June 2, 2019

It’s week 18 of Exodus at Park Church, ending Part One of the series. As a brief refresher, the book of Exodus is about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

Exodus Part Two will begin early this fall, after Christ in the Psalms (our annual summer series, past sermons here) and a three-week series on our mission (also annual, listen here).

This is also the seventh and final Sunday of Eastertide, the season of 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory. These 50 days end next Saturday, June 8, and are followed by Pentecost Sunday on June 9. More on that in next week’s Preparing for Sunday! For now, here’s how to prepare for this week:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 19:1–25.

At last, the people of Israel arrive in the wilderness around Mount Sinai. This will be the setting of the rest of the book of Exodus, where the Lord will instruct the Israelites about what it means to be the chosen people of His Kingdom. Here, the Lord gives one of the most defining declarations about the identity and purpose of God’s people (19:4-6): He reminds them that the foundation of their identity is His grace in saving them from evil and reconciling them to Himself. Now, they are to trust and obey His voice as His treasured people so that they can mediate and reflect His holiness and glory to all the nations of the earth.

In this defining scene of Israel’s existence, the Lord descended on Mount Sinai with thunder and lightning, smoke and fire, a great trumpet blast, and His holy presence that made the whole mountain tremble. The Lord gave Moses specific instructions to protect the people from His Holy presence as they drew near to the foot of the mountain, and He invited Moses to meet with Him on the mountain where He would give them His Holy Law, teaching them about the way of life in His Kingdom.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: From Revelation 4:8, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):

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 whoever will come—
this church opens wide her doors
and offers her welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before The Throne of God (Charitie Lees Bancroft arr. The Modern Post)
Come Ye Sinners(Joseph Hart arr. Robbie Seay)

CONFESSION OF SIN: Psalm 51:1–2, 10–12

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ezekiel 36:25–26

Give Us Clean Hands (Charlie Hall)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION

O Come To The Altar (Brock, Brown, Furtick, and Joye)
Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Campus Outreach Baptisms

We’re grateful to work closely and share several staff members with Campus Outreach Denver. During the critically formative college years, Gospel voices make an enormous difference. On Sunday, May 19, Campus Outreach baptized four people at Park Church.

Since 2016, we’ve seen 61 people make decisions for Christ through the work of Campus Outreach at the University of Denver, the University of Northern Colorado, and Colorado School of mines. These decisions for Christ are in addition to countless Gospel conversations, Bible studies, retreats, and other organized outreaches. To learn more and explore supporting Campus Outreach Denver, visit their website here.

The photos above were taken by Melanie Fenwick.

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Commissioning Cristi Antholz

On Sunday, May 5, we commissioned Cristi Antholz as she leaves our church body for ministry and marriage in Scotland. She’ll be serving with her husband-to-be, Martin, at a ministry called 20Schemes, planting churches to engage with and serve Scotland’s poorest.

If you’d like to support them and the work they’re doing, click here and select “Martin Black” in the “Preference” dropdown menu.

Above are several photos from the commissioning, taken by Melanie Fenwick.

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May 26, 2019

This Sunday will be week 17 of Exodus at Park Church. Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also week six in the season of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. Learn more about Eastertide and see resources for worship and prayer over at The Christian Year, our artistic accompaniment to the church calendar.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 17:8–18:27.

Israel encountered their first battle when Amalek and his people came against them in the wilderness. Here we are introduced to Joshua, whom Moses appointed to lead the army of Israel. Even in battle, the Israelites will learn that the Lord is their strength. When Moses’ raised the staff of God is in the air, the Israelites prevailed, but when his arms grew weary and fell down, Amalek began to prevail. Aaron and Hur, two leaders of Israel, helped hold Moses’ arms in the air so that Joshua and the Israelites could eventually prevail over Amalek in victory.

They built an altar to commemorate the victory and named it, “Yahweh is my Banner.” Then Moses’ father in-law, Jethro, came from Midian bringing Moses’ wife and two sons to join Moses. Jethro advised Moses about how he could delegate aspects of leadership to others among the people who could help him shoulder the burden in a way that would be sustainable throughout their journey through the wilderness.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Zephaniah 3:16–17, 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!

Mighty to Save (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God(Matt Boswell, Charles Wesley)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

Our Father in heaven, we thank You that You have led us into the light.
We thank You for sending the Savior to call us from death to life. We confess that we were dead in sin before we heard his call,
but when we heard him, like Lazarus, we arose.
But, O Father, the grave clothes bind us still.
Old habits that we cannot throw off,
old customs that are so much a part of our lives
that we are helpless to live the new life that Christ calls us to live.

Give us strength, O Father, to break the bonds;
give us courage to live a new life in You;
give us faith to believe that with your help we cannot fail.
All this we ask in the name of the Savior
who has taught us to come to You. Amen.

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) (Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Salomon Ligthelm)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:35–39

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION

The Lord Is My Banner (Joel Limpic)

VOCATIONAL COMMISSIONING: BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Your Labor Is Not In Vain (Wendell Kimbrough, Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Park Kids Summer Changes

As we do every summer, we’ll be inviting elementary students to join adults for the entirety of service running Sunday, June 2 through Sunday, August 25. Here’s what you need to know:

CHILDREN AGES 0–5

No changes. Park Kids will still be available downstairs for children ages 0–5 at every service.

