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He has put the longing for justice within us. This longing is an echo of His voice; His design. We desire justice because God is just, and He is the only One who can make things right.
It’s the first week of Advent. Let’s roll.
Our series for Advent is called is Echoes of a Voice. We’ll focus on paying attention to our haunted longings as they point us to Jesus for ultimate fulfillment. In our first week, we’ll discuss our innate longing for justice.
As for non-Sunday-morning participation in the season, we’ve created a weekly guide, some giving initiatives, and a new take on our annual Advent Hymn Sing. Learn much more about all of those things by clicking Resources for Advent below.
Now here’s how you can prepare for our first Sunday together in Advent:
1. Read our text, Jeremiah 23:1–8.
See passage
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
He has put the longing for justice within us. This longing is an echo of His voice; His design. We desire justice because God is just, and He is the only One who can make things right.
When Jesus came, He came to invite us into His Kingdom of justice and mercy. He came to bring us secure hope. Though not always as tangible as we’d like, the echoes of justice we can hear now and our lingering desires for justice remind us of the just character of Jesus.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
— Advent Candle One —
CALL TO WORSHIP: Isaiah 40:3–5
See passage
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Rowland Hugh Prichard, Charles Wesley addl. verse JD Raab)
Even So Come (Jess Cates, Jason Ingram, Chris Tomlin)
CONFESSION OF SIN: from The Worship Sourcebook:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,
both now in the time of this mortal life into which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility,
and that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead,
so that we may rise to the life immortal through Him who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Promises (Alvarado, Barnes, Bowe, Gaines, Marin, Moses)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Jeremiah 23:5-6
See passage
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
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 Kings (Jason Ingram, Brooke Ligertwood, Scott Ligertwood)
BENEDICTION
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His Kingdom is to be a realm where people treat one another with the honor, dignity, care, and love that they themselves desire. It’s a beautiful vision for life, and one that we all fall woefully short of. And that’s why Jesus came.This is the 12th and final week of Matthew Part Two. We’re in Matthew 7:12–4 discussing “Jesus and the Path to Life.”
As a reminder, next Sunday, November 29 is the first Sunday of Advent. Kinda wild. Our series is Echoes of a Voice, focusing on paying attention to our haunted longings as they point us to Jesus for ultimate fulfillment in Him. In this season we’ll be hitting “pause” in a handful of ways: reflections on longings through the tradition of the Advent wreath, guided prayer, and guided fasting. We have a free guide for families and individuals that you can request a copy of here. We’ll mail those out early next week, or you can pick one up at an in-person service starting this Sunday, November 22.
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday and our Matthew Part Two finale:
1. Read our text, Matthew 7:12–14.
See passage
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
“Whatever you would want others to do to you, do also to them.” This “Golden Rule” is perhaps the most famous of all Jesus’ teachings, and for good reason. For Jesus, this general rule of life sums up the way that human relationships ought to work in His Kingdom. His Kingdom is to be a realm where people treat one another with the honor, dignity, care, and love that they themselves desire. It’s a beautiful vision for life, and one that we all fall woefully short of. And that’s why Jesus came. In the broader context of Matthew, Jesus is very aware that He has come into a world that is falling short of God’s beautiful vision for life. Jesus was not merely a brilliant rabbi. He came to save us from our destructive plight and to establish a new Kingdom. Unfortunately, many will decide to continue on this path toward destruction. After all, it feels more in line with our bent desires, and there’s plenty of people affirming one another along the way. But Jesus has come to rescue people from that path, and He is inviting all of us to follow Him on the narrow path that leads to the life that is truly life.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 133
See passage
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
Grace Alone (Dustin Kensrue)
CONFESSION OF SIN: from Thou, Dear God by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
O Thou Eternal God,
out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence
the whole universe has come into being.
We humbly confess that we have not loved Thee with our hearts,
souls and minds, and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us.
We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses
rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ.
We often give in order to receive, we love our friends and hate our enemies,
we go the first mile but dare not travel the second,
we forgive but dare not forget.
And so as we look within ourselves and are confronted with the appalling fact
that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against Thee.
But Thou, O God, have mercy upon us.
Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be.
Give us the intelligence to know Thy will. Give us the courage to do Thy will.
Give us the devotion to love Thy will.
In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 2 Corinthians 5:18–21
See passage
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
O Praise The Name (Anástasis) (Benjamin Hastings, Marty Sampson, Dean Ussher) / Everlasting God (William Murphy, Fellowship Church)
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
Have Mercy On Me (David Gungor, Paul Zach) / Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)
BENEDICTION
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Over time, we learn to value what He values and to trust that He always provides what is good for us, even when it doesn’t make sense from our vantage point.We’re in week 11 of Matthew, and our topic this week is “Jesus & the Good Father” taken from Matthew 7:7–11.
We’re also just two Sundays away from the start of Advent on Sunday, November 29. Our series this year will be called Echoes of a Voice, focusing on paying attention to our haunted longings as we look to Jesus for their fulfillment. One of the ways we’re making space for this in this season is by hitting “pause” in a handful of ways: reflections on longings through the tradition of the Advent wreath, guided prayer, and guided fasting. We have a free guide for families and individuals that you can request a copy of here. We’ll send those out next Sunday, November 22 (or you can just pick one up at an in-person service).
Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:
1. Read our text, Matthew 7:7–11.
See passage
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
Jesus’ teaching here is simple and profound, but for various reasons it becomes much more complex in the experience of most of His followers. At the heart of it, He is encouraging His followers to lean into their identity as beloved children of God, and to trust that their heavenly Father loves them deeply and delights to give good gifts to those who ask Him. As simple as this is to describe, it’s complicated by our own experience. For many, it can be hard to relate to God as a good and generous Father because their experience with their own parents was not reflective of that kind of generous love. Jesus acknowledges this reality by saying that if even “evil” parents still generally seek to provide for their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give good things to His children. In our journey toward mature faith we are invited and encouraged to continually approach God with boldness as beloved children. Over time, we learn to value what He values and to trust that He always provides what is good for us, even when it doesn’t make sense from our vantage point. How can we be sure? Because if “He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
Don’t use Spotify? Click the song title below to see song on YouTube.
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 139:1–2, 7–10
See passage
O LORD, You have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
Where shall I go from Your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there Your hand shall lead me,
and Your right hand shall hold me.
Heart Won’t Stop (John Mark McMillan)
CONFESSION OF SIN: Based on Matthew 7:7–11:
Jesus, You said, “Ask and it will be given to you,” and yet we do not ask. Forgive us for not coming to You and believing that You are kind enough to receive us and powerful enough to provide what we need.
You said, “Seek and you will find,” and yet we do not seek. Our restless hearts are slow to turn to You and seek You, our true home. Forgive us for seeking other things first.
You say, “Knock and it will be opened to you” and yet we do not knock. We ignore the open invitation to simply come and enjoy a life of communion with You. Forgive us for pounding on other doors but leaving Your door untouched.
Our Father in heaven, You say You give good gifts to those who ask. While we believe, help our unbelief!
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 John 3:1
See passage
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Townend, Charlie Hall arr. Chichi Agorom, The Christian Year)
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
Goodness of God (Cash, Fielding, Ingram, Johnson, Johnson)