June 21, 2020
We’re in the third week of this year’s Christ in the Psalms. We’ll be in Psalm 102. During every week of this annual 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 102 is an acrylic painting by Margie Keith. See the piece and read about the art and artist here! To see all Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces (they go back as far as Psalm 41!), click here.
Also, one more reminder about our Summer Prayer Practices: praying the psalms daily and prayer walking weekly. Read more about those practices here! Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday, June 21:
1. Read our text, Psalm 102.
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to You!
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline Your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
because of Your indignation and anger;
for You have taken me up and thrown me down.
My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
But You, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
You are remembered throughout all generations.
You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
For Your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
For the Lord builds up Zion;
He appears in His glory;
He regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
that He looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem His praise,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.
He has broken my strength in midcourse;
He has shortened my days.
“O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
You whose years endure
throughout all generations!”
Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but You are the same, and Your years have no end.
The children of Your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before You.
Affliction assaults our lives from all angles—emotionally, psychologically, physically, relationally. We must give voice to our experience, honestly coming before God. But we must also go further. In the midst of the pain and the strife, we turn see who God is—the one who exercises permanent authority and wise compassion on our behalf. He has placed our individual stories within the broader story He is telling. And He intends to wield our lives not only for our own good, but also for the good of others. As we look to Jesus, who bore and conquered our affliction, we may walk in this unshakable joy.
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 102:1–2; 11–12:
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to You!
Do not hide Your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline Your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
But You, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
Way Maker (Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu)
Goodness of God (Cash, Fielding, Ingram, Johnson, Johnson)
CONFESSION: From The Worship Sourcebook:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways,
to the glory of Your Name.
Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: John 15:13–15
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
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
Jesus What A Savior (Kirby Kaple)
The Blessing (Brown, Carnes, Jobe, Furtick)