Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Prayer will be held at the Noah home.

The preaching on Sunday will focus on 2 and 3 John where we see the nuances of how the church is an expression of both in truth and love. Most of the content of these two short letters is contained in 1 John, but there is some new material that we will focus on… Particularly matters of hospitality among Christians and a focus on three people who are given as examples – Gaius, a hospitable and gracious man; Diotrephes, a self serving and divisive man; and Demetrius a man of truth and love. In all of these men we will see how important it is that we are a humble church, looking to ourselves to see if any of the sins of Diotrephes are latent in us. As we look into these three personalities we should be heeding the warning of the apostle Paul, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall,” (1 Corinthians 10:12). We must look at Diotrephes in particular and examine ourselves to see that the seeds of his destructive ways are put away from us.

The songs we will be singing are:

• We Gather Together
• A Christian Home
• Not What My Hands Have Done
• In Christ Alone
• All I Have Is Christ

We Gather Together

We gather together

To ask the Lord’s blessing;

He chastens and hastens

His will to make known.

The wicked oppressing

Now cease from distressing.

Sing praises to His Name;

He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us,

Our God with us joining,

Ordaining, maintaining

His kingdom divine;

So from the beginning

The fight we were winning;

Thou, Lord, were at our side,

All glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee,

Thou Leader triumphant,

\And pray that Thou still

Our Defender will be.

Let Thy congregation

Escape tribulation*;

Thy Name be ever praised!

O Lord, make us free!

A Christian Home

O give us homes built firm upon the Savior

Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide

Where every child is taught His love and favor 

And gives his heart to Christ, the Crucified

How sweet to know that, tho’ his footsteps waver

His faithful Lord is walking by his side

O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers

Who always place their hope and trust in Him

Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers

Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim

A home where each finds joy in serving others

And love still shines, tho’ days be dark and grim

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master

The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung

Where pray’r comes first in peace or in disaster

And praise is natural speech to every tongue

Where mountains move before a faith that’s vaster

And Christ sufficient is for old and young

O Lord, our God, our homes are Thine forever!

We trust to Thee their problems, toil, and care

Their bonds of love no enemy can sever

If Thou art always Lord and Master there

Be Thou the center of our least endeavor

Be Thou our guest, our hearts and homes to share

Not What My Hands Have Done

Not what my hands have done

can save my guilty soul;

Not what my toiling flesh has borne

can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do

can give me peace with God;

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears

can bear my awful load.

Your voice alone, O Lord,

can speak to me of grace;

Your power alone, O Son of God,

can all my sin erase.

No other work but Yours,

no other blood will do;

No strength but that which is divine

can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ,

can ease this weight of sin;

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,

can give me peace within.

Thy love to me, O God,

not mine, O Lord, to Thee,

Can rid me of this dark unrest,

and set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God;

I rest on love divine;

And with unfaltering lip and heart

I call this Savior mine.

His cross dispels each doubt;

I bury in His tomb

Each thought of unbelief and fear,

each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace;

I trust His truth and might;

He calls me His, I call Him mine,

My God, my joy and light.

’Tis He Who saveth me,

and freely pardon gives;

I love because He loveth me,

I live because He lives.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! 

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

Till on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me

From life’s first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

All I Have Is Christ

I once was lost in darkest night

Yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and life

Had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that You would own

A rebel to Your will.

And if You had not loved me first

I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race

Indifferent to the cost

You looked upon my helpless state

And led me to the cross.

And I beheld God’s love displayed

You suffered in my place

You bore the wrath reserved for me

Now all I know is grace.

   Hallelujah! All I have is Christ

   Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone

And live so all might see

The strength to follow Your commands

Could never come from me.

Oh Father, use my ransomed life

In any way You choose.

And let my song forever be

My only boast is You.

   Hallelujah! All I have is Christ

   Hallelujah! Jesus is my life