STUDENTS GRADES K–5

No Park Kids classes. Elementary students will join their extended church family for the entire service. Activity packets are available in the foyer, and include memory verses, coloring pages, and games. Additionally, elementary students will be engaged with during the messages and singing.

Why do we do this? First, it serves as a reminder to both students and adults that the Church is comprised of many age groups that make up the whole body. Too often, the children feel like a separate community instead of the critical demographic that they are. Second, keeping students in the service helps them see the example of their parents and parents’ friends worshiping Jesus together through singing, praying, and learning together. Lastly, the reduced number of classes each Sunday relieves the work load of our volunteers during the less-busy summer months. It’s a a great way for us to serve them and thank them for their work year-round.

With any questions, please contact kaitlin@parkchurchdenver.org.

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May 19, 2019

It’s our 16th week in the book of Exodus, a book about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also the fifth week of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. You can learn more and find some resources for Eastertide worship and prayer over at The Christian Year, our artistic accompaniment to the church calendar.

Here’s how you can prepare for Sunday:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 16:1–17:7.

Several weeks after the miraculous gift of water at Marah, the people resume their faithless grumbling, this time about food. They go as far as to say that it would have been better if they died by the hand of the Lord along with the Egyptians in Egypt than to be killed by hunger in the wilderness.

The Lord again responds to their distrust with miraculous provision, sending quail for meat in the evening, and “bread from heaven” (which they called “manna”) in the morning. He instructs them to gather the food in a way that will teach them about rhythms of work and rest and the nature of His daily provision. This manna would be their daily bread throughout their 40 years in the wilderness. Next they came to a place called Massah and Meribah, where yet again the people begin to fight and complain about a lack of water. Moses, exacerbated by their perpetual distrust and contentious attitude, turned to the Lord to ask Him what he should do. The Lord told Him that He Himself would stand before him and the elders on the rock at Horeb, and that Moses should strike the rock with His staff, and water will flow out of it for the people to drink. Moses trusted the Lord and the Lord provided water for His people.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: John 6:27, 32–35, 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!

Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) (Shane Barnard, Robert Robinson, John Wyeth)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From Every Season Prayers by Scotty Smith:

Dear heavenly Father, for calling us to life in Christ,
sealing us with Your Spirit, and making us Your beloved children,
we love and adore You.
Because the Gospel is true, our standing in grace is irreversible;
the riches of our inheritance are incomparable;
the glories of our future are inconceivable.
In gratitude and humility, we confess our sins to You.

We grieve the many expressions of our self-centeredness.
Forgive us for the ease with which we complain and grumble.
Forgive us for overspending on ourselves and under-sharing with others.
Forgive us for being generous with criticism and miserly with forgiveness.
Forgive us for crying “victim” more readily than we cry “Abba.”
Forgive us for preferring control over contrition.
Have mercy on us, Lord; have mercy on me.
In Jesus’ name, we make our prayer.
Amen.

Better (Pat Barrett, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin)
We Will Feast In The House Of Zion (Sandra McCracken, Joshua Moore)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Isaiah 53:4–6

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION

Is He Worthy (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive)
On Christ The Solid Rock (William Batchelder Bradbury and Edward Mote, arr. Austin Stone)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

May 12, 2019

We’re in our 15th week of Exodus. The book of Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also the fourth week of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. Learn more and find resources for Eastertide worship and prayer over at The Christian Year.

Lastly, our text this week includes the people of Israel’s celebration in “The Song of Moses.” We’ll share more about that in a second, but first wanted to invite you to Song of Moses, a worship night on Thursday, May 30 where we’ll learn and practice Biblical, physical expressions of worship. Learn more here.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park Church:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 15:1–27.

In response to all they had seen God do, Moses and the people of Israel sang what has been called “The Song of Moses” or “The Song of the Sea.” The song is a beautiful and emotional celebration of the Lord’s victory over their enemies and of the glory of His Kingdom. The Lord is a King who wields His power to judge the evil in His world, to mercifully save His people from evil, and to bring them into a land where He will dwell among them as their Lord and Redeemer.

As beautiful as this song of celebration is, the celebration doesn’t last long. Three days after they crossed the Red Sea, they were in a place called Marah, where the only available water was bitter and undrinkable. Immediately, the people reverted to their faithless grumbling, not believing that the Lord is sufficient to provide for them. Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord provided by making the bitter water sweet. God then calls them to trust in His voice and to obey His words, saying, “I am Yahweh, your Healer.”

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 98:1–3, 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!

In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

Gracious God,
our sins are too heavy to carry,
too real to hide,
and too deep to undo.
Forgive what our lips tremble to name,
what our hearts can no longer bear,
and what has become for us
a consuming fire of judgment.
Set us free from a past that we cannot change;
open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace
to grow more and more in Your likeness and image; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

Your Name Is Good (Joel Limpic, Scott Mills)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 1:3–4

Who You Say I Am (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION

Always (Jason Ingram, Kristian Stanfill)
Yes and Amen (Anthony Brown, Chris McClarney, Nate Moore)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday