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Sabbath Service
October 31, 2009Scriptures used in this service are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
with sacred names restored.Torah Reading: Genesis 12:1—17:27
Haftorah Reading: Isaiah 40:27—41:16
Brit Chadasha Reading: Romans 4:1-25(You may incorporate the Torah. Haftorah, and Brit Chadasha portions into the following service, or read them before, after, or at some point during your Sabbath observance.)
MESSIANIC OPENING (Others may drop down to “Call to Worship”)
(Written for families — modify parts for other small groups or for individuals)Lighting of Candles
The father says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim … Through him all things were made … In him was life, and that life was the light of men. … The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1,3,14). Yahshua is ‘the light of the world’ (John 8:12), the ‘true light that gives light to every man’ (John 1:9). Through him we are empowered to be lights in the world (Phil. 2:15). As we light these two Shabbat candles, we set this night apart unto Yahweh to remember that we are given both physical rest and spiritual rest through the gift of Yahweh by his Son, Yashua Messiah.
The mother lights two candles while saying this blessing:
Blessed are you, O Yahweh our Elohim, King of the universe, who has set us apart by your Word and has called us to be the light of the world.Blessing Yahweh for the Wine
The father pours wine into a cup, and holds it up, saying:
Wine represents to us the joy that we have in knowing that through the shed blood of Yahshua we have ceased from our labors and entered into his rest. Through it we remember the price that he paid for our redemption.
The father prays this blessing:
Blessed are you, O Yahweh our Elohim, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
All partake of the cup.Blessing Yahweh for the Bread
The father holds up the bread, saying:
Bread reminds us that we have shared the true bread from heaven in the person of Yahshua, our Master.
The father prays this blessing:
Blessed are you, O Yahweh our Elohim, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
All partake of the bread.Blessings on Wife, Husband, Sons, and Daughters
Sound the Shofar
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 146)
Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh, O my soul!
I will sing praises to Elohim all my life long.
Happy are those whose help is in Yahweh, creator of heaven and earth, who is forever faithful;
seeking justice for the oppressed and for the hungry;
setting prisoners free and opening the eyes of the blind;
lifting up those who are bowed down and loving the righteous.
Yahweh protects strangers and upholds the orphan and widow;
but the way of the wicked is brought to ruin.
Yahweh our Elohim will reign forever, for all generations. Praise Yah!
Hymn #200 (Burgundy Hymnal, piano accompaniment only)
Hallelujah! Praise Yah (God)!
Psalm 146
Dwight Armstrong
Sing unto the Eternal, Sing your praises to Him:
Put your trust not in mortals for in them is no help
Hallelujah! Praise Yah (God)! The Eternal shall reign!
He shall reign for all ages; Our King and our El (God)!
Sing unto the Eternal, give your praises to Him;
He it was who made heaven, earth and sea and all things.
Hallelujah! Praise Yah (God)! The Eternal shall reign!
He shall reign for all ages; Our King and our El (God)!
Sing unto the Eternal, let your hope be in Him;
He remains true for ever He gives justice to all.
Hallelujah! Praise Yah (God)! The Eternal shall reign!
He shall reign for all ages; Our King and our El (God)!
Prayer of Praise and Adoration
We praise you, O Yahweh, for being not only the Elohim of history but the Elohim of our story. You have gathered us today to remind us that although you are the one to whom all power belongs, yet you care for the weak and powerless. You care for us. We praise you for joining your story to ours in such a special way through Yahshua, our Master. He proved his great love for you and for each person in the way he lived—releasing what was captive, lifting up the burdened, and empowering the powerless.
Elohim, source of lovingkindness and strength, we worship you. Amen.The Mover
O Supreme Moving cause,
May I always be subordinate to you,
be dependent upon you,
be found in the path where you do walk,
and where your Spirit moves,
take heed of estrangement from you,
of becoming insensible to your love.
You do not move men like stones,
but do endue them with life,
not to enable them to move without you,
but in submission to you, the first mover.
O Yahweh, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the kingdom I am seeking and the hell I merit.
Who made me to differ, but you?
for I was no more ready to receive Messiah than were others;
I could not have begun to love you had you not first loved me,
or been willing unless you had first made me so.
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!
Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation
into the mold of purchase and freedom;
Let wrath deserved be written on the door of hell,
But the free gift of grace on the gates of the kingdom.
I know that my sufferings are the result of my sinning,
but in your kingdom both shall cease;
Grant me to attain this kingdom and be done with sailing,
and may the gales of your mercy blow me safely into harbor.
Let your love draw me nearer to yourself,
wean from sin, mortify me to this world,
and make me ready for my departure hence.
Secure me by your grace as I sail across this stormy sea.
Amen.Prayer of Approach
Elohim of Israel, Elohim of all nations, Elohim of all worlds, known to humankind yet far beyond our knowing, we seek to love you with our hearts and our understanding and our strength, that our thoughts and motives and energies might be devoted to serving you through the people and circumstances we encounter day by day. Reign within us and among us, today and always. Amen.
