This is a weekly blog post with one purpose: to help those coming to Park’s Sunday gathering engage with the teaching and liturgy in a more meaningful way. We use this space to share in advance our Sunday’s liturgy: the scripture we’ll be studying, the songs we’ll be singing, and the prayers we’ll be praying together. We also share a handful of thoughts each week to help you use these things to prepare for the service.
At Park Church this Sunday, we’re in week 29 of The Book Of Acts: You Will Be My Witnesses. As you prepare for service, it may be helpful to read through the text and spend some time with the liturgy. We’ve prepared that for you below!
1. Read through our text, Acts 17:16–34.
In Athens, the culture was such that its people “would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” What they heard from Paul was indeed “new” to them in some ways, but perhaps the most interesting news was something they already knew by their own writers, that “we are indeed His offspring.”
What does this mean? Image-bearing men and women, created by His hands, “ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” For as many false gods as there were in Athens, the Divine Himself had come as a man, and we know Him because we are made by Him in His image. What else do we know? This Man, Jesus, comes again to judge mankind in righteousness, a truth firmly assured by His defeat of death; His glorious resurrection.
2. Read, pray and sing through the service in advance:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 148:1–6
All Creatures Of Our God And King (William Henry Draper, St. Francis of Assisi)
Beautiful (Phil Wickham)
CONFESSION OF SIN: by Daniel T. Benedict and Taylor Burton-Edwards
Before the heavens, let us confess our sin:
Our hearts are far from You, O God.
The glitter of our culture beguiles us,
the things we can buy fascinate us.
Our cisterns are dry and we are thirsty.
We have forgotten Your mercies,
and failed to rehearse Your mighty deeds.
Our cisterns are dry and we are thirsty.
We have exchanged living in grace
for living in our own strength and wisdom.
We have resisted using the means of grace.
We stumble and grope for what does not satisfy.
Our cisterns are dry and we are thirsty.
Forgive us.
Restore to us the living water
flowing over us, and in us, and through us in our baptism.
Restore to us the joy of Your salvation.
Our cisterns are dry and we are thirsty.
Have mercy on us and renew us, Fountain of Life.
Yet Even Now (Joel Limpic)
Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Corinthians 15:20–22
SERMON & COMMUNION
Forever Reign (Morgan Reuben, Jason Ingram)
King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
BENEDICTION & SENDING
We gathered with Fellowship Denver on Friday, April 14 to remember the death of Christ. That following Sunday, we celebrated as all the powers of hell gave way to the power of Jesus as He defeated death forever, rising again.
These events are critical for us. The death of Christ was atonement for our sin against Him. His suffering takes place in place of ours. His seperation from the Father on that cross prevents us from ever being separated from the Father. Likewise, His resurrection is our proof that, just as He rose, so shall we who are in Christ. Just as we sing in the Easter Hymn Christ The Lord is Risen Today, “Made like Him, like Him we rise; ours the cross, the grave, the skies.”
Photos by Alex Priebe, video by Sam Ryan:
This is a weekly blog post with one purpose: to help those coming to Park’s Sunday gathering engage with the teaching and liturgy in a more meaningful way. We use this space to share in advance our Sunday’s liturgy: the scripture we’ll be studying, the songs we’ll be singing, and the prayers we’ll be praying together. We also share a handful of thoughts each week to help you use these things to prepare for the service.
This Sunday we return to The Book of Acts: You Will Be My Witnesses. It’s week 28 of the series. To help prepare for service, here are a couple things to consider doing:
1. Read through our text, Acts 17:1–15.
The Gospel flips the world on its head. It reverses the effects of the curse. It creates an upside-down kingdom that confronts the cultural and social norms of everyday life.2. Read, pray and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 93:1–4
Rejoice The Lord Is King (Charles Wesley, Joel Limpic) I Love You Lord (Laurie Klien) Crown Him (Majesty) (Bridges, Cash, Elvey, Maher, Thring and Tomlin)CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook
Eternal God, you do not change.
You have revealed yourself to us in Your Word.
You call us to worship You in spirit and in truth.
But we confess that we often worship
not Your true self but who we wish You to be.
We too often ask You to bless what we do
rather than seeking to do what You bless.
Forgive us for seeking concessions
when we should be seeking guidance.
Forgive us when our worship shapes You into what we want
instead of shaping us into what You want.
Help us to meet You here, that we might bow
before Your unspeakable majesty
and so live for You now and ever, in Christ.
Amen.
Your Name Is Good (Psalm 54) (Joel Limpic, Scott Mills)
Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Corinthians 15:54–57
SERMON
Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery (Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, Michael Bleecker) Jesus Is Better (Aaron Ivey)BENEDICTION & SENDING
This is a weekly blog post with one purpose: to help those coming to Park’s Sunday gathering engage with the teaching and liturgy in a more meaningful way. We use this space to share in advance our Sunday’s liturgy: the scripture we’ll be studying, the songs we’ll be singing, and the prayers we’ll be praying together. We also share a handful of thoughts each week to help you use these things to prepare for the service.
