May 24th, 2026

Prelude 

“Hilf, Gott, dass mir’s gelinge” (BWV 624) J.S. Bach (Help, God, the Creator of all things) 

‘Brother James’s Air” S. Wright (The Lord’s my Shepherd) 

Welcome and Announcements Dr. Drew DiNardo

Preparation for Worship Dr. Stuart Sacks 

*Call to Worship (Adapted from 1 Chronicles 16) 

One: Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 

All: Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 

One: Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 

*Invocation 

*Hymn 710 “God of Our Fathers” 

1 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand 

leads forth in beauty all the starry band 

of shining worlds in splendor through the skies, 

our grateful songs before thy throne arise.

2 Thy love divine hath led us in the past; 

in this free land by thee our lot is cast; 

be thou our ruler, guardian, guide, and stay; 

thy Word our law, thy paths our chosen way. 

3 From war's alarms, from deadly pestilence, 

be thy strong arm our ever-sure defense; 

thy true religion in our hearts increase, 

thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace. 

4 Refresh thy people on their toilsome way, 

lead us from night to never-ending day; 

fill all our lives with love and grace divine, 

and glory, laud, and praise be ever thine. 

Call to Confession Rev. Nathan Titus

Time of Silent Confession 

Words of Assurance 

*The Gloria Patri 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 

and to the Holy Ghost;  

as it was in the beginning,  

is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

*4th Sunday Confession of Faith  

(taken from Westminster Confession of Faith) 

We believe God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ and  repentance unto life to escape the wrath and curse of God  due to us for sin; 

We believe by His free grace we are effectually called,  justified, and sanctified, and gathered into the visible  church out of which there is no ordinary possibility of  salvation;  

We believe that we also are given in this life such accompanying benefits as assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.  

We believe that at death, we are made perfect in holiness and immediately pass into glory; we shall openly be acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and We believe we are made perfectly blessed in the fully enjoying of God for all eternity. Amen. 

Psalter Reading (Psalm 48) Page 803 

Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.  

It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth.  

Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.  

God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress.  

When the kings joined forces, when they advanced together,  they saw her and were astounded; they fled in terror.  Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.  

You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish shattered by an east wind. 

As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD  Almighty, in the city of our God:  

God makes her secure forever.  

Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.  

Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the  ends of the earth;  

your right hand is filled with righteousness.  

Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments.  

Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers.  consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation.  

For this God is our God for ever and ever;  

He will be our guide even to the end.  

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer 

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 debts,  as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

Offertory “Nearer, My God, to Thee” arr. E Hogan (Jocelyn Crosby, flute) 

*Doxology 

Sermon Text Mark 1:35-39 Page 837

Sermon “The Ordinary Means of Jesus: Prayer & Preaching” Dr. Drew DiNardo 

*Closing Hymn 518 “Christ, of All My Hopes the Ground” 

1 Christ, of all my hopes the ground, 

Christ, the spring of all my joy, 

still in you may I be found, 

still for you my pow'rs employ, 

still for you my pow'rs employ. 

2 Let your love my heart inflame; 

keep your fear before my sight; 

be your praise my highest aim; 

be your smile my chief delight, 

be your smile my chief delight. 

3 Fountain of o'erflowing grace, 

freely from your fullness give; 

till I close my earthly race, 

may I prove it "Christ to live," 

may I prove it "Christ to live." 

4 Firmly trusting in your blood, 

nothing shall my heart confound; 

safely I shall pass the flood, 

safely reach Immanuel's ground, 

safely reach Immanuel's ground. 

5 Thus, O thus, an entrance give 

to the land of cloudless sky; 

having known it "Christ to live," 

let me know it "gain to die," 

let me know it "gain to die."

*Benediction 

*Congregation Three-fold Amen 

*Postlude“Fanfare on ‘America, the Beautiful’” M. Corl