made it all (repeat two more times)

And on the seventh day – he rested

3. THE ANGELS

P: Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

C: For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:15,16)

P: No harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. (Psalm 91:10,11)

C: Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)

Hymn Now the Light Has Gone Away (CW 593: verses 1, 4, 5 ) (Chris will play and sing with the congregation)

1 Now the light has gone away; Father, listen while I pray,

Asking you to watch and keep And to send me quiet sleep.

4 Now my evening praise I give; You once died that I might live.

All your precious gifts are free-Oh, how good you are to me!

5 Ah, my best and kindest Friend, You will love me to the end.

Let me love you more and more, Always better than before.

Text: Frances R. Havergal, 1836-79, alt.

4. THE HEAVENLY BODIES

P: And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”

C: And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from darkness.

P: And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:14-18)

C: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:3,4)

Hymn Modern Evangelist (sung by Chris)

5. THE RUIN OF GOD’S CREATION

P: So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

C: After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

P: Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin. (Romans 5:12)

C: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:22)

Hymn There is a Fountain Filled With Blood (CW 112) (Chris will play and sing with the congregation)

1 There is a fountain filled with blood-Immanuel was slain-

And sinners who are washed therein Lose ev’ry guilty stain,

Lose ev’ry guilty stain.

2 The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day;

And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all my sins away,

Washed all my sins away.

3 Dear dying Lamb, your precious blood Shall never lose its pow’r

Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved and sin no more,

Be saved and sin no more.

4 E’er since by faith I saw the stream Your flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I die,

And shall be till I die.

5 When this poor lisping, stamm’ring tongue Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song I’ll sing your pow’r to save,

I’ll sing your pow’r to save.

Text: William Cowper, 1731-1800, abr., alt.

6: THE CREATOR DIES TO REDEEM HIS CREATION

P: God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

C: “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

P: The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God.

C: “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:5-8)

Hymn Good Shepherd (sung by Chris and congregation)

Refrain:
I am the Good Shepherd

You’re never out of my sight

I am the good, Good Shepherd

I’ll guard you with my life

Creedal Song Because My Father Loves Me (sung by Chris and congregation)

Refrain:
God three in one -- Father, Spirit, Son
All one God and He loves me, He loves me

Prayers

Lord’s Prayer

C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction

As you go on your way, the Lord go with you; before you to show you the way; behind you to encourage you; beside you to befriend you; above you to watch over you; and within you to give you peace; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hymn Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow (CW 334) (Chris will play and sing with the congregation)

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heav’nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!