In his most famous play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare said, “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!” Today we shall be thinking about humanity, about human beings, about you and me. Who are we, and how did we turn out as we are? As we do every Sunday, we gather to sing praise to God, but on this Sunday we particularly sing praise to God for His grace to us in creating us!

Holy Week is the most sacred season of the Christian year. Sometimes it seems as though we go through it too fast, and that important lessons are lost in the invariable rush. Today we return to the crucifixion, asking questions once again about what perhaps it does and does not mean. We do so in a quest for the deepest truths which we are capable of comprehending. Let us therefore worship the God whose spirit was crushed far more severely by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ than any of our human spirits.

On the first Good Friday morning, Jesus was on trial before the Roman governor. In his interrogation of Jesus, Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Sometimes it is very hard to discover the truth about certain factors or issues. Today we will be thinking about that quest in religious questions, but also in matters which increasingly confront us in what we have always thought of as “news” when “news” has taken on a very different meaning in recent months. Let us worship the God who is the essence of truth.

After a carefully prepared processional, Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph. “Hosanna!” the crowd shouted. “Praise now! Hosanna in the highest!” As wise and insightful as Jesus was, he knew exactly what was coming, but he savored the Palm Sunday parade. He wanted all his followers who were there on that first Palm Sunday to remember how glorious it was. Then, when they looked back on it, they could record it in all its splendor. Let us worship the God who inspired Jesus to face what lay ahead of him, trusting in God’s ultimate purposes, whatever they might be.

An itinerant preacher slowly wends his way from north to south. He knows what likely awaits him in Jerusalem, but his disciples have no idea of the danger he faces. They are thinking about the growing influence of his life; he is thinking about the near-certainty of his death. One of his disciples shall forever be associated with a purported betrayal which purportedly led to the preacher’s crucifixion. Let us, with chastened spirits, worship the God who, along with us, also slowly goes to Calvary.

The communion of saints indirectly suggests that all people are ultimately God’s people, and that all, ultimately, are therefore saints. Saints come in an infinite variety of levels of righteousness, sanctity, and holiness. But because we are God’s, we are saints, and we have communion with everyone now alive and everyone who ever lived. God unites all of us by His spirit moving within us. We thank Him for the astonishing generosity of His nature, and now, together with all the saints, let us worship God.

We gather in worship today to give thanks to God for the lives of two famous and vastly influential men, one from the Bible and one from the pantheon of great American Presidents. Thinking about these two giants in the history of the human race, we are struck by how God blesses us from time to time through the extraordinary gifts and insights of individual human beings. Therefore, with gratitude for His continuing grace shown to us through the wisdom of unique and special people, let us worship God.

Do we believe God exists, or do we know He exists? Do we know the world is round, or do we merely believe it is round? Today we shall examine the difference between believing and knowing. In our certainties as well as our convictions, God goes with all of us through life, guiding, upholding, inspiring, loving, and reproving us. Let us together worship the God who leads us through life, enabling us to believe in Him until, at the last, we shall fully know Him as we believe we know one another.

Whatever else Christians are, we are Easter People, those who trust in the resurrection to eternal life. Today we shall think about the sole means by which our being raised to life eternal is made possible, the doorway we call Death. Ushering all of us through it, God grants us a new life where there is no illness or pain, no depletion or debilitation. Therefore, let us with the confidence exhibited by Christ’s Church from the first Easter onward, worship the God who leads us from life through death to life eternal.

A previous President leaves office, and a new one is sworn into office. Time marches on. But what do we, personally, do with the time we have? Is our time all the same, or do we encourage special moments, unique times, to come into our lives? Today we shall examine how the quality of our time in life differs greatly, if we allow God to grant us times of wonder and grace and transformation. In pursuit of such times, let us, with confidence in the hope of new beginnings, worship God.

Today is Martin Luther King’s birthday. In noting the date, we also note the difficult challenges he faced in attempting to create better relations among races and ethnic groups. We are confronted by demonic forces which seek to divide us and to destroy our resolve to live in harmony with one another and with the world God has given us. But God goes with us as we battle our demons, and He wills that we should conquer them. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.

A new year has begun, and with it the hopes and aspirations of people rise. But throughout the world, including the United States, there are many millions of people in their twenties and thirties who either have no job at all or very unsatisfying jobs. Today we shall contemplate their dilemma, asking for God’s guidance in how we may better understand their plight and how we can help them. Let us therefore worship with confidence the God of each new year and of all new beginnings.

The God who created us has led us into another new year. It is by His grace that we have traversed the past year, and by His grace we also shall be guided through this coming year. The mercies of the Lord are from everlasting to everlasting, and His righteousness is unto children’s children. There is no one alive who has not been greatly blessed by our God and Father. Therefore, in recognition of god’s unending goodness toward us, let us, with confidence for this new year, worship God.