April 28, 2019
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)