We’re back to Exodus for week 13 of the series. As a refresher, the book of Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.
This is also the second week of Eastertide (Easter was week one!). What’s Eastertide? The Worship Sourcebook says it this way: “Because the good news of Easter can hardly be contained in a single day’s celebration, Easter is only the first of 50 days of Eastertide, the “Great 50 Days” that lead up to Pentecost. This season is designed for extended celebration, for exploring the ramifications of Easter for the redemption of all creation, and for joyful Christian living.” We’re excited to lean into Eastertide a little more heavily this year at Park Church. As a reminder, there are some fun resources for worship and prayer for every church season, including Eastertide, over at The Christian Year.
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park:
1. Read through our text, Exodus 12:1–32.
The plagues come to a sobering climax with a tenth plague of severe judgment—the death of all of the firstborn sons in Egypt. The Lord warned Pharaoh that He will come to strike down the firstborn sons in all of the land of Egypt as a judgment against Pharaoh’s evil tyranny, including Pharaoh’s own slaughter of the sons of Israel. Although the justice is severe, God gave a way of deliverance for those who trust in Him: He commanded His people to slaughter a spotless lamb, and to paint the doorposts of their homes with the blood of the lamb, and to prepare to leave Egypt. That night the Lord came to strike down the firstborn sons in Egypt, but when he saw the blood of the passover lamb, he did not allow the destroyer to enter the marked home. The firstborn sons in all of the land of Egypt died that night, but the Israelites were spared.
Finally, in the middle of the night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and demanded that they and the people of Israel leave Egypt. Right in the midst of this sobering story, the Lord gives the Israelites instructions for the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover meal as a commemoration of both the justice of God against human evil and the mercy of God through the substitutionary blood of the passover lamb.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: John 11:25–26, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):
To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!
Doxology (Amen) (Bourgeois, Ken, Owens, Wickham)
O Praise The Name (Anástasis) (Benjamin Hastings, Marty Sampson, Dean Ussher)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:
God of life and new birth,
we confess our own propensity to return to old sinful ways of living
that hurt us and those around us.
This includes ways of living and ways of thinking
that aren’t aligned with You or Your kingdom.
Please forgive us!
We are not our own; we belong to You.
God of glory,
fill Your church with the power
that flows from Christ’s resurrection
so that, in the midst of the sinful world,
it may signal the beginning of a renewed humanity,
risen to new life with Christ,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 2 Corinthians 5:21
Nothing But The Blood (Robert Lowry arr. Charlie Hall, Frontline Music)
GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION
Holy Spirit (Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt arr. Jesus Culture)
Before The Throne Of God (Charitie Lees Bancroft arr. Citizens & Saints)
VOCATIONAL COMMISSIONING: TECHNOLOGY
Your Labor Is Not In Vain (Wendell Kimbrough, Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach)
BENEDICTION
This Sunday is Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and death at His resurrection. It’s the hopes of the world realized in the completed work of Jesus. Here’s how you can prepare for our exuberant time together!
1. Read through our text, Matthew 28:1–10.
What do we do with the empty tomb? Though the response of the elders of the people was a conspiracy attempt to falsify the resurrection through a lie and a bribe, its historical reality is well-recorded and richly-realized in countless hearts as the Gospel fills the earth through God’s people. We see a clear choice emerge: excuse and reject Jesus’ resurrection or draw near to Him and worship!
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
GREETING, BAPTISMS, & PROCESSIONAL
Roll Away The Stone (Latifah Alattas, David Wilton)
Oh Happy Day (Philip Doddridge, Edwin Hawkins)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)
CALL TO WORSHIP: Matthew 28:1–6, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):
To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
To all who hunger and thirst for righteousness;
And to whomever will come:
This church opens wide her doors
wand offers her welcome in the name of Jesus Christ
Doxology (Amen) (Bourgeois, Ken, Owens, Wickham)
Up From The Grave He Arose (Robert Lowry arr. The Christian Year)
CONFESSION OF SIN:
Jesus, You said, “I am the resurrection and life,” and yet we constantly live as if life could be found apart from You. The brokenness we find in ourselves and in the world around us reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. Only You have the words of life. Only You can resurrect our dead hearts and lives. Please forgive our sin and waywardness that leads only to death, and guide us in the way everlasting. In Your powerful name, amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 2:4–7
Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive)
Living Hope (Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham)
SERMON
Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
BENEDICTION
This Friday, April 19 is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death. But why do we call this day “good,” of all things? When we consider the implications of Jesus’ death for the redemption of mankind, no word may be quite as effective as “good.”
