WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
READING
To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of his enemies,
the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable,
the Friend of sinners!
ADORATION
HOLY HOLY HOLY
PROCLAMATION
LEARNING TO LAMENT
PRAYER
TURN
RESPONSIVE READING FROM PSALM 77:1-4
LEADER:
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
TOGETHER:
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord.
LEADER:
In the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
TOGETHER:
When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints.
Selah
LEADER:
You hold my eyelids open.
TOGETHER:
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
PRAYER OF TURNING
Father, we come to you in grief. But we come to you. We come to you weak. But we come to you. Sorrow and sadness fill our hearts. But we come to you.
We are surrounded by brokenness. We are immersed in disappointments. We are besieged by out of control circumstances. But we come to you.
Spirit of the Living God, give us the faith needed to lament. Make us not afraid to lament. Remove the fear of being too honest, or too open, or too vulnerable.
Help us reject the despair that says you don't care, that you don't hear, that you're not good, or that nothing is ever going to change.
Speak to us right now, Spirit. Identify in us anything that prevents us from turning to you.
God, in our frustrations and in our discouragements and pain, we are tempted to stop talking to you. Tempted to pull away, in anger or disillusionment.
But in this moment, we refuse to refuse to turn to you in our pain.
Help us in our unbelief. Help us believe you are present and believe you are good. Re-orient our hearts to what is true.
Jesus, we draw near to you now, we turn to you now, our great high priest. Let us hold fast our confession. You are not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Would we, with confidence draw near to your throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Amen.
IT IS WELL
COMPLAIN
SCRIPTURE READING
LAMENTATIONS 3:1–18
PRAYER OF COMPLAINT
Father, we come humbly before you now in complaint.
With the psalmists, we cry out, "Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"
And, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?"
Jesus, life under the sun is hard. We struggle, not just with our pain, but with you.
Holy Spirit, help us humbly bring our complaints before you now. Help us name specific situations and specific circumstances that are painful, wrong, or unjust.
Father, we lay our pain before you.
We lay our honest, pain-filled questions before you.
Our frustrations with you.
We know that you’re not only able to hear, but able to handle our pain, our self-pity, our blame, and our fears.
We know that you’re able to intervene, yet we do not understand why you have not.
God we complain that you feel distant. Remote. We fear that you’re no longer helping, that you’ve for some reason hidden yourself in this time of trouble.
Where are you, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
SATISFIED IN YOU
ASK
RESPONSIVE READING FROM PSALM 22:1-5, 11, 19-21
LEADER
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
TOGETHER
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
LEADER
But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
PASTORAL PRAYER OF GUIDED ASKING
OH GOD
TRUST
SCRIPTURE READING
PSALM 13:5-6
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
LORD’S SUPPER
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