ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
Call to Worship: Psalm 18:1-3
If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, your life is held secure regardless of circumstances because your life is hidden with Christ in God. We sing to our Rock and our Redeemer about who Jesus is, and what He has done:
WHAT YOU SAID
LAMB OF GOD
Sermon: Mark 9:33-50
If you start early enough, work hard enough, and spend as much time, energy, and effort to pursue greatness in the world, you just might get there. But every follower of Jesus can be great in God’s kingdom and economy when we - through the power of the Holy Spirit - pursue true humility and deep discipleship. Following after our Servant King. Let’s sing to Him together - would you stand if you’re able:
I STAND AMAZED
GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD
Benediction
Song
The Most Important Part Of The Gathering
What is the most important part of the worship gathering?
My Anglican friends would likely say the Eucharist.
My extroverted friends would likely say the time of fellowship.
My musical friends would likely say sung worship.
My worship-leading friends would likely say sung worship as well.
My reformed, gospel-centered friends would likely say the preached word of God.
Most pastors would likely say the sermon.
My charismatic friends would likely say what is unexpected, or surprising.
Whether we realize it or not, every portion of our corporate gatherings is formative. We are shaped in subtle and significant ways by years of repetition. What we emphasize, and where we place the most resources (time in the service, staff, money, etc) is likely what the churches we serve value most. But if everything portion of our gathering is retelling the gospel story, if every part of our gathering is intentionally placed to form our people, then each component has a role to play in the importance of our formation.
What is the most important part of the corporate gathering? It all is important.
30 July: Liturgy + Set List
ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING
Call to Worship: Psalm 19:8-14
This is my hope and prayer for you and me this morning - that our words and our hearts would be aligned. That we would sing of the things we have seen - that God is great, good, and kind. Let’s sing together:
GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD
KING OF KINGS
Sermon: Exodus 20:16
God created the world by His word - and sustains it by the Word of His power. When you and I speak, it is one of the most obvious ways we display that we bear the image of God. Scripture tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue, and confronts us with the reality that we use the same mouth to bless God and curse our brother. All words - those spoken aloud, and those uttered only in the quiet of our hearts and minds - all come from the overflow of our hearts. You and I do not merely need better control over our tongues, we need new hearts. And as we continue in worship we are going to use our words to confess our sin to God and one another, would you stand if you’re able:
Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [Book of Common Prayer]
ONLY A HOLY GOD
RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)
Benediction
Tuesday Refocus: July 18
“The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.” - Thomas Merton
It was for the joy set before Jesus, that He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The Author, Finisher, and Perfecter of our faith suffered, why would we believe that our lives would - or should - look any different?
Suffering feels unnatural because it was never intended to be a part of our world and our lives - and one-day suffering will cease to exist. But if we suffer with Christ as children and heirs, we will also be glorified with Christ (Romans 8:17)! Suffering feels unnatural in a world and culture of instant gratification. Suffering is counterintuitive because it says that there can be future joy, and eternal pleasures only in part today, but forever more on that day.
Father, may we experience Your comfort in our suffering? May we glimpse You joy now? Fill us with endurance, oh, Lord. In Your eternal and enduring name, amen.
Amen,
AB
Affirmations
Whether it is during baptisms, parent commissioning (child dedication), or affirming new elders, our church has been using consistent, repeated affirmations for these times of events in the life of our church. Why?
Although, we have classes, courses, and training for each of these aspects for baptismal candidates, families wanting to dedicate their children in church, and the role of elder - it is not something that every member, attendee, or visitor to our church understands. Affirmations are a way of helping instruct not just the people participating, but the whole Body in the meaning, purpose, and expectation for each of these celebrations in the life of our church. Some of these affirmations we have pulled from the historic church, some we piecemeal together, always there is an aspect of question and response from the candidate, and closing with question and response to the body of Christ.
BAPTISM AFFIRMATIONS
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to redeem the world, do you love and trust him as the one who saves you from your sin, and do you with repentance and joy embrace him as the Lord of your life?
I do.
Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, revealing Christ and his redemption?
I do.
Do you promise to do all you can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to strengthen your love and commitment to Christ by sharing faithfully in the life of the church, honoring and submitting to its authority; and do you join with the people of God in doing the work of the Lord everywhere?
I do.
Brothers and sisters, we now receive (NAME) into Christ’s church. Do you welcome (HER/HIM) in love, and do you promise to pray for, encourage, and help (HER/HIM) in the faith?
We do, God helping us.
ELDER AFFIRMATION VOWS
Do you reaffirm your faith in Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior?
Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God; totally trustworthy, fully inspirited by the Holy Spirit, the supreme, final, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice?
Do you acknowledge a call, so far as you know your own heart, to accept the office of elder, with a sincere desire to promote the Gospel?
Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in your promoting the truths of the Gospel and in protecting the unity and peace of the Church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise to you on that account?
Will you seek to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all your duties as an elder, whether personal or relative, private or public; and to endeavor by the grace of God to adorn the profession of the Gospel in your manner of life, and to walk with exemplary piety before this congregation?
Are you now willing to take responsibility in the life of this congregation as an elder, and will you seek to discharge your duties, relying upon the grace of God in a way that the entire Church of Jesus Christ will be blessed?
Elder Candidate: By God’s grace, I do.
To the congregation:
Do you affirm your confidence in the qualifications and calling of this man?
Do you resolve to love, encourage, and support his family, respecting them always as his first ministry priority?
Do you commit to fervent and regular prayer on behalf of all our elders, our staff, and the ministry of Life Church?
Congregation: By God’s grace, we do.
PARENT COMMISSIONING
Do you recognize that your child is a gift from God, and that you are responsible to train and instruct this child in the things of God?
We do.
Do you this day pledge as parents that you will teach God’s Word to your child and live out His Word in your home?
We do.
Do you commit to loving your child and teaching your child to obey God’s commands and the truths of Jesus Christ in your daily lives so that your child may know Him as Lord?
We do.
Do you commit to the local body of believers to seek accountability and teach your child to seek accountability within the church community?
We do.
Life Church, will you be faithful as brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage and support this family in their Christian walk as parents? Will you be faithful in praying for their children, that they will grow to love Christ and trust in Him?
We will.
4 June: Liturgy + Set List
GRACE ALONE
Call to Worship: Psalm 24
There is only one who has clean hands and a pure heart. There is only one who has never lifted up his soul to what is false and has not sworn deceitfully. There is only one who has continually constantly sought the face of God - and that is the God man, Jesus Christ. And if you’re here this morning as a follower of Christ, you are covered in the perfect and complete righteousness of Christ. And because of Christ we can respond lifting up clean hands, pure hearts, lifting up our souls, and seeking God because of Christ. Let’s look to Him together. Let’s sing together…
GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD
DOXOLOGY|AMEN
Sermon: Exodus 20:4-6
Repentance, turning away from our sin and turning toward Christ is not a one time act when you first become a follower of Christ. Repentance is the continually posture of heart as every follower of Jesus. And my hope and prayer for you and for me this morning is that God, through His Spirit has revealed to you the subtle and significant idols of our hearts. The places where you have exchanged the glory of the Creator, for created things. And if the Spirit is speaking to you, and revealing those things to you, that is God’s kindness toward you because it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. I am going to pray, and then we will pause for a few moments to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to reveal to you, and then together we will confess our sin to God and to one another. Let’s confess our sins to God and one another:
Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name.Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [Book of Common Prayer]
O PRAISE THE NAME (ANASTASIS)
HOW GREAT THOU ART
Benediction
21 May: Liturgy + Set List [Mill River]
Call to Worship: Psalm 40:5, 16-17
One of the things we do when we gather is recount the wondrous deeds of the Lord, not just sing those truths to God, but to one another. So I want to encourage you as we sing to hold in your heart and in your mind a specific example from this past week or month of the wondrous deeds of the Lord, and sing from that place. Sing in response to that truth to your brothers and sisters.
KING OF KINGS
JESUS PAID IT ALL
WHO YOU SAY I AM
Sermon: Galatians 1:13-24
Benediction
21 May: Liturgy + Set List
GOD SO LOVED
Call to Worship: Psalm 17:15
This verse follows a chapter where the Psalmist is crying out to God. Crying out to God for rescue from his pursuing enemies. Often we can think when we follow Jesus that our lives should be comfortable and easy, and what we see in this passage and throughout the Psalms, and throughout Scripture, and in the life of Jesus, obedience to God does not always mean my life will be easy or comfortable. What we really need is not different circumstances, what we really need is to behold the face of God, and live. To be satisfied with God and God alone. That is my hope and prayer for you and me this morning, that we would behold the Lord and live.
CHRIST BE MAGNIFIED
I STAND AMAZED (HOW MARVELOUS)
Sermon: Mark 8:1-21
The Apostles’ Creed
The Lord’s Supper
BEFORE THE THRONE
Benediction
Making Space for New Leaders [Part 2]
My hope last week was to give a vision for why we should make space for new leaders. This week I hope to give a few practical steps about how we might make space for new leaders.
There is a training rhythm that I have seen repeated often across social media, it goes something like this:
I do, you watch, we talk
I do, you join, we talk
We do, we talk
You do, I join, we talk
You do, I watch, we talk
I think this is a healthy rhythm for developing worship leaders as well. Because leading worship can be complex - in its preparation as well as its execution - you want to make sure that these categories are true in your preparation and planning, in your leading from the platform, and in the normal rhythms of serving.
