Tuesday Refocus: February 14

“If reconciliation is God’s chief business, it is ours.” - E. Stanley Jones

It is easy to confuse love with a feeling. Certainly, love causes our hearts to feel in extremes - affection and affliction. But love is too large to be contained in our emotions - it moves out in our actions. Could there be a greater representation of love in action than reconciliation?

Webster defines reconciliation as ‘the action of reconciling: the state of being reconciled.’

This is what God has done for us in Christ: “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18

The love of God moves toward us in the reconciling work of Christ. And we respond by becoming people who are given the ministry of reconciliation. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We are to be reconcilers because we have first been reconciled to God.

Perhaps the most loving thing this Valentine’s Day is not romantic gestures, but acts of reconciliation. Terminating a debt. Choosing again in this moment to forgive a wrong. Repairing what has been broken.

God, we confess that all sin is first against You. Thank You for Your great forgiveness. Help us to be people of forgiveness and reconciliation in our world. Amen.

Reconciling,

AB

October 11: Tuesday Refocus

“A gospel of reconciliation can only be communicated by a reconciled community.” - E. Stanley Jones

The chasm between one sinful person and another sinful person will never be as eternal as the chasm between a sinful person and a Holy God. But thanks be to God, because in Christ ‘…all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him…” (Colossians 1:19-22).

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so (Psalm 107:2). We must remind ourselves of our own reconciliation to God. We must remind our brothers and sisters in Christ of the way God has reconciled us to Himself. And this reconciliation should be evidence to the world of the life and peace that is available in Christ.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Amen.

Reconciled,

AB

3 April: Liturgy + Set List

• YES AND AMEN

Welcome to this fifth Sunday of Lent. Let’s hear God call us to worship through His Word:

Call to Worship: Psalm 50

My hope and prayer in this season of Lent are that we are awakened afresh and anew to the deep darkness of our own sin and brokenness, and awakened afresh and anew to the glory of God and His grace and kindness toward us in and through the work of Jesus. Because of what Christ has done for you, you are adopted into the family of God, with God as your Father. If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, God is not apathetic or indifferent toward you, He is not distant or an acquaintance, you are an adopted and redeemed child of God. Not only has God reconciled Himself to us through Christ, but he has also reconciled us one to another. We were once enemies of God, we were once enemies of one another, now we are a part of the new family of God. Let’s celebrate those truths as brothers and sisters this morning.

• IS HE WORTHY

• MY JESUS I LOVE THEE

Sermon: Joshua 22

If we truly grasped the depth to which Christ descended to redeem us from our sin, how quick we would be to confess our sin to God, and to one another. How quick we would be to pursue one another in our wandering and sin, and walk together toward repentance and faith. All sin is first and foremost against God, but we also sin against one another. Your spiritual stuff is my spiritual stuff, my spiritual stuff is your spiritual stuff because we belong together as the family of God. So let’s practice our repentance and faith together, would you stand as we confess our sin to God and to one another.

Corporate Confession:

Almighty God, we confess how hard it is to be Your people. You have called us to be the church, to continue the mission of Jesus Christ to our lonely and confused world. Yet we acknowledge we are more apathetic than active, isolated than involved, callous than compassionate, obstinate than obedient, legalistic than loving.

Gracious Lord, have mercy upon us and forgive our sins. Remove the obstacles preventing us from being Your representatives to a broken world. Awaken our hearts to the promised gift of your indwelling Spirit. This we pray in Jesus’ powerful name. Amen.

[From the Worship Sourcebook]

Brothers and sisters, family of God, hear the good news: there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let your brothers and sisters in Christ be living markers of God’s faithfulness and redemptive work to you as His people.

• COME THOU FOUNT

• LION AND THE LAMB

Benediction: Romans 15:13

August 29: Set List + Liturgy

• THIS IS AMAZING GRACE

Call To Worship: Psalm 40:9-10

Part of the reason we gather is to remind one another about the saving work, the great deliverance of God, His steadfast love and faithfulness. We know these things in our minds, but often our lives do not reflect that we recognize these things are true. So when we sing, we sing to God, yes, but we also sing to one another reminding each other about the heart and character of our God. So lets sing to Him, and sing to one another.

• HIS MERCY IS MORE

• NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

Read + Pray in Response: Psalm 106:47

SERMON: Psalm 133

Relationships are hard work. We never drift toward unity or oneness - it is always hard fought. But the unity we see displayed in this passage, unity which commands a blessing, is not anything you and I can summon in our own strength and power. This unity is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in us, through us and among us. And I think part of walking with the Holy Spirit toward unity and oneness with one another is recognizing God has already crossed the greater divide to reconcile, to redeem, to unify sinful people to Himself - a Holy God. Maybe one of the reasons we see such division among Christ-followers is because we don’t actually believe that is true - we look at others and think ‘Yeah, God had to cross the greater divide for those sinners over there, but He didn’t really have to cross too great of a divide to reconcile this sinner right here.’ Brothers and sisters, that is a lie. We all stand in great need of the redeeming, reconciling, unifying work of God. And if God can be reconciled to sinful people, who are we to not work toward unity and oneness with our brothers and sisters. Let’s use the words of this song to recognize the redeeming, reconciling, unifying work of Christ on our behalf.

• COME BEHOLD THE WONDROUS MYSTERY

• YES AND AMEN