WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
We gather today to worship the One who created us,
The One who calls us,
The One who equips us,
The One who loves us without end.
With joyful hearts, let us worship God.
Good morning FBK – and welcome to Worship!
Songs
Prayer
Prayers of Confession & Assurance:
Lord Jesus Christ, you have been the faithful sower, scattering seeds of God’s love and grace in our lives. Yet we confess that our hearts have often been like hard soil, or shallow soil, or thorny soil, stunting the seed and failing to bear fruit. We also confess that we often have neglected our task of sowing the good news of your Kingdom, and of leavening the lives of others with your love. Forgive us, and renew us, so that we might grow more in our faith and bear the fruit of your mercy, of your love, of your undying life.
Amen.
Words of Assurance
“Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:9
The Greatest Challenge of History
Today's Message: Alex Valle
Alex is a good friend of the CBOQ and a new friend of FBK!
Alex works and leads The Harvest Migrant Worker Ministry: A Christian ministry dedicated to serving and sharing the love of Jesus with migrant workers in Norfolk, Brant and Oxford counties…. and now in Essex county – primarily in the Greenhouse farms of Leamington and Kingsville.
Prayer
Gracious God of all people, every new day is a chance to live a stronger faith, a more committed and disciplined life, an opportunity to strengthen ourselves for the work ahead. We come to this place not because we want to come to church but because we are the church when we are together. We have designated this building as your house, and it only becomes the church when we are here in community, prepared for worship in heart, and ready for service in body. We bring all of ourselves, those parts fully alive, ready to show those around us, and those parts that are hidden and broken. We recognize we carry all these things in our hearts, and we lift them up to you. As we gather in the spirit of community, we bring all of ourselves to you, those things we partake in joy, those things we mourn over, and put them in your hands, God of all.
Holy God, we understand that this journey of living and sharing the Gospel is not an easy one. Our world preaches that we cut corners, but when we truly honour and love your people, to cut corners is to treat our neighbours not like neighbours. This life of evangelism is a life dedicated to you, and that has consequences on how we should live. As we seek to embody this life of preaching the Gospel really and truly, help us recognize that it all begins with a life rooted in you.
We recognize our responsibility so let us truly discern and learn what that means through all parts of our lives. We pray to be like Jesus Christ, the one anointed and rooted in a life with you. Amen.
Song
Benediction
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21