Preparation and Planning.
How do you build a set list? How do you schedule a team? What is the philosophy of worship? The smallest amount of my job is the most visible portion of my job. When you're training and developing new worship leaders, they need to know the thought process behind your song choice, the conversations you’re having with the pastor, and the way you prepare personally, spiritually, and practically for a rehearsal and for the weekend. Sound doesn’t just get set up, lyrics don’t automatically appear on the screens, and the team leading can’t just show up without knowing what music is on for the service. Do not just show the what, but the how and why behind what leads you into the weekend. For many of us, this will likely mean we need to do some work to articulate our auto-pilot decisions.
On the platform.
Leading worship requires trust. Trust is only developed over time. I find it helpful to have new leaders face be familiar with the congregation from the platform before they are responsible for leading a song or a service. Have the new leader accompany you over a few weeks playing and singing. Then after several weeks of leading in that way, ask them to lead a song - or a Scripture reading, prayer, or verbal transition. As they settle into that new rhythm, and the congregation becomes familiar with their leadership, have them lead everything with you accompanying their leadership. And finally, allow them to lead on their own with you leading from the congregation.
Leadership happens on and off the platform. If we truly desire to disciple, equip, and train others to lead, we must give them access to our lives, and every aspect of our leadership - not just the obvious places. Invite questions, ask questions. Listen, be interested. Create a safe place for mistakes. Be gracious. Give away authority. Invite collaboration. Die to yourself.
30 April: Liturgy + Set List [Life Church]
HOW GREAT THOU ART
Call to Worship: Ephesians 2:1-10
If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, you can rest and rejoice in the saving and sustaining grace of God toward you. We are going about and from those truths this morning. This is a song that we have not sung together before, but may be familiar to you already…
ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST
YET NOT I, BUT THROUGH CHRIST IN ME
Sermon: Mark 7:1-23
Communion
The Apostles’ Creed
FORGIVEN FOREVER
Benediction
2 April: Liturgy + Set List
BE THOU MY VISION
Good morning Life Church and welcome to this first Sunday in Holy Week - Palm Sunday. A day when we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and how He was met with shouts of praise and worship. But we know that the events of Holy Week escalate and praise quickly turns to protest. It can be easy to stand on this side of the cross and wonder how people got it wrong. But truthfully, we can do the same. Happy to praise and worship the Lord when we feel like our lives are going to plan - but how quickly we move to protest, anger, and bitterness when we feel that God has done us wrong. But it is precisely because Jesus laid aside what was rightfully his that you and I never receive what is rightfully ours - death and hell. This is the wondrous mystery of Holy Week - let’s be reminded of who Jesus is and what He has done as God calls us to worship from His Word, this is from Philippians 2:
Call to Worship: Philippians 2:5-11
COME BEHOLD THE WONDROUS MYSTERY
ALL HAIL KING JESUS
Corporate Confession:
Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name.Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [From the Book of Common Prayer]
Sermon: Mark 6:14-29
GOODNESS OF GOD
ABIDE
Benediction
26 March: Liturgy + Set List
BEFORE THE THRONE
Call to Worship: Psalm 16:7-11
Welcome to worship on this fifth Sunday in Lent. I learned this week that Eastern Orthodox Christians call Lent the Season of Bright Sadness. It is bright because we know that the tomb is empty. It is sad because we know that it is our sin that Christ took upon Himself at the cross. The majority of the American Church is really good at the brightness - really good at the celebration. The majority of the American Church is not as good at sadness. We don’t like to sit in the loss, grief, lament, and mourning. But I think that is one of the gifts of the season of Lent to us - that we are forced not to rush the Resurrection. We spend these forty days considering our sins, confessing our sins, and repenting of our sins - looking ahead to the hope of the life of Christ. But truthfully, bright sadness is not just true of how we live during the season of Lent, but it is how we live every moment of our lives. Because we know that Jesus has defeated satan, sin, and death - but we still live in a fallen and broken world. We still feel the effects of sin in our lives. But we sit in this sadness knowing that there is a day coming when Christ will fully banish all darkness and sadness, and it will always, only, and forever be bright - because the Lord Himself will be our light. And this morning we’re going to teach you a new song that I think will help us acknowledge the bright sadness of this life, but also how we will respond on that day, and today. This is All Hail King Jesus - we’ll teach you the chorus first:
ALL HAIL KING JESUS
GREAT ARE YOU LORD
Sermon: Mark 6:1-13
Corporate Confession:
Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name.Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [From the Book of Common Prayer]
Communion
IS HE WORTHY
Benediction