Guide for Home Worship
April 26, 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
Time of Reflection
“Talking is the most dangerous thing people do, especially when they are stressed, and listening is the most infrequent thing people do, especially when they are stressed.”
~ Harville Hendrix (1935-present), author, speaker, clinical trainer and couples therapist, discussing the impact of Covid-19 on relationships
“I do believe that words…go into the body, as effect. So they cause us to be well and hopeful and high energy and wondrous and funny and cheerful. Or they can…get into the body and cause us to be sullen and sour and depressed and, finally sick.”
~ Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist
“That non-bony, flappable instrument between our bicuspids can be an instrument of tremendous good or cataclysmic destruction. It can be used to build people up in the faith or to destroy their hard-earned reputations. It can help bring about peace among nations or can start a war.”
~ Curtis Thomas, author and retired pastor
“I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.”
~ John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation
“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, and philologist
“Words are not in the power of men; men are in the power of words.”
~ Hermann Bahr (1863-1934), Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic
“Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.”
~ Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian
Opening Prayer
(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)
Call to Worship
Psalm 119:9-16 (ESV)
LEADER: How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
PEOPLE: With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
LEADER: I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
PEOPLE: Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
LEADER: With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
PEOPLE: In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
LEADER: I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
ALL: I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Songs and Liturgy
(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
O COME TO THE ALTAR
(Chris Brown, Mack Brocken, Steven Furtick, Wade Joye)
Are you hurting and broken within?
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling.
Have you come to the end of yourself?
Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling.
CHORUS:
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide.
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes.
Come today, there’s no reason to wait.
Jesus is calling.
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy.
From the ashes, a new life is born,
Jesus is calling.
(CHORUS)
BRIDGE:
Oh, what a Savior,
Isn’t He wonderful?
Sing Hallelujah, Christ is risen.
Bow down before Him,
For He is Lord of all.
Sing Hallelujah, Christ is risen.
(CHORUS)
Bear your cross as you wait for the crown,
Tell the world of the treasure you found.
©2015 Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC) CCLI #1791178
RESPONSIVE READING: Ephesians 1 (ESV)
LEADER: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
PEOPLE: Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
LEADER: In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
PEOPLE: To the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
LEADER: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose
PEOPLE: Which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
LEADER: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
PEOPLE: So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
LEADER: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
ALL: who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
(Horatio G. Spafford & Philip P. Bliss, 1873)
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.
My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll:
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
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)
- How has “communication” been difficult for you during this current pandemic?
- In what areas of life, or in what relationships would you like to be growing in “life-giving communication”?
- In what ways could you stand to be growing in your communication with God (time spent in His Word and in prayer)?
Prayer Time
(have an open time of prayer or appoint one or two to pray)
- Confess your sins and struggles as God leads.
- Spend some time praying for relational perseverance and flourishing among the many relationships represented within our church.
- Share words of praise and gratitude to God (Heb. 13:15).
Listen to Sermon
“A Faith That Works Through Life-Giving Communication”
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
Download
James 1:26, 3:2, 7-10; Proverbs 15:1-2, 4; 16:24; 18:21a (NIV)
James 1
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
James 3
2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check…
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Proverbs 15
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly…
4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 16
24 Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 18
21 The tongue has the power of life and death…
Confession of Faith
adapted from John 1:1-5
LEADER: What do you believe about the Gospel of Jesus?
CONGREGATION: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not been able to stop it.
Sharing Time
(have everyone share one thing that struck them from the sermon)
Song
(sing as a group or sing along to recorded versions)
WE WILL FEAST IN THE HOUSE OF ZION
(Joshua Moore, Sandra McCracken)
(CHORUS)
We will feast in the house of Zion.
We will sing with our hearts restored.
He has done great things, we will say together.
We will feast and weep no more.
We will not be burned by the fire.
He is the Lord our God.
We are not consumed by the flood.
Upheld, protected, gathered up.
(CHORUS)
In the dark of night before the dawn,
My soul be not afraid.
For the promised morning oh how long?
Oh God of Jacob, be my strength.
(CHORUS)
Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed,
You are the faithful one.
And from the garden to the grave,
Bind us together bring shalom.
(CHORUS)
©2015 Drink Your Tea Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.) CCLI License #1791178