May 26, 2019

This Sunday will be week 17 of Exodus at Park Church. Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also week six in the season of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. Learn more about Eastertide and see resources for worship and prayer over at The Christian Year, our artistic accompaniment to the church calendar.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 17:8–18:27.

Israel encountered their first battle when Amalek and his people came against them in the wilderness. Here we are introduced to Joshua, whom Moses appointed to lead the army of Israel. Even in battle, the Israelites will learn that the Lord is their strength. When Moses’ raised the staff of God is in the air, the Israelites prevailed, but when his arms grew weary and fell down, Amalek began to prevail. Aaron and Hur, two leaders of Israel, helped hold Moses’ arms in the air so that Joshua and the Israelites could eventually prevail over Amalek in victory.

They built an altar to commemorate the victory and named it, “Yahweh is my Banner.” Then Moses’ father in-law, Jethro, came from Midian bringing Moses’ wife and two sons to join Moses. Jethro advised Moses about how he could delegate aspects of leadership to others among the people who could help him shoulder the burden in a way that would be sustainable throughout their journey through the wilderness.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Zephaniah 3:16–17, 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,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!

Mighty to Save (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God(Matt Boswell, Charles Wesley)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

Our Father in heaven, we thank You that You have led us into the light.
We thank You for sending the Savior to call us from death to life. We confess that we were dead in sin before we heard his call,
but when we heard him, like Lazarus, we arose.
But, O Father, the grave clothes bind us still.
Old habits that we cannot throw off,
old customs that are so much a part of our lives
that we are helpless to live the new life that Christ calls us to live.

Give us strength, O Father, to break the bonds;
give us courage to live a new life in You;
give us faith to believe that with your help we cannot fail.
All this we ask in the name of the Savior
who has taught us to come to You. Amen.

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) (Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Salomon Ligthelm)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:35–39

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION

The Lord Is My Banner (Joel Limpic)

VOCATIONAL COMMISSIONING: BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Your Labor Is Not In Vain (Wendell Kimbrough, Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

May 19, 2019

It’s our 16th week in the book of Exodus, a book about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also the fifth week of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. You can learn more and find some resources for Eastertide worship and prayer over at The Christian Year, our artistic accompaniment to the church calendar.

Here’s how you can prepare for Sunday:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 16:1–17:7.

Several weeks after the miraculous gift of water at Marah, the people resume their faithless grumbling, this time about food. They go as far as to say that it would have been better if they died by the hand of the Lord along with the Egyptians in Egypt than to be killed by hunger in the wilderness.

The Lord again responds to their distrust with miraculous provision, sending quail for meat in the evening, and “bread from heaven” (which they called “manna”) in the morning. He instructs them to gather the food in a way that will teach them about rhythms of work and rest and the nature of His daily provision. This manna would be their daily bread throughout their 40 years in the wilderness. Next they came to a place called Massah and Meribah, where yet again the people begin to fight and complain about a lack of water. Moses, exacerbated by their perpetual distrust and contentious attitude, turned to the Lord to ask Him what he should do. The Lord told Him that He Himself would stand before him and the elders on the rock at Horeb, and that Moses should strike the rock with His staff, and water will flow out of it for the people to drink. Moses trusted the Lord and the Lord provided water for His people.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: John 6:27, 32–35, 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,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!

Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) (Shane Barnard, Robert Robinson, John Wyeth)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From Every Season Prayers by Scotty Smith:

Dear heavenly Father, for calling us to life in Christ,
sealing us with Your Spirit, and making us Your beloved children,
we love and adore You.
Because the Gospel is true, our standing in grace is irreversible;
the riches of our inheritance are incomparable;
the glories of our future are inconceivable.
In gratitude and humility, we confess our sins to You.

We grieve the many expressions of our self-centeredness.
Forgive us for the ease with which we complain and grumble.
Forgive us for overspending on ourselves and under-sharing with others.
Forgive us for being generous with criticism and miserly with forgiveness.
Forgive us for crying “victim” more readily than we cry “Abba.”
Forgive us for preferring control over contrition.
Have mercy on us, Lord; have mercy on me.
In Jesus’ name, we make our prayer.
Amen.

Better (Pat Barrett, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin)
We Will Feast In The House Of Zion (Sandra McCracken, Joshua Moore)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Isaiah 53:4–6

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION

Is He Worthy (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive)
On Christ The Solid Rock (William Batchelder Bradbury and Edward Mote, arr. Austin Stone)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

May 12, 2019

We’re in our 15th week of Exodus. The book of Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also the fourth week of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. Learn more and find resources for Eastertide worship and prayer over at The Christian Year.

Lastly, our text this week includes the people of Israel’s celebration in “The Song of Moses.” We’ll share more about that in a second, but first wanted to invite you to Song of Moses, a worship night on Thursday, May 30 where we’ll learn and practice Biblical, physical expressions of worship. Learn more here.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park Church:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 15:1–27.

