Welcome, we’re glad you’re here. Our vision echoes the Lord’s prayer: may it be “in the South Bay, as it is in heaven.” We yearn to see people flourishing in Jesus. Join us in the worship of our Lord.
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
Now therefore the sword shall never depart
from your house, because you have despised me
and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite
to be your wife… I will raise up evil against you
out of your own house.
2 Samuel 12:10-11
for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children
to the third and the fourth generation…
but showing steadfast love to thousands…
Exodus 20:5-6
And the king was deeply moved… and wept.
…“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you,
O Absalom, my son, my son!”
2 Samuel 18:33
“O my son Absalom,’ Bean said softly, knowing for the first time the kind of anguish that could tear such words from a man’s mouth. ‘My son, my son Absalom. Would God I could die for thee, O Absalom, my son. My son!”
– Orson Scott Card
‘His mischief shall be turned on his own head.’ This is what happened to Saul, Absalom, and many others who harmed themselves when they wanted to harm others, and the fact that Saul fell on his own sword… is an illustration of this.
– Martin Luther
Absalom, Absalom! I give you a name, and I give you history, and I give you a future. The future of a son who was doomed to make his own sacrifice as a mark of his own failure.
– William Faulkner
WELCOME & CALL TO WORSHIP
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2
Better is One Day
[Verse 1]
How lovely is Your dwelling place
O Lord Almighty
My soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings
[Chorus]
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere
[Verse 2]
One thing I ask, and I would seek
To see Your beauty
To find You in the place Your glory dwells
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
My heart and flesh cry out
For You, the Living God
Your Spirit’s water for my soul
I’ve tasted and I’ve seen
Come once again to me
I will draw near to You
I will draw near to You
[Chorus]
SONG
Draw Me Nearer
[Verse 1]
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice
And it told Thy love to me
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee
[Chorus]
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord
To the cross where Thou hast died
Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord
To Thy precious, bleeding side
[Verse 2]
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord
By the power of grace divine
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope
And my will be lost in Thine
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
There are depths of love that I cannot know
‘Til I cross the narrow sea
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
‘Til I rest in peace with Thee
[Chorus]
SCRIPTURE READING
A Psalm of David,
when he fled from Absalom his son.
O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.”
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill.
I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people!
Psalm 3
SONG
Softly and Tenderly
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
Come home, come home
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling
Calling, O sinner, come home
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
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
[Chorus]
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
ANNOUNCEMENTS
“Delighting in the Trinity” book study: 8:30am Sundays through 3/30. Childcare is available. Sign up here.
Women’s Pop Up Dinner (3/23): 6pm tonight! Contact Susan Ahn with any questions.
Easter Sunday invitations (4/20): We want to encourage you to consider those you might invite to worship with us. Let’s pray for the boldness of Christ and opportunities to share the greatest news there is.
Officer Nominations (through 4/13): We are taking nominations for the offices of elder and deacon. Every member is encouraged to consider prayerfully those in our body who are already displaying the gifts of these offices (1 Tim.3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). Our goal is to have our officers serve in 3 year terms of rotating service. You can nominate someone by submitting a written nomination in the offering box.
[ March 25th Elder Meeting ]
OFFERTORY
________________________________
MONTHLY FINANCIAL UPDATE
After February 2025
YTD 2025 Projected Giving: $97,255
YTD 2025 Actual Giving: $121,084
________________________________
If you would like to give electronically, you can do so here or through the mobile app by selecting “Giving” at the bottom-right corner. For cash or check donations to King’s Cross Church, please use the offering box located at the back of our worship space.
SERMON
“Absalom! Absalom!”
2 Samuel 14
25 Now in all Israel there was no one so much
to be praised for his handsome appearance
as Absalom.
From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head
there was no blemish in him.
26 And when he cut the hair of his head
(for at the end of every year he used to cut it;
when it was heavy on him, he cut it),
he weighed the hair of his head,
two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.
2 Samuel 15
After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses,
and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom used to rise early
and stand beside the way of the gate.
And when any man had a dispute
to come before the king for judgment,
Absalom would call to him and say,
“From what city are you?”
And when he said, “Your servant is of
such and such a tribe in Israel,”
3 Absalom would say to him,
“See, your claims are good and right,
but there is no man designated by the king
to hear you.”
4 Then Absalom would say,
“Oh that I were judge in the land!
