Guide for Home Worship

September 6, 2020

Welcome

Thank you so much for joining us! The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday.

If you are new, welcome! We also want to invite you to learn more about us. You can do so by selecting the button below.
A few tips for parents:
  • Plan for your time – read through the guide and prepare the room where you are gathering
  • Make your time joyful – have fun!!!
  • Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
  • Have your kids participate in age and maturity appropriate ways – reading, singing, etc.

Time of Reflection

“God created the world to provide a spouse and a kingdom for His Son: and the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, and the spiritual marriage of the spouse to Him, is what the whole creation labours and travails in pain to bring to pass.”
~ Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), American preacher

“We love him, because he first loved us.”
~ 1 John 4:19

“We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.”
~ Brennan Manning (1934-2013),  American author, former priest, and public speaker

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a sunhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the son shines on it.”
~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), British writer and theologian

“And what a comfort is this, that, seeing God’s love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ!”
~ Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), The Bruised Reed

“When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.”
~ Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian

“To love God with heart and soul and mind and strength… is the first and greatest commandment, so the first and greatest sin is not to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength. For this there is no remedy, save what God himself has provided—in love.”
~ D.A. Carson, Professor of New Testament

Opening Prayer

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

Call to Worship

Psalm 100 (NIV)

LEADER: Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God.

CONGREGATION: It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

LEADER: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

CONGREGATION: For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Songs & Liturgy

(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION
(John Rippon, Joseph Funk, 1787)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy trouble to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame will not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose.
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!
PUBLIC DOMAIN
RESPONSIVE READING
Psalm 33:12-22 (NIV)

LEADER: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

CONGREGATION: From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;

LEADER: From his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—

CONGREGATION: He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

LEADER: No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.

CONGREGATION: A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.


LEADER: But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

CONGREGATION: To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

LEADER: We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

CONGREGATION: In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

LEADER: May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
AMAZING GRACE
(John Newton, 1779)
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.
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)

Prayer Time

(You may have an open time of prayer or select someone to pray)

  • Pray for our nation – that the good news of Jesus Christ would draw people to know God genuinely and personally.
  • Pray for those suffering from the ongoing spread of the coronavirus.
  • Pray for those experiencing racial injustices; specifically, that God would bring hope, reconciliation, and restoration through the good news of His Son.
  • Pray for those in authority at every level in our country, that they would govern wisely and justly.

Listen to Sermon

“A Song of Love”
preached by Pastor Chris Audino

Confession of Faith

1 John 4:9-11

LEADER: By this the love of God was manifested among us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

CONGREGATION: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

LEADER: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

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)
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

Benediction

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

Luke 12:29-32

LEADER: Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

PEOPLE: Amen!