Kingdom

4 August: Liturgy + Set List

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Our church is celebrating its tenth birthday this Sunday. We had normal morning services, along with a birthday celebration in the evening with some liturgical moments:

  • CREATOR/GLORIOUS DAY

    Call to Worship: Psalm 24:1-6

  • GREAT ARE YOU LORD

  • ABIDE

    Sermon: Psalm 145

    The Apostles’ Creed

    Baptism Affirmations

Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do.

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in His grace and love? I do.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying His Word and showing His love? I will, with God’s help.

Baptisms

  • LIVING HOPE

Benediction

SUNDAY EVENING

  • Welcome & Prayer

Father, we are gathered here because we believe that we are called together into a work we cannot yet know the fullness of. Still, we trust the voice of the One who has called us.

And so we offer to you, O God, these things:

Our dreams, our plans, our vision.

Shape them as You will.

Our moments and our gifts.

May they be invested toward bright, eternal ends.

Richly bless the work before us, Father.

Shepherd us well lest we grow enamored of our own accomplishment or entrenched in old habit.

Instead let us listen for Your voice, our hearts ever open to the quieter beckonings of Your Spirit.

May our love and our labors now echo your love and your labors, O Lord.

O Spirit of God, now shape our hearts.

O Spirit of God, now guide our hands.

O Spirit of God, now build Your kingdom among us.

Amen.

Adapted from “A Liturgy for the Labors of Community”

Every Moment Holy, Douglas McKelvey

  • 10,000 Reasons

  • RAISE A HALLELUJAH/WAITING HERE FOR YOU/O PRAISE THE NAME/DOXOLOGY

    Sermon

    Celebration

Revelation and Response

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Worship is more than a song, more than a period of time on a Sunday morning, more than the exclusive act of musicians. Worship is a rhythm of revelation and response. And we see this rhythm all throughout Scripture – people going about their normal lives, then God breaks in reveals Himself and everything changes:

Noah – a man who found favor.


Abraham – a pagan called out to be a blessing


Joseph – a not so self-aware little brother who God used for the provision and protection of many – setting the stage for a rescue and redemption for God’s people after 400 years of captivity.


Moses – a runaway called by God back to His people to lead them out of captivity and toward the promised land.


Rahab – a prostitute turned believer, and protector for God’s people.

Hannah – a mother who gladly gives back to God the child her heart desperately desires.


David – a boy called from the sheep field to shepherd and lead God’s people
Isaiah – a prophet who sees God, and is joyfully sent to proclaim

John the Baptist – set apart from before birth to make straight the path to Christ


Mary – a teenage girl who’s response was ‘let it be done to me as you have said.’

Joseph – a man whose plan for a quiet life was interrupted to become the adopted earthly Father of Jesus
Zacheus – a tax collector and crook, in repentance became generous

A woman at a well – completely seen, completely known, completely accepted, completely loved

The sick, the lame, the demon-posed, the blind, the cast-offs, the least of these, the little children, the poor, the sinners – all finding their wholeness when God meets them.


Saul turned Paul – a murderer of Christians, and the instrument of God to take the Gospel to the gentiles.

Let’s plan and prepare. Let’s give our people words and songs that reveal the heart and character of God. Let’s be expectant that God will move and reveal Himself, and that everything will change.

August 9: Tuesday Refocus

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“Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness.” - Dallas Willard

The more we fill our lives, the emptier they become.

The more we empty our lives, the richer they become.

Solitude may seem the opposite of what we want, but it makes space for that which we truly need. But this is life in the upside-down kingdom of God. It is a Kingdom where Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that…

The poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven (v3).

Those that mourn will be comforted (v4).

The meek will inherit the earth (v5).

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied (v6).

The merciful will receive mercy (v7).

The pure in heart will see God (v8).

The peacemakers will be called sons of God (v9).

Blessing, rejoicing, and gladness accompany the heavenly reward and kingdom of heaven for those who are persecuted and maligned for the sake of Christ (v10-12).

These are the principles of an upside-down kingdom. A kingdom where the last will be first, the first will be last (Matthew 20:16). A kingdom where to lose your life is to find your life (Matthew 16:25). A kingdom where the proud will be humbled, and the humble will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

Lord, may what is true of your kingdom be true of our lives. For Your glory, amen.

Amen,

AB

February 13: Liturgy + Set List

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  • BEFORE THE THRONE

    Call to Worship: Psalm 24

    Let there be no mistake, we gather to lift our eyes to the King of Glory. The One who made and sustains all things, who has pursued us with His goodness and mercy. Let’s sing together:

  • GOODNESS OF GOD

  • IN CHRIST ALONE

    Sermon: Joshua 5:13-6:27

    If we were honest, each of us desire to be our own king. And more than that, each of use desire all of the benefits of living in God’s kingdom while remaining king of our own lives. We want God’s justice enacted on those who have wronged us. We want to receive God’s goodness, kindness, grace, love, mercy and forgiveness, but we don’t want Jesus to be our King. Because if Jesus is king it means that you are not. Jesus is a king who disrobes himself of glory and majesty, steps into our world to pursue treasonous and rebellious sinners like you and me. Jesus is king and that is good news for you and me. Let’s sing:

  • GOD WITH US

  • REVIVE US AGAIN

May 18: Tuesday Refocus

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‘We want to avoid suffering, death, sin, ashes, but we live in a world crushed and broken and torn, a world God Himself visited to redeem.  We receive His poured-out life and, being allowed the high privilege of suffering with Him, may then pour ourselves out for others.’ - Elisabeth Elliot

Those who follow Christ live in His upside-down kingdom. 

In this kingdom… 

…it was the will of the Father to crush the Son (Isaiah 53:10).

…it was for the joy set before Christ that He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

…we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize, but in every way has been tempted as we, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

…the last will be first, and the first will be last (Matthew 20:16).

…enemies become friends (Romans 5:10).

…you must lose your life to find your life (Matthew 10:39).

…orphans become heirs (Romans 8:17).

…sharing in Christ’s suffering means sharing also in His glory (Romans 8:17).

…we have been loved first (1 John 4:19).

This upside-down kingdom of Christ extends to the world, as His followers live upside-down in the world.

God, forgive our contentment with living in the wrong Kingdom, in the wrong direction.  Christ, You have taken the lowest place, although you deserve the highest place.  Forgive us for thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought.  Turn us upside down in your Kingdom.  Amen.

Living,

AB

January 12: Tuesday Refocus

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‘Listen to me you who are poor: what is lacking to you if you have God?  Listen you who are rich: what do you possess if you do not have God?’ - Augustine

God’s economy does not work like the economy of the world:

You must lose your life to find your life (Matt 10:39).

The first will be last (Matt 20:16).

Humble yourself and He will exalt you (Jam 4:10).

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all of these things will be added (Matt 6:33).

Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you (Matt 5:44).

Outdo one another in showing honor (Rom 12:10).

When our world feels upside down, may it serve as a reminder that we are citizens of an upside-down Kingdom (Phil 3:20).  When we find ourselves lacking practically or financially, may it serve as a reminder of the One who was rich, but for our sake became poor, so that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).  When things go well, may it serve as a reminder that all is grace, and lift our eyes to the Giver of every good and perfect gift (Jam 1:17).

A few days into this new year, have already been overwhelming and anxiety-producing.  May our prayer echo the Psalmist: ‘Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Ps 73:25-26).’  Amen.

Let it be,

AB