Guide for Home Worship
May 3, 2020

The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday. To access the recorded songs and sermon, use the embedded audio players in each section.

Please note: the song and sermon audio may not be available until Saturday evening.

Printable Worship Guide
Printable Children’s Bulletin

New to Christ Restoration?

Time of Reflection

“Envy is an ulcer of the soul.”

~Socrates, Greek philosopher (470-399BC)

“But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.”

~Book of Wisdom 2:24 (an influential Jewish text from the 1st century BC)

“It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.”

~Walter Lippmann, American political commentator (1889-1974)

“The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.”

~Napoleon Bonaparte, (a rather short) French emperor (1769-1821)

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”

~Miles Kington, British journalist and musician (1941-2008)

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

~Bertrand Russell, British philosopher (1872-1970)

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

~Proverbs 9:10

“Out in the cold
And tryin’ to make fire
Two sticks and stone
Still got no fire

Once I was shown
But I was inside then
And spit on that good advice

Wisdom, wisdom
Where can I get some?
Wisdom, wisdom”

~Mother Mother, Canadian Rock Band (2005-present)

Opening Prayer

(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)

Call to Worship

Psalm 90 (ESV)

LEADER: Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

CONGREGATION: Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

LEADER: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

CONGREGATION: Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.

LEADER: Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

CONGREGATION: Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Songs and Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)

COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING
(Robert Robinson & Asahel Nettleton, 1757)

Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine “Ebenezer”;
Hither by Thy help I come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure;
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.

Oh that day when freed from sinning
I shall see Thy lovely face
Full arrayed in blood-washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry
Bring Thy promises to pass
For I know Thy pow’r will keep me
Till I’m home with Thee at last.
^{PUBLIC DOMAIN}

RESPONSIVE READING: 1 Peter 2 (ESV)

LEADER: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

CONGREGATION: Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

LEADER: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

CONGREGATION: For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

LEADER: So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

CONGREGATION: And “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

LEADER: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

CONGREGATION: Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

LEADER: Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

CONGREGATION: Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US
(Stuart Townend)

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss.
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
No gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.
^{©1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) CCLI#1791178}

Sharing

(as a lead into the Prayer Time, as a group share how you are feeling and what you are learning; below are suggested questions)

• What are you learning about life/God lately?
• What do you want to pray for this week?
• What fears are you experiencing with this pandemic?

Prayer Time

(have an open time of prayer, appoint one or two to pray, or pray the printed prayer below)

Our Heavenly Father,

You have made us and you sustain us. In our time of trouble, we look to you and ask for your mercy and grace. We ask that you would provide for our daily needs, and especially have mercy on those who are suffering loss, and those who are bearing greater burdens in the course of the pandemic. We pray for strength and health, and ask for wisdom. We pray that you would guide those in authority and give them wisdom so that they might act justly, graciously, and effectively for the sake of our community

We pray for peace in our country and in our world, and for deliverance from both disease and fear. We pray that you would give us wisdom as we strive to better love the church, our families, and our community. Would you draw near to us, and give us the peace of your presence. Make us more like Jesus Christ, the wisdom and word of God made flesh. Thank you for your care for us! We rejoice in the grace that comes to us through Jesus and pray that you would be glorified in and through us. We ask this in Christ’s name.

Amen.

Listen to Sermon

“A Wisdom that Comes down from Above”
preached by Lindsay Whaley
Download

James 3:3-4:12 (ESV)

James 3

³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵ This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 4

¹ What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹¹ Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Confession of Faith

adapted from 1 Corinthians 1

LEADER: Christian, what is true wisdom?

CONGREGATION: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. And because of God, believers are in Christ Jesus. He became for us wisdom from God. His our righteousness. He is our sanctification. He is our redemption.

Sharing Time

(have everyone share one thing that struck them from the sermon)

Song

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions) 

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD
(Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, Jesse Reeves)

The splendor of the King,
Clothed in majesty.
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide,
And trembles at His voice,
And trembles at His voice.

CHORUS:
How great is our God!
Sing with me,
How great is our God!
And all will see how great,
How great is our God!

Age to age He stands,
And time is in His hands,
Beginning and the End,
Beginning and the End,
The Godhead three in one:
Father, Spirit, Son,
The Lion and the Lamb,
The Lion and the Lamb.
(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:
Name above all names,
Worthy of all praise,
My heart will sing
How great is our God!
^{©2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) CCLI License #1791178}

Closing prayer

(select someone to close your time in prayer)

Benediction

(The leader or individual should read this aloud relishing in the confident assertion that Christ has conquered.)

LEADER: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

PEOPLE: Amen! May it be to us according to the Word of God!

Closing prayer

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