Our Good Friday services will be at 5:30pm and 7pm, including scripture reading, singing, and a short message. Darkness is an important theme of the service both visually and artistically, and the service will end with communion and departure in silence. Why should you come to such a somber service? Thomas Watson writes, “Til sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” We encourage you to use this service to ponder the implications of sin and the good work of Jesus before we gather together again on Sunday for Easter—the sweet and night-crushing contrast. But first, here’s how you can prepare for Good Friday:
Read, pray, and sing through the service:
READING ONE: Matthew 26:36–56
Nothing But The Blood (Robert Lowry arr. Page CXVI)
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Townend, Charlie Hall arr. Chichi Agorom, The Christian Year)
READING TWO: Matthew 26:57–75
Psalm 22 (Joel Limpic arr. The Christian Year)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)
READING THREE: Matthew 27:1–31
Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)
READING FOUR: Matthew 27:32–66
HOMILY
COMMUNION
Person
Our artwork for Easter and Good Friday this year was done by Bruce Butler of Art /Rhetor. In addition to being a graphic designer and artist, Bruce co-leads a Gospel Community and often plays electric guitar at Park Church (and all around Denver). Most recently, Bruce has also joined the team at Sweet Bloom Coffee as a barista.
Piece
This piece aims to represent all that we celebrate on Easter. The white line coming in from the left represents Jesus entering into the sinful world in purity, as joined by the darker lines made from images signifying death. The left hand illustrates His work on Good Friday: the climax where all the consequences of our rebellion from God met in Jesus, were taken on by Him, and He died under the wrath of God and at the hands of sinful men.
Between the two hands, the darkness and hopelessness of the 3 days Jesus lay in the tomb is illustrated. For his followers, and I imagine for Satan himself, this time must have been a space where sin and death seemed like it had won. Though Jesus had foreshadowed His resurrection (John 2:19, etc.), the visceral reaction of seeing a close friend and leader you believed to be God incarnate viciously beaten and slain must have put the disciples in a state of deep pain and shock.
However, as we know, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, claiming victory over sin and death. Sin and death’s reign over humanity came to a conclusion at the work of Jesus’ still-pierced hands (John 20:27). Now the life of Jesus, experienced by those who physically met him hundreds of years ago, is a light still continuously shown and refracted, able to be experienced by all who put their faith in Him through the Holy Spirit. This is illustrated by the right hand, where on the other side of Jesus’ death was a radiant joyous life that flows forever.
Click the image below to enlarge.
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This week is Palm Sunday. We will be in our 12th week in the book of Exodus, discussing God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in this world.
Holy week continues after this Sunday with Good Friday services on Friday, April 19 at 5:30 and 7pm, and Easter services on Sunday, April 21 at 6:30, 8, 9:30, and 11am. Here’s how you can prepare for Palm Sunday this week:
1. Read through our text, Exodus 7:14–11:10.
In the midst of the series of plagues, a major theme begins to take shape—the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. As the first five plagues wreak havoc in Egypt, the text tells us that either “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (v.7:13, 14, 22; 8:19; 9:7) or that “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (v.8:15, 32). Pharaoh has chosen to harden his heart in opposition to the explicit warnings of God and the clear displays of His power. Then, throughout the last five plagues, we see that the Lord Himself “hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (v.10:1, 20, 27; 11:10, 14:8). Here we see the sovereign judgment of God, hardening the heart of Pharaoh to accomplish His own redemptive purposes. Taken as a whole, we find one of the mysterious tensions of the Bible: On the one hand, human beings are responsible and accountable for our actions, and at the same time, God is absolutely sovereign and nothing happens outside His sovereign purposes. Above all, God wields His sovereign purposes to judge rebellion and to redeem a people for His Kingdom.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Zechariah 9:9
All Creatures Of Our God And King (William Henry Draper, St. Francis of Assisi addl. verse by Sovereign Grace Music)
Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery (Michael Bleecker, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:
O Lord, who on this day entered the rebellious city that later rejected You,
we confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem’s,
that our faith is often more show than substance,
that our hearts are in need of cleansing.
Have mercy on us, Son of David, Savior of our lives.
Help us to lay at Your feet all that we have and all that we are,
trusting You to forgive what is sinful, to heal what is broken,
to welcome our praises, and to receive us as Your own. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 John 4:14–16
Reckless Love (Cory Asbury, Caleb Culver, Ran Jackson)
GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE, & COMMUNION
Crown Him (Majesty) (Bridges, Cash, Elvey, Maher, Thring, Tomlin)
Hosanna (Praise is Rising) (Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown)
BENEDICTION
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