14  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to the confession.

15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.

16  Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

2  How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3  Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4  lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5  But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6  I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

1 Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.

2  Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3  May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

4  those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

5  “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

6  The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

7  You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

8  On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

1  Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2  In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

3  For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.

4  In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

5  His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

6  He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7  His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8  He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;

9  he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

10  The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.

11  He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

12  Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.

13  Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?

14  But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.

15  Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.

16  The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.

17  O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

18  to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

3  Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

4  so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

5  to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

1 In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,

2  for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

3  if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

4  The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

5  The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

6  Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7  For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

We will rejoice at each others’ happiness and endeavor with tenderness and sympathy to bear each other’s burdens and sorrows.

We will seek, by Divine aid, to live carefully in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and remembering that, as we have been voluntarily buried by baptism and raised again from the symbolic grave, so there is on us a special obligation now to lead a new and holy life.

We will work together for the continuance of a faithful evangelical ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines. We will contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.

We will, when we move from this place, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

Having, as we trust, been brought by Divine Grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give ourselves wholly to Him, and having been baptized upon our profession of faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, relying on His gracious aid, solemnly and joyfully renew our covenant with each other.

 

We will work and pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

We will walk together in brotherly love, as becomes the members of a Christian Church; exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require.

 

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others.

 

We will endeavor to bring up such as may at any time be under our care, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and by a pure and loving example to seek the salvation of the lost — both the stranger and those with whom we have relationships.

 

 

Having, as we trust, been brought by Divine Grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give ourselves wholly to Him, and having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, relying on His gracious aid, solemnly and joyfully renew our covenant with each other.

 

We will work and pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

We will walk together in brotherly love, as becomes the members of a Christian Church; exercise an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other and faithfully admonish and entreat one another as occasion may require.

 

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together…

 

1  Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

2  It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

3  So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."

4  But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."

5  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6  So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

7  Then after this He *said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."

8  The disciples *said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?"

9  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10  "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

11  This He said, and after that He *said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep."

12  The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."

13  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.

14  So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,

15  and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."

16  Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."

17  So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

18  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;

19  and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.

20  Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.

21  Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

22  "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

23  Jesus *said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

24  Martha *said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

25  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

26  and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

27  She *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."