**NOTE: Offering a variety of different types of Messianic or sacred name music each week, we will dance before the King much as David danced when he led the Ark up to Jerusalem.
Dance before Yahweh (Messianic Music)
Click on the first Track to begin the player. After all songs have played, or when you have reached the point of ending your dance, click on the “Stop” button at the top of the player (otherwise the tracks will just keep playing over and over).
This text will be replaced by the flash music player.***Please be seated and return to the service.***
To a Holy Elohim
Awesome Spirit,
teach me to fear you without being afraid,
to love you without being pretentious,
to serve you without being servile,
and to adore you without holding anything back.Through Messiah Yahshua
my sure confidence and good heath.
Amen.Prayer on the Word
Glorious Elohim, it is the center of my life to worship you, the crown and glory of my soul to adore you, heavenly pleasure to approach you. Give me power by your Spirit to help me worship now, that I may forget the world, be brought into fullness of life, be refreshed, comforted, and blessed through the reading of your Word. Amen.Hebrew Scriptures Reading
Ruth 1:1-18 RSV
1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons.
4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years;
5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that Yahweh had visited his people and given them food.
7 So she set out from the place where she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.
9 Yahweh grant that you may find a home, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.
10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of Yahweh has gone forth against me.”
14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your Elohim my Elohim;
17 where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May Yahweh do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you.”
18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.Psalm Reading
Psalms 146:1-10 RSV
1 Praise Yah! Praise Yah, O my soul!
2 I will praise Yahweh as long as I live; I will sing praises to my Elohim while I have being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he whose help is the Elohim of Jacob, whose hope is in Yahweh his Elohim,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Yahweh lifts up those who are bowed down; Yahweh loves the righteous.
9 Yahweh watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 Yahweh will reign for ever, thy Elohim, O Zion, to all generations. Praise Yah!Hymn #221 (Burgundy Hymnal, piano accompaniment only)
Praise You Yahweh (The Lord), The Almighty
Joachim Neander
Lobe Den Herren
Praise ye Yahweh (the Lord), the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.
Praise ye Yahweh (the Lord), Who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise ye Yahweh (the Lord), Who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief hath not He brought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee?
Praise ye Yahweh (the Lord), O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for all we adore Him.
Epistle Reading
Hebrews 9:11-14 RSV
11 But when Messiah appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to Elohim, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living Yahweh.Gospel Reading
Mark 12:28-34 RSV
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
29 Yahshua answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one;
30 and you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he;
33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 And when Yahshua saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of Elohim.” And after that no one dared to ask him any question.Prayer of Confession
Yahshua said that the first commandment was this: “Love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength,” and the second commandment is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” We hear what you are saying to us, Master, but it is not easy in today’s society. Worshipping position and status, power and wealth seem to be the first commandments of life these days, and when we are so busy achieving these it doesn’t leave much time to care for, let alone love, our neighbor.
Help us to re-order our priorities, Master, so that they are more in tune with yours.
Moment of silence for reflection.
Yahshua, Savior and Master, we confess that there are times when the pattern of our daily lives is modeled on other than worshipping Elohim and caring for neighbor. All we seem to be creating is a feel-good, self-serving approach to life rather than your costly, self-emptying, servanthood lifestyle.
Master, reconnect us to the desire to live out your commandments of love.
Moment of silence for reflection.
Yahshua, redeemer and friend, your acts of caring and love, mercy and justice delivered people from lives dominated by injustice and corruption. We confess that when ‘economic rationalism’ rules the lives of people today, competition replaces compassion, ruthlessness replaces forgiveness, and wounding replaces healing. Yet, in the midst of all this you command us not only to love Elohim wholeheartedly, and to love our neighbor likewise, you command us also to love one another as you love us.
Master, stir us into action so that the signs of your powerful love are visible in and through us. Amen.
Moment of silence for reflection.Assurance of Forgiveness
Yahshua truly demonstrated his love for all as he rescued us from lives dominated by evil and sin by his acts of mercy and justice, his suffering and death. Hear then the good news that in and through Yahshua Messiah we are forgiven.
Thanks be to Yahweh.Hymn #17 (Blue Hymnal, piano accompaniment only)
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Charles Wesley, 1747, alt.
John Zundel, 1870
Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven, to earth come down,
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown!
Y’shua (Jesus), Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit, Let us find the promised rest;
Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning, Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return, and never, nevermore Thy temples leave,
Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above;
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love.
Finish, then, Thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory, Till with Thee we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise.
Study Paper, Video or Audio Sermon (Your Choice)The Shema
Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our Elohim is One. Blessed be the name of Yahweh whose glorious kingdom is forever! You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all of your heart. You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all of your soul. You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all of your mind. You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your strength.
And these words, which I am instructing you today, shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates. (Deut. 6:6-9)Yahshua said, “You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:37-39)
Closing Prayer
Let the offering and service of our lives express our love for you, O Yahweh. A love offered with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. May the gift of our lives be used to reveal that love in all we do and say. In Yahshua’s name, we pray.
Amen!Aaronic Blessing
Yahweh bless you and keep you: Yahweh make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.