In consideration of others and as guests of West High School . . .
- Please silence your phone and watch.
- Name tags are a great start to a meaningful connection. Thanks for wearing one.
- If you’d like to give an offering, there are two baskets in the back or you can use the “Giving” tab at the bottom-right corner of the mobile app.
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
Jonah 2:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
“There is a change that God effects in man, radical and reconstructive in its nature, called new birth, new creation, regeneration, renewal – a change that cannot be accounted for by anything that is in lower terms than the interposition of the almighty power of God. No combination, permutation or accumulation of earth-born forces can explain it or effect it.”
– John Murray
“To make a man a saint, grace [supernatural action] is certainly needed, and anyone who doubts this does not know what a saint, or what a man, really is.”
– Blaise Pascal
“Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.”
– Dallas Willard
WELCOME & CALL TO WORSHIP
Psalms 92:1-4
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
3 to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
SONG
The Lost are Found
[Verse 1]
Everlasting, while earthly ages fade
In mercy, Our God, Your kingdom reigns
Lord over everything, You are near
All of the universe at your feet
In the Savior, injustice brought to right
For Your glory, that your name be lifted high
Lord over everything, You are near
All of the universe at Your feet
Lord over everything, You are near
All of the universe at Your feet
[Chorus]
The lost are found, the blind will see
The lame will walk, the dead will live
And You, our God, forever You will reign
Lord over everything, You are near
All of the universe at Your feet
Lord over everything, You are near
All of the universe at Your feet
[Chorus]
SONG
As The Deer
[Verse 1]
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee
[Chorus]
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee
[Verse 2]
You’re my friend
And You are my brother
Even though You are a King
I love You more than any other
So much more than anything
[Chorus]
SCRIPTURE READING
Romans 4:1-3, 20-25; 5:6-8
1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness…”
20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification…
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
SONG
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
[Verse 3]
Oh, that day when freed from sinning
I shall see Thy lovely face
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy wondrous grace
Come my Lord, no longer tarry
Take my ransomed soul away
Send Thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless days
[Verse 4]
Oh, 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, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Meet King’s Cross Church! Today – Sunday, April 23 after church. For newer people to get to know our church and some leaders. In-person at Joe Brown’s house. Lunch will be included! REGISTER here.
Summer Nights – We are planning to implement something soon that we’re calling “Summer Nights.” We want more opportunities to be together socially; sensing that our brief time on Sunday morning is not enough. So you can expect a schedule of events planned for every week – likely on Sunday nights – some free, some with a cost. These will be simple times for us to gather on the Esplanade, the Strand, a Pier, in a park, at the Point; or to do fun things like go to a game, or bowl, or rollerskate, or many other fun things that we get to do in sunny Southern California. Stay tuned for details. If you have ideas, talk to or email Joe Brown.
OFFERTORY
If you would like to give electronically, you may do so using the “Giving” tab at the bottom-right corner of the mobile app. There are also white baskets in the back of our worship space, where you can give via check, made out to King’s Cross Church, or cash.
SERMON
“The Creditor Has Come”
2 Kings 4:1-7 (ESV)
1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
SONG
Great is Our God
[Verse 1]
Come, let us praise Him
Let us kneel at the throne of our God
Through His Son our salvation was bought
With mercy and grace
Come, let us bow down
In His hands are the depths of the earth
With one voice we proclaim His great worth
Lord, our God
[Chorus]
And we will seek Him
Our Rock of Salvation
Morning by morning
With thanksgiving we come
And we will bow down
With creation we cry out
In daylight and darkness
We sing to the Lord
Great is our God
Great is our God
Great is our God
[Verse 2]
Lord of all nations
We will stand at the end of our days
In Your courts and declare Your great ways
In Spirit and Truth
We long for Your Kingdom
Bring Your thunder and gather the earth
All who tremble will tell of Your worth
Lord, our God
[Chorus]
BENEDICTION
Philippians 4:19-20