September 1, 2019

This week is our third and final week of this year’s Mission series, an annual overview of who we are and what we do as a church. This year, we’ve focused on a particular aspect of spiritual growth each week. This week’s topic will be spiritual disciplines—here’s how you can prepare:

1. Read through our text, Colossians 2:16–3:4.

Personal renewal precedes corporate renewal. Our longing for the Spirit to move through our church and city must be met with rhythms that actively orient individual lives around Christ. This is not dutiful moralism or the seeking of mere emotional highs, it is following the way of Jesus. Rejecting the cultural allurements of the inflated self and microwaved satisfaction, we instead seek after God: hearing from Him, speaking to Him, and enjoying His delightful presence. No great move of the Spirit has been absent these rhythms. And the invitation remains open for us to enter in.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 103:1–5, 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,
Welcome!

Be Thou My Vision (Mary Elizabeth Byrne, Eleanor Henrietta Hull, Reuben Kendall, arr. Ascend The Hill)
God I Look To You (Ian McIntosh, Jenn Johnson)

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.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Colossians 2:13–14

Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE, & COMMUNION

Set A Fire (Will Reagan)
Jesus Is Better (Aaron Ivey, Brett Land)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Psalm 99—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Danielle Damrell

Danielle Damrell is a local artist and small business owner. She started a custom art, design, and lettering company called Damrell Designs, LLC in November 2017. In the winter of 2018, she was the featured ornament calligrapher for Denver Zoo’s “Zoo Lights” and has designed and created over 500 custom projects for individuals and families throughout the country. When Danielle isn’t painting and designing she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and friends as often as possible. Danielle is passionate about Jesus, loving others well, and sharing about the transformational grace of what Christ has done in her life. Danielle is also a graduate student working on her degree in organizational leadership at Colorado Christian University, pursuing her long-time desire to serve in ministry someday. Danielle is currently working hard to continue to build her business and feels extremely blessed to turn her forever love of art into a career. You can connect with Danielle at danielle@damrelldesigns.com or on Facebook and Instagram at @DamrellDesignsLLC.

Piece: Mixed Media

This piece was inspired by Psalm 99. The overarching theme of this Psalm is praising the Lord for HE IS HOLY. To explain the relation of this piece to Psalm 99, we will start from the top and work down. The prominent gold crown in the top center is a representation of The Lord our “King” (v.4). Painted on the crown in small lettering is הוהי which is Hebrew for “Yahweh” or “The Lord.” The reason for the crown being a separate raised piece entirely serves as a visual representation of the Lord being exalted which Biblically means “to raise high” or “to elevate” (v.2,5,9). The angel wings on each side of the crown is a display of the description found in this Psalm of His royal throne (v.1).The gold found on the crown as well as raining down from the top is meant to show the “reign” of God from the source (His throne) as well as how that “reign” pours onto the rest of His creation (the world) (v. 1). Found in the middle of this piece are three mountains representing the trinity and the Throne of God sitting upon the highest “Holy Mountain” (v. 9). At the bottom of the mountains are shaky waves of darkness. This is a display of our fallen world shaking and trembling at the power and Holiness of our Lord and King (v. 1). At the very bottom, in the darkest parts of the painting, are small specks of gold representing all of us (believers) who display the glory and holiness of God who lives inside us, in this fallen world. The placement of these flakes of gold is intentionally at the very bottom, underneath the mountains, showing that we are to worship at “His footstool”; at the bottom of “His Holy mountain” (v. 5, 9). This is a hand-painted, mixed-media project in which acrylic paint, hot glue, extra heavy gel, and metal leaf were primarily used.

This piece was definitely my favorite piece I’ve ever created. I loved that, in order to design this, I had to take a deep dive into the Word of God and research what the original written words of this Psalm meant during the time it was written. I was challenged in the most amazing and growing ways by the Lord the entire time and for that I am so thankful.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork

August 25, 2019

It’s week two of three in this year’s Mission series, an annual discussion of who we are and what we do as a church. This year, we’ll focus each week on a particular aspect of spiritual growth. Here’s how you can prepare for this week and our discussion of the spiritual journey:

1. Read through our text, Matthew 28.

The resurrection of Jesus and the giving of the Great Commission mark the beginning of the “church age” as we know it. Jesus’ charge to us is one of faithful movement and action; persistent going, telling, and baptising.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP: Matthew 28:18–20, 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,
Welcome!