This Sunday is Easter Sunday, and we’re excited to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with you. Here are a couple ways to prepare for our service together:
1. Read through our text, 1 Corinthians 15:1–8.
What is of first importance to those of us who are in Christ? “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared…”
2. Read, pray and sing through the service.
PROCESSIONAL: Songs played as we proceed inside after baptisms:
Roll Away The Stone (Latifah Alattas, David Wilton)
Oh Happy Day (Tore Wilhelm Aas)
Christ The Lord Is Risen Today (Charles Wesley)
Because He Lives (Bill Gaither)
CALL TO WORSHIP: From The Worship Sourcebook:
This is the good news—the grave is empty;
Christ is risen. Hallelujah!
This is the good news—the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never put it out. Hallelujah!
This is the good news—once we were no people;
now we are God’s people. Hallelujah!
Christ is our peace, the indestructible peace
we now share with each other. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
This Is Amazing Grace (Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle, Phil Wickham)
Forever (Gifford, Jobe, Johnson, Johnson, Taylor, Wilson)
Up From The Grave He Arose (Robert Lowry)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook
Almighty God, you have raised Jesus from the grave
and crowned him Lord of all.
We confess that we have not bowed before him
or acknowledged his rule in our lives.
We have gone along with the way of the world and failed to give him glory.
Forgive us and raise us from sin,
that we may be your faithful people,
obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who rules the world and is head of the church, his body.
Amen.
Seas Of Crimson (Johnson, Bashta, Taylor)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristian Stanfill)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Peter 1:3–5
SERMON
In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)
BENEDICTION & SENDING
Our artwork for Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday) were done by Bruce Butler. Bruce is usually seen at Park Church either co-leading his Gospel Community or playing electric guitar as we worship through singing. However, by trade he’s a graphic designer and he agreed to work with us to illustrate these three critical days in our Christian Calendar year. Read the following, written by Bruce, to learn more about the artist and his art.
Who I am
I am a graphic designer and musician from the East Coast. In 2012, I moved to Denver from Buffalo, New York to be closer to family and began designing for WorldVenture, a missions organization in Littleton, CO. I’m currently designing for Olsson Associates, a civil engineering consulting firm in Golden. I co-lead a Gospel Community near Sloans Lake and, in my free time, I enjoy playing music, cooking with friends, and spending time with my nieces and nephew. You can see more of my work by following me on Instagram at @madebybruce or visit madebybruce.com.Piece
Biblically, the word “hand” represents an ownership, power, or control yielded by its owner. In each of the pieces, I used this “hand” imagery to illustrate humanity’s role in Holy Week, as well as the underlying tone of each day. The trapezoid is meant to represent a triangle with one side missing, highlighting one of the most overwhelming aspects of Easter: that Jesus not only stepped out of the infinite to become man, but that on the cross He chose to break eternal communion with the Trinity to take on the wrath of God that we deserved. For Palm Sunday, Jesus was ushered in to shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9) with the waving of palm branches. But this celebration was the beginning of a storm brewing. By the end of this week, these same people were calling for His blood. The hand waving the branch represents the world—and even the Church—often worshipping who we want God to be, and not whom He has revealed Himself to be. For Good Friday, we are reminded that our redemption came at a great cost. The storm that had started earlier that week erupted on Friday. After having been seized, beaten, and given a rigged trial the previous night, Jesus willingly continued his walk to the cross. Without getting into the gory details, flogging was a barbaric act that most victims didn’t survive. Though it was not the hands of the religious leaders holding the whips, when the crowd chose to release Barabbas and crucify Christ, their ownership in Christ’s death was stamped over the whole event. And lastly and most importantly, with Easter we celebrate that He’s alive; that despite our misplaced worship and rebellion, He used His ownership, power, and control to run after us and pay the debt we owe. The storm has been broken up by the light. In seeing Jesus’ open, nail-scarred hand we are reminded that we play no part in earning our place before God, but it is offered as a gift. Click on an image below to enlarge.Process
When asked to create this piece, it was a bit daunting knowing this is the event that is the culmination of our beliefs as well as something millions try to artistically reinvent yearly. The idea of it being based on hands and ownership came before choosing which style I would attempt. Because of the “grittiness” of Easter week, I decided to lean more towards a textured, illustrated style. Though I usually favor more digital art, I was inspired by artists like Dave Quiggle and Sam Larson to broaden my technique and include vivid colors, textures, outlined strokes, and hand drawn techniques like stippling. I started in Adobe Illustrator, making thin templates for the branch, hands, and whip, and printed them. I then added the detail in pen and also did an entire page of just clouds and lightning. I imported these into Photoshop by taking a picture with my phone and erasing the background white layer.
The rest was done in photoshop using several textures.
Click on an image below to enlarge.
On Friday night, we will gather together with Fellowship Denver for joint Good Friday services, remembering the death of Jesus Christ. We call this Friday “good” becuase of what Jesus’ death means for the redemption of the world. As you prepare for this service, consider reading, praying, and even singing through it in advance:
Order of Service
When I Survey (Issac Watts)
READING ONE: John 18:1—12
Rock of Ages (Augustus Toplady)
Nothing But The Blood (Robert Lowry)
READING TWO: John 18:13—19:16a
Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery (Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, Michael Bleecker)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristian Stanfill)
READING THREE: John 19:16b—30
How Marvelous (I Stand Amazed) (Charles H. Gabriel)
In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)
READING FOUR: John 19:31—42
HOMILY & COMMUNION
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