This week we’ll be in our sixth week of Christ in the Psalms at Park Church. This is an annual summer series dating back to 2012 when we started with Psalm 1. Why do we do this each year? 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 another way to engage with the Psalms, we have a different artist in our community make a piece each week to be displayed in the foyer. Last week, our piece for Psalm 94 was done by Nikki Rasmussen. Read more about that here. See and read about all past Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces here (they go back as far as Psalm 41). 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 this week:
1. Read through our text, Psalm 95.
Psalm 95 comes to us in two main parts, a call to consider our God and worship Him (v.1–5), and a call not to harden our hearts when we hear His voice (v.6–11). In regards to the second part, the example given is the rebellion by God’s people at Meribah and Massah, where the people were given water from the rock Moses struck: “And [Moses] called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?'”(Exodus 17:7; Massah means “testing” and Meribah means “quarreling.”).
As Christians, we’re called to remember the Rock that was struck for us in the wilderness, our Lord Jesus, who was given to us in our testing of and quarreling against God. Hear again the charge of the Psalmist, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 95:1–5, 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!
Psalm 92 (It Is Good) (Joel Limpic)
Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) (Shane Barnard, Robert Robinson, John Wyeth)
CONFESSION OF SIN: Based on The Worship Sourcebook:
Lord, we are like sheep, and we get lost.
We forget the needs of our neighbors and do not love you above all else.
We need a Savior, so we long for Jesus. Come, fill our lives, Jesus. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Isaiah 53:4–6
Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION:
Twenty Three (Aaron Strumpel)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)
BENEDICTION
Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.
Person: Nikki Rasmussen
Nikki Rasmussen is a digital artist and designer who graduated with a BFA in Illustration (Children’s Book emphasis) from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2014. She loves getting to utilize her creativity to bring imagination to life—getting to see the look on someone’s face when they see their ideas become real, tangible things is the greatest gift of all.
Piece: Digital Artwork
Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O Lord,
and whom You teach out of Your law,
to give him rest from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
(Psalm 94:12–13)
As I read through Psalm 94, I was struck by the way the writer cried out to multiple aspects of God: God the righteous Judge, God the Protector, and God the loving Father. For me, it brought to mind the image of hands cradling a heart, a picture that has always been a powerful way for me to visualize our relationship with God. It’s such a simple concept, yet it manages to incorporate so many different facets of what God does in our lives. God is righteous in His judgment, carefully and lovingly lifting up the hearts of those who know and obey Him.
The thorny vines in this piece display the other side of that judgment: the wrath that, for all intents and purposes, should have been directed at us, was instead satisfied through the work and sacrifice of Christ. In God’s hands we are blessed with His discipline and law, and given the opportunity to grow in unimaginable ways we could have never managed if not through Him. The flowers blooming from the heart in this piece represent that unique and beautiful growth, while the gilded nature of the heart itself shows the value our lives gain through God; a worth that could never have been achieved through striving on our own, but only through the grace and glory of God.
It’s Christ in the Psalms week five at Park Church. We study the Psalms for about ten weeks each summer, because they 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 week, we’re in Psalm 94.
As an additional means to engage with the Psalms, we have a different artist in our community make a piece each week to be displayed in the foyer. Last week, our piece for Psalm 94 was done by Lou Ann Summers. Read more about that here. You can also see and read about all past Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces here (they go back as far as Psalm 41). Lastly, be sure to visit the side gallery each week (where you get coffee) to see the originals of all this year’s artwork pieces displayed together.
Here’s how you can prepare for Sunday this week:
1. Read through our text, Psalm 94.
In Psalm 94, the people of God are oppressed by ruthless enemies—the kind of people who attack the vulnerable and weak (the widow, the sojourner, the fatherless). In the midst of this oppression, they are reminded of God’s faithfulness and steadfast love, even as they long for a day when the oppression will cease.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 94:16–19, 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!
Rejoice The Lord Is King (Joel Limpic, Charles Wesley)
Joy (Pat Barrett, Tony Brown arr. VaShawn Mitchell)
CONFESSION OF SIN: Based on The Worship Sourcebook:
Loving Father and King,
together we grieve the brokenness and darkness
we find in the world around us.
We lift our voices and say, “How long?”
We also acknowledge the deep brokenness
found in each of our hearts.
We confess that often we have failed to be an obedient church:
we have not done Your will;
we have broken Your law;
we have rebelled against your love;
we have not loved our neighbors;
we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Based on Revelation 5:5, 9–10:
Do not weep!
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.
With His blood He has purchased people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
He has made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.
Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive arr. Shane & Shane)
One Thing Remains (Christa Black Gifford, Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle)
GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION:
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Thomas Obediah Chisholm, William Marion Runyan)
YOUNG LIFE NORTH HIGH
Establish The Work Of Our Hands (Cunningham, Keyes, McCracken, Palmer, Vice, Wardell, Zach)
BENEDICTION
Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.
Person: Lou Ann Summers
My name is Lou Ann Summers. Brent and I have been married going on 40 years. I am a mother of four and grandmother of six. I am a self-taught painter, in the truest sense of the word amateur—meaning “for the joy of it”. I feel God’s joy as He works through me to create artwork of many various kinds.
Piece: Watercolor on Yupo
Yupo is a synthetic “paper” which does not absorb water but lets the water simply evaporate, leaving the paint.
Psalm 93 speaks about God being robed in majesty. I thought of the fact that He Himself made a perfect picture of this in the sky—the mighty sun, firmly surrounded by a robe of many colors. The Psalm also repeats the “lifting up” of the sea; its pounding breakers mightier than thunder. I think the thing that impressed me most when painting this was the endless variety of colors God made in one drop of water, let alone the breaking waves of the sea! Overwhelmingly beautiful! It makes my heart surge with joy!
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This Sunday will be week four of Christ in the Psalms, our annual summer series. 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 a means to engage further with the Psalms each summer, we have a different artist in our community make a piece each week to be displayed in the foyer. Last week our piece for Psalm 92 was done by Benjamin Rogers. Read more about that here. You can also see and read about all past Christ in the Psalms artwork pieces here (they go back as far as Psalm 41). Lastly, be sure to visit the side gallery each week (where you get coffee) to see the originals of all this year’s artwork pieces displayed together.
Here’s how you can prepare for this week:
1. Read through our text, Psalm 93.
We’re no strangers to the chaos of this world, especially when the headaches and hardships of life batter us with rhythmic devastation. Our hearts cope somehow, but often in anemic ways. All the while, Yahweh reigns as King. He rules the brokenness by His word: “This far and no further.” (Job 38:8–11) He does battle with the chaos and knows no defeat, and He is building a house, a dwelling place for His presence among His people. It is marked by His abiding word and perfect beauty and is ruled by Jesus, King over the chaos and Savior of our souls. Here we find hope and rest without ceasing.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 93:1–2, 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!
Our Great God (Fernando Ortega, Matt Powell)
God I Look To You (Ian McIntosh, Jenn Johnson)
CONFESSION OF SIN: Based on The Worship Sourcebook:
Righteous God,
you have crowned Jesus Christ as Lord of all.
We confess that we have not bowed before Him
and are slow to acknowledge His rule.
We give allegiance to the powers of this world
and fail to be governed by justice and love.
In your mercy, forgive us.
Raise us to acclaim Him as ruler of all,
that we may be loyal ambassadors,
obeying the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Based on Revelation 5:5, 9–10:
Do not weep!
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.
With His blood He has purchased people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
He has made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.
King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION:
How Majestic (Brian Eichelberger)
Jesus Is Better (Aaron Ivey, Brett Land)
BENEDICTION
Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.
Person: Benjamin Rogers
Benjamin Rogers is a Kentucky-born artist that has resided in the Denver area for the last four years with his wife Emma and son Everett. He studied painting and drawing at Northern Kentucky University, Louisiana State University, and Arizona State University where he completed his MFA. He teaches art full-time at Red Rocks Community College. His work has been featured on the covers of “New American Paintings” and “Fresh Paint Magazine” and his work has been exhibited throughout the country.
Piece: Oil Painting
This traditional oil painting combines a few thoughts that are captured in Psalm 92: The mandolin represents the musical worship described in the psalm. The knife represents the lethality of God and how His enemies will perish. The watermelon represents the sweetness of life and what it is to know God, but it also elicits a knowledge of the fragility of the watermelon. People have a physical understanding of the ease in which the knife can move through the watermelon, which is painted in a way that resembles flesh. This demonstrates the fruits of God’s goodness while reminding us that the fear of the Lord is wisdom.