The Cross

16 June: Liturgy + Set List

  • FOREVER NOW A CROWN

    Call to Worship

  • CREATOR

  • ALL HAIL KING JESUS/I LOVE YOU LORD

There are three persons in one God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And of all of those titles, perhaps the one that can feel most complicated to us is Father. Because part of living in a fallen and broken world is that even the things intended for our good and flourishing - like fathers - have been distorted, warped, and broken by sin. But if you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you have a Heavenly Father who has never been distorted, warped, or broken by sin. And so as we continue in worship, I am going to read a prayer that shows some of the heart and character of our Father that we see in Scripture:

God, You are our Father

We are the sheep of Your pasture

The work of Your hand

You have loved us with an everlasting love

You have welcomed us into Your family

We are Your dearly loved children

Nothing can separate us from Your love

You discipline those You love

Your anger is for a moment,

But Your favor lasts a lifetime

You have called us by name, we are Yours

You know us for You have made us

You have shown us Your love in sending Your Son

Nothing is hidden from You

You quiet us with Your love

And You delight over us with singing

You comfort us in our distress

You are the giver of every good and perfect gift

No good thing do you withhold

See what kind of love the Father has given

That we should be called children of God,

And so we are

From Is 64:8, Ps 100:3, Ephesians 5:1, Heb 31:3, Eph 1:5, Rom 8:38-39, Pr 3:12, Ps 30:5, Is 43:1, Rom 4:8, Heb 4:13, Zeph 3:17, Ps 86:7, Jam 1:17, Ps 84:11, 1 Jn 3:1

Sermon: 1 Peter 1:10-12

If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you will never move on or past the cross. We only ever move deeper into our understanding of what God has accomplished through Christ. We only ever grow in our awareness of our need for a Savior, and deeper in our affection for Christ. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to lift our eyes to behold the our suffering servant Savior, would you stand if you’re able…

  • SON OF SUFFERING

  • GOD, YOU’RE SO GOOD

    Benediction

13 February: Tuesday Refocus

in

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”- John 13:1-5

“…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Jesus is both servant and savior. Not one or the other, but both at once. This has always been true of His identity even before he took on flesh and stepped into the world. We behold the servant savior with piercing clarity at the cross. But even in the waning hours before the cross, Jesus continues to serve His disciples - a meal, praying for them, sharing with them, and washing their feet. The One who empties himself by taking on the form of a servant performs the act of the lowliest servant - stooping to washing the feet of the cowardly and fearful, the deniers and the betrayer.

Father, on the eve of this Lenten season, may we behold the servant savior with piercing clarity. In Jesus name, amen.

Beholding,

AB