Then every man with a dispute or cause
might come to me, and I would give him justice.”
5 And whenever a man came near to pay homage
to him, he would put out his hand
and take hold of him and kiss him.
6 Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came
to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 And at the end of four years
Absalom said to the king,
“Please let me go and pay my vow,
which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron.
8 For your servant vowed a vow
while I lived at Geshur in Aram, saying,
‘If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem,
then I will offer worship to the Lord.’”
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.”
So he arose and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent secret messengers
throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying,
“As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet,
then say, ‘Absalom is king at Hebron!’”
11 With Absalom went two hundred men
from Jerusalem who were invited guests,
and they went in their innocence and knew nothing.
12 And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices,
he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite,
David’s counselor, from his city Giloh.
And the conspiracy grew strong,
and the people with Absalom kept increasing.
13 And a messenger came to David, saying,
“The hearts of the men of Israel
have gone after Absalom.”
14 Then David said to all his servants
who were with him at Jerusalem,
“Arise, and let us flee, or else
there will be no escape for us from Absalom.
Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly
and bring down ruin on us
and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
15 And the king’s servants said to the king,
“Behold, your servants are ready to do
whatever my lord the king decides.”
16 So the king went out,
and all his household after him.
And the king left ten concubines to keep the house.
17 And the king went out,
and all the people after him.
And they halted at the last house.
18 And all his servants passed by him,
and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites,
and all the six hundred Gittites who had followed
him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite,
“Why do you also go with us?
Go back and stay with the king,
for you are a foreigner and also an exile
from your home.
20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today
make you wander about with us,
since I go I know not where?
Go back and take your brothers with you,
and may the Lord show steadfast love
and faithfulness to you.”
21 But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives,
and as my lord the king lives,
wherever my lord the king shall be,
whether for death or for life,
there also will your servant be.”
22 And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.”
So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men
and all the little ones who were with him.
23 And all the land wept aloud
as all the people passed by,
and the king crossed the brook Kidron, and
all the people passed on toward the wilderness.
24 And Abiathar came up, and behold,
Zadok came also with all the Levites,
bearing the ark of the covenant of God.
And they set down the ark of God
until the people had all passed out of the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok,
“Carry the ark of God back into the city.
If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord,
he will bring me back and let me see
both it and his dwelling place.
26 But if he says, ‘I have no pleasure in you,’
behold, here I am,
let him do to me what seems good to him.”
2 Samuel 18
5 And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai,
“Deal gently for my sake
with the young man Absalom.”
And all the people heard when the king gave
orders to all the commanders about Absalom…
9 And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David.
Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule
went under the thick branches of a great oak,
and his head caught fast in the oak, and
he was suspended between heaven and earth,
while the mule that was under him went on…
14 Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.”
And he took three javelins in his hand
and thrust them into the heart of Absalom
while he was still alive in the oak…
31 And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said,
“Good news for my lord the king!
For the Lord has delivered you this day
from the hand of all who rose up against you.”
32 The king said to the Cushite,
“Is it well with the young man Absalom?”
And the Cushite answered,
“May the enemies of my lord the king
and all who rise up against you for evil
be like that young man.”
33 And the king was deeply moved and went up
to the chamber over the gate and wept.
And as he went, he said,
“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!
Would I had died instead of you,
O Absalom, my son, my son!”
2 Sam.14:25-26; 15:1-26; 18:5,9,14,31-33 ESV
SONG
Abide
[Verse 1]
For my waking breath
For my daily bread
I depend on You
I depend on You
For the sun to rise
For my sleep at night
I depend on You
I depend on You
[Chorus]
You’re the way the truth and the life
You’re the well that never runs dry
I’m the branch and You are the vine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
[Verse 2]
Where the Spirit leads
As I’m following
I depend on You
I depend on You
For the victories
Still in front of me
I dеpend on You
I depend on You
[Chorus 2]
You’rе the way the truth and the life
You’re the well that never runs dry
I’m the branch and You are the vine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
Be my strength my song in the night
Be my all my treasure my prize
I am Yours forever Your mine
Draw me close and teach me to abide
[Verse 3]
When I pass through death
As I enter rest
I depend on You
I depend on You
For eternal life
To be raised with Christ
I depend on You
I depend on You
[Chorus 2]
BENEDICTION
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.
Matthew 11:28-29
CONNECTION
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