Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.
Person: Bruce Butler
I am a graphic designer and musician from the East Coast. In 2012, I moved to Denver from Buffalo, New York to be closer to family and began designing for WorldVenture, a missions organization. Now I am a barista at Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, design brands and digital artwork as a freelancer, and play guitar for Our Violet Room, Ivory Circle, and a few other bands in Denver. I co-lead a Gospel Community in the Sunnyside neighborhood and, in my free time, I enjoy attending shows, cooking with friends, and spending time with my nieces and nephew. You can see more of my work on Instagram at @madebybruce or by visiting madebybruce.com.
Piece: Digital Design
This psalm centers on living a blameless, holy life while turning from evil and slander. The background depicts the evil of the world through images of tumultuous oceans and a blazing fire. The outlines of fire connect them all, but the three colors of the oceans represent pride, slander, and deceitfulness in the way they collide and violently interrupt one another. The centerpiece is a diamond, representing purity and holiness, untouched by color or the evil surrounding it. Some of the evil attempts to mimic righteousness (you can see some parallel angles with the diamond) but ultimately without the foundation of Christ, they diverge in a different, broken path.
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.
See passage
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:
See passage
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
See passage
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
What is Passing the Peace?
(Click to Read)
(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)
BENEDICTION
Summers in Colorado are amazing, even whilst under safer-at-home guidelines. You can give yourself to so many things and activities. As a church, we’re inviting you to give yourself to God in two particular ways.
We’re calling these our summer practices. One is a daily practice, while the other is a weekly one:
Practice #1: Pray the Psalms daily
What is it?
This summer, we’ll be preaching through Psalms 100–109. Our invitation to you is to use the psalm from the previous Sunday to pray throughout the week that follows (Monday through Saturday). Ex: Gary preached on Psalm 100 on June 7, so we’ll be praying that psalm June 8–13. Chris will be preaching Psalm 101 on June 14, so we’ll be praying that psalm June 15–20.Why the Psalms?
Though we were created to commune with God, we also really struggle to pray. We end up praying, as author Donald Whitney put it, “the same old things about the same old things.” The Psalms help us interrupt our prayer ruts and invite us to bring our real selves and real emotions to a real God. John Calvin called the Psalms an “anatomy of all the parts of the soul.” They teach us that no emotion is uninvited to our prayer lives, but rather each of these emotions are to be welcomed guests who have a place and a voice at the table of prayer. These include joy, pain, sorrow, anger, depression, cries against injustice, etc.How to do it?
It’s about as simple as it gets. Go through the psalm (or a portion of the psalm) line-by-line, praying what you find in the text or what it brings to mind. If nothing comes to mind, or if you don’t understand the verse, go to the next. You might choose to linger longer on one verse. Conversely, there may be only a handful of matters that prompt prayer as you go through many verses. Nothing says you have to pray over every verse. Continue praying this way until you run out of time or run out of psalm. It’s that simple! This method of prayer is found in Donald Whitney’s book Praying The Bible. If you’d like a PDF of our “Praying The Bible” Cohort Guide in order to go through the book with others, click here.Practice #2: Prayer walk weekly
What is it?
It is what it sounds like: praying while walking. We’re used to associating prayer with a closet or a church sanctuary, not city streets. Some have described prayerwalking as “on-site intercession.”Why are we doing it?
It helps us pray in a new way in the neighborhood God has placed us, seeing new things we might never have seen and immediately bringing them before God in prayer. It helps slow us down from our frenetic pace! It breaks us out of our routines and gets us out of our normal four walls. It reminds us that our neighbors are real people and there are really issues to talk to God about for our neighborhood. God’s heart is to see His kingdom come and His will be done in Denver as it is in heaven, and prayer is one of the main ways of us participating in His work! As Dallas Willard said, “Prayer is talking with God about what we’re doing together.”How do we do it?
While you can always prayerwalk alone, we also encourage you to go in groups of two or three. Consider pulling in someone from your household or someone from your Gospel Community. Before heading out, pray for the leading of the Spirit as well as spiritual protection and insight as you go! Briefly plan where you are going to walk and then do it. Remember that as you go, don’t be creepy & don’t make a scene. Here are a few directives as you go:- Pray Scripture. While not necessary, some choose to pick a particular Scripture to pray as they walk. You can even read the Scripture out loud and then expand on that passage in your own words.
- Pray as the Spirit leads. He might give you discernment or insight into something that you can pray about.
- Pray aware of your surroundings. This includes people as well as your 5 senses. Observe houses, buildings, posters, signs, graffiti, anything that might direct your prayers. Pray with your eyes open!
- Pray for your neighbors. This is a great time to get to know your neighbors and actually pray for them. Some might want to ask neighbors what they can be praying for if they see them, or perhaps just say hi and stop to talk along the way if they’re open to conversation.
in Blog
Every summer at Park Church, we spend several weeks in the Psalms. 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. This annual series, now in its ninth year, is called Christ in the Psalms. This Sunday is week one of Christ in the Psalms 2020. We’ll be in Psalm 100.
Two resources you need to know about:
- Christ in the Psalms sermons for Psalms 1–99 are available here. If you can’t wait for Sunday, take a trip back in Park Church history and listen to the sermon from one of your favorite Psalms. You can also return here as a way to study the Psalms on your own or to share a message about a particular Psalm with a friend.
- Since 2015 (starting with Psalm 41), different artists within our community have done a piece of artwork for each Psalm, going week-by-week in step with the sermon series. This week’s piece for Psalm 100 is an acrylic painting by Jennie Pitts Tucker. See the piece and read about the art and the artist here. For all Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces, click here.
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday!
1. Read our text, Psalm 100.
See passage
A Psalm for Giving Thanks
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100 is a call to joy and thanksgiving. But what if you are feeling sorrow and pain? Are joy and sorrow mutually exclusive? Does the desire for joy require you to suppress the realities of pain and sadness? Not at all. Psalm 100 was written by and for suffering and oppressed people, and it is inviting us to look to the loving presence of the Good Shepherd—who was a Man of Sorrows—as the source of joy in the midst of the sorrows of life.
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 100:
See passage
A Psalm for Giving Thanks
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
House of God Forever (Jon Foreman)
CONFESSION & LAMENT: Adapted from Apostles Church Uptown:
Lord, this morning as we gather together-though apart-
We praise you that you see us, you know us, and you love us.
We also gather today with heavy hearts,
lamenting the evil at work in our world.
We lament the racism and violence against the black community.
Among others, we lament the loss of your image bearers,
Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd.
When we are apathetic to violence, forgive us.
When we are numb to compassion, soften our hearts.
When we are confused and bewildered, comfort us.
Be with us, Jesus.
Grant us the humility and the courage
to be your hands and feet to our neighbors,
pursuing justice, loving mercy,
and walking humbly with you.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:35–39
See passage
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Oh God (Dustin Kensrue)
PASSING THE PEACE
What is Passing the Peace?
(Click to Read)
(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
King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
BENEDICTION
Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.
Person: Jennie Pitts Tucker
Originally from Austin, Texas, Jennie graduated with a BFA from Baylor University in 2012. She started her own art business in 2014, “Jennie Lou Art,” and now works as a full-time artist in Denver. She specializes in live wedding/event painting and custom pieces. Learn more at jennielouart.com or on Instagram at @jennielouart.
Piece: Acrylic Painting
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing! (v.1–3)
As I painted this piece, I began to wonder if perhaps the world’s ways have lulled us to sleep. We have become ignorant to the beauty, magnificent signs of hope, and evidence of His character which our Father has so kindly placed all around us. In the wise words of C.S. Lewis, “You understand sleep when you are awake, not when you are sleeping.”
When I first moved to Colorado, I would stop in my tracks, overcome by the sheer majesty of the mountains every time I faced west. Years later, and I still love the mountains, but I seem to have lost the overwhelming sense of wonder. I have become desensitized to the majesty the mountains once imposed on me, and the glory they once awoke in me.
Is it possible we have all fallen asleep the most remarkable signs of hope our Father has placed in front of us? Have we lost the overwhelming praise and thanksgiving that results from the awe and wonder? Have we allowed the extraordinary to become ordinary?
“The original word [joyful noise] signifies a glad shout, such as loyal subjects give when their king appears among them. Our happy God should be worshipped by happy people; a cheerful spirit is in keeping with His nature, His acts, and the gratitude which we should cherish for His mercies.”
(Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 100)
For me, painting is how I sing.
God has gifted me with a voice through art, more than with my actual singing voice. There is so much freedom in the ability to express with a paintbrush. So for me, making “joyful noise” and “serving the Lord with gladness” through my artwork results in a loud burst of colors and powerful shapes; it is expressing God’s design to the world in a way that demands the viewer to admire His Creation and thank Our Father of Good Gifts.
For this piece, I chose to paint the mountains in such vibrancy that it might, again, shock the viewer into the awe of God’s creation all around us in Colorado. I really pushed myself to paint out of my comfort zone by choosing colors and marks I am normally nervous to use, for fear of overpowering the composition. My hope is this painting will mobilize us as Christians to sing and bless His name for the Beauty that surrounds us and beckons us to adore the Creator.
For the Lord is good. (v. 5)
What better reason do we need to praise the Lord? In the midst of a turbulent and fearful season in our world, may we focus on these words. May we praise Him because He promises us He is Good and “His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations” (v.5). There is hope and there is goodness promised to us, let us sing and give thanks to the One who was and is to come.
“When we recount to him his goodness we are rendering to him the best adoration.”
(Charles Spurgeon)