Doxology (Amen) (Bourgeois, Ken, Owens, Wickham addl. verses JD Raab)
Holy Spirit (Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt arr. Jesus Culture)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook

Lord, You have called us to worship You. We gladly gather!
As we praise You, though,
our own inadequacy reminds us
of how we have broken our relationship with You.
Because we have sinned against You,
even our worship fails to be what it could.
We often treat it as a show.
We simply go through motions,
failing to recognize that You want to engage us deeply.
Renew us, we pray, according to Your steadfast love.
Remind us of Your covenant faithfulness
and have mercy on us in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:31–34

Jesus What A Savior (Kirby Kaple)

GREETING, SERMON, BAPTISM, & COMMUNION

O Come To The Altar (Brock, Brown, Furtick, Joye)
Kids: Joshua 1:9 (John Petterson)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

August 18, 2019

It’s week one of this year’s Mission series, an annual discussion of who we are and what we do as a church. We’ll spend three weeks here, each focusing on an aspect of spiritual growth. Here’s how you can prepare for week one and our discussion of spiritual renewal:

1. Read through our text, Acts 1.

When Jesus departs after His resurrection, He tells His disciples to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the sending of the Spirit. What does this waiting look like for them? Reliance on Jesus through prayer: “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (v.14) We’re reminded that Jesus is the one who renews us and fills us with power by His spirit.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 36:5–9, 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,
Welcome!

Take A Moment (Will Reagan)
Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) (Shane Barnard, Robert Robinson, John Wyeth)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook

(Reader)
Wondrous God,
who sets suns and moons above us,
mountains and valleys beneath us,
and friends and strangers among us:
how often have we tried to hide from Your presence,
how seldom have we looked for your creating face and Your fashioning hand!

(Together)
Lord, have mercy upon us.

(Reader)
Wondrous God,
who took upon Yourself flesh of our flesh in Jesus our brother,
and being found in human form made the ultimate disclosure of Yourself in the face of Jesus Christ:
how often we have forgotten You,
how seldom have we really loved and followed You!

(Together)
Christ, have mercy upon us.

(Reader)
Wondrous God,
who pours out freely the Holy Spirit:
how often have we ignored Your promptings,
how seldom have we asked for Your help or accepted Your gifts!

(Together)
Lord, have mercy upon us. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:31–34

Seas Of Crimson (Johnson, Bashta, Taylor, Strand)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE

Set A Fire (Will Reagan)

COMMUNION

Open Space (Kirby Kaple, Rob Kaple)
Fall Afresh (Jeremy Riddle)

VOCATIONAL COMMISSIONING: TEACHERS

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

August 11, 2019

It’s our tenth and final week of this year’s Christ in the Psalms, our annual summer series where we work through the Psalms in order. The Psalms give us a vocabulary and a “hymnal” for relating to God through the full range of human experience and emotion, ultimately pointing us to Jesus.

As an additional way to engage with the Psalms, we’ve had a different artist in our community make a piece each week that we’ve displayed in the foyer. Our piece for Psalm 98 was done by Tower. Read more about that here. See and read about all past Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces here. Lastly, be sure to visit the side gallery (where you get coffee) each week to see all the originals for this year’s Christ in the Psalms series displayed together.

Here’s how you can prepare for our last week in the Psalms this Sunday:

1. Read through our text, Psalm 99.

Once again, the Psalms celebrate the God of justice. His forgiveness is adored, as the reader may expect, but even when the sins of His people (even Moses and Aaron) bring about His wrath, He is not scorned but reverently appreciated. We’re reminded that He is holy, that the earth is His footstool, and that His people are to tremble and exult in awe and affection.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 99:1–3, 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,
Welcome!

Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber, John Bacchus Dykes arr. Stephen Miler; addl. verse Justin Wainscott)
Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)

CONFESSION OF SIN: Adapted from The Worship Sourcebook

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy upon us.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.

Lord, forgive our sins.
Master, pardon our transgressions.
Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for your name’s sake.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 1:13–14

Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive arr. Shane & Shane)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION:

Victory Belongs To Jesus (Todd Dulaney)

STUDENT & PARENT COMMISSIONING

Be Thou My vision (Mary Elizabeth Byrne, Eleanor Henrietta Hull, Reuben Kendall, arr. Ascend The Hill)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Psalm 98—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Tower

I’m from Little Rock, Arkansas, and moved to Denver 2012.

Piece: Digital Artwork

The psalmist paints a picture of a world obsessed with joyfully praising the LORD. The diagonal fields of color suggest an energetic song of praise rising from the four corners of the earth. The righteousness and salvation of God is revealed in the sight of the nations, represented by the circle. The LORD continues to move His creation towards its ultimate destiny, when the world has been judged back into wholeness, the former things have passed away, and God is able to dwell with His people.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork