June 14, 2020
It’s week two of this year’s Christ in the Psalms. We’ll be in Psalm 101. During every week of this series, an artist in our community creates a piece based out of the Psalm we’re studying on that particular Sunday. This week’s artwork for Psalm 101 is a digital design piece by Bruce Butler. See the piece and read about the art and the artist here! To see all Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces (they go back as far as Psalm 41!), click here.
We’re also excited to remind you about our Summer Prayer Practices: praying the psalms daily and prayer walking weekly. These are simple ways to give yourself to God (as opposed to other things!) this summer. Read more about those simple practices here!
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:
1. Read our text, Psalm 101.
A Psalm of David
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to You, O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will You come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.
Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
I will not endure.
I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.
No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
Morning by morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
from the city of the Lord.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t have Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 101:1:
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to You, O Lord, I will make music.
Goodness of God (Cash, Fielding, Ingram, Johnson, Johnson)
CONFESSION: Adapted from Thou, Dear God by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Our Holy Father, we confess the weakness of our lives.
We have often turned away from You to seek our own desires.
And often when we have done no evil,
we have undertaken nothing of good,
and so have been guilty of uselessness and neglect.
From this sin of idleness and indifference set us free.
Lead us into fruitful effort,
and deliver us from profitless lives.
We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 2:13–16
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Nothing But The Blood (Forever Mine) (Robert Lowry, John Petterson addl. verses Joel Limpic) / Jesus What A Savior (Kirby Kaple)
PASSING THE PEACE
(Click to Read)
When we’ve met as a large group on Sundays, we’ve always had a time of greeting one another after singing. Many churches call this time “passing the peace.” In some church traditions, one person will say to another, “The peace of Christ be with you” to which the other person responds, “And also with you.”
While potentially unfamiliar for some, we felt that “passing the peace” during greeting times at home could be a powerful act in this age marked by very little external peace. In Isaiah 9, Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace. He wants His kingdom to be marked by this very peace! We want to “pass” to one another this peace that only Jesus can give, especially at a time like this.
It might feel a bit cheesy, but we encourage you to actually pray the peace of God over each other during our times. We encourage you to look into each other’s eyes as you say, “The peace of Christ be with you!” and have others respond with, “And also with you.” Be open-hearted to Jesus, asking Him to fill you with His peace.
SERMON & COMMUNION
Give Us Clean Hands (Charlie Hall) / Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)