In response to all they had seen God do, Moses and the people of Israel sang what has been called “The Song of Moses” or “The Song of the Sea.” The song is a beautiful and emotional celebration of the Lord’s victory over their enemies and of the glory of His Kingdom. The Lord is a King who wields His power to judge the evil in His world, to mercifully save His people from evil, and to bring them into a land where He will dwell among them as their Lord and Redeemer.

As beautiful as this song of celebration is, the celebration doesn’t last long. Three days after they crossed the Red Sea, they were in a place called Marah, where the only available water was bitter and undrinkable. Immediately, the people reverted to their faithless grumbling, not believing that the Lord is sufficient to provide for them. Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord provided by making the bitter water sweet. God then calls them to trust in His voice and to obey His words, saying, “I am Yahweh, your Healer.”

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 98:1–3, 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,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!

In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

Gracious God,
our sins are too heavy to carry,
too real to hide,
and too deep to undo.
Forgive what our lips tremble to name,
what our hearts can no longer bear,
and what has become for us
a consuming fire of judgment.
Set us free from a past that we cannot change;
open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace
to grow more and more in Your likeness and image; through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

Your Name Is Good (Joel Limpic, Scott Mills)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 1:3–4

Who You Say I Am (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION

Always (Jason Ingram, Kristian Stanfill)
Yes and Amen (Anthony Brown, Chris McClarney, Nate Moore)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

May 5, 2019

It’s week 14 in the book of Exodus at Park Church. The book of Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also week three of Eastertide, the 50 days after Easter where we celebrate Jesus’ victory over the grave and explore its implications for the redemption of all things. Learn more and find resources for Eastertide worship and prayer over at The Christian Year.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 12:33–14:31.

After the last plague, the Israelites were finally freed from their 430 years of oppression in Egypt: Free from Pharaoh’s tyranny. Free from the pain of their daily burdens. Free from the brutality of their taskmasters. They were finally free.

But there the story takes a surprising turn. The Lord was leading them with a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night, but Instead of leading them north around the Red Sea, He led them through the wilderness straight toward the Red Sea. When Pharaoh saw an opportunity to overtake the Israelites who seemed to be pinned between the wilderness and the Red Sea, he took his army out to attempt to defeat them by the sea. When Israel saw the Egyptian army, they assumed the worst and immediately began regretting their trust in Moses and the Lord. But God was preparing them for a powerful display of His power for salvation and judgment. Moses, trusting in the Lord, stretched his hand over the waters of the Red Sea, and the sea parted, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land. The Egyptians went in after them, but after the people of Israel came through the Sea, the Lord told Moses to stretch his hand back over the Sea, and the waters swept over the Egyptian Army, drowning them in the sea. The Lord redeemed His people from their slavery through mighty acts, and they feared and trusted in Him.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 77:13–14, 19–20; 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,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!

Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
Praise To The Lord The Almighty (Joachim Neander, Catherine Winkworth addl. verse Joel Limpic, JD Raab)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

Lord, bring new life where we are worn and tired, new love where we have turned hard-hearted, forgiveness where we feel hurt and where we have wounded, and the joy and freedom of your Holy Spirit where we are prisoners of ourselves.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Corinthians 15:54–57

Break Every Chain (Will Reagan arr. Tasha Cobbs Leonard)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE & COMMUNION

No Condemnation (Anthony Evans, Danielle Munizzi, Martha Munizzi)
No Longer Slaves (Joel Case, Jonathan David Hesler, Brian Johnson)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

April 28, 2019

We’re back to Exodus for week 13 of the series. As a refresher, the book of Exodus is all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in the world.

This is also the second week of Eastertide (Easter was week one!). What’s Eastertide? The Worship Sourcebook says it this way: “Because the good news of Easter can hardly be contained in a single day’s celebration, Easter is only the first of 50 days of Eastertide, the “Great 50 Days” that lead up to Pentecost. This season is designed for extended celebration, for exploring the ramifications of Easter for the redemption of all creation, and for joyful Christian living.” We’re excited to lean into Eastertide a little more heavily this year at Park Church. As a reminder, there are some fun resources for worship and prayer for every church season, including Eastertide, over at The Christian Year.

Here’s how you can prepare for this Sunday at Park:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 12:1–32.

The plagues come to a sobering climax with a tenth plague of severe judgment—the death of all of the firstborn sons in Egypt. The Lord warned Pharaoh that He will come to strike down the firstborn sons in all of the land of Egypt as a judgment against Pharaoh’s evil tyranny, including Pharaoh’s own slaughter of the sons of Israel. Although the justice is severe, God gave a way of deliverance for those who trust in Him: He commanded His people to slaughter a spotless lamb, and to paint the doorposts of their homes with the blood of the lamb, and to prepare to leave Egypt. That night the Lord came to strike down the firstborn sons in Egypt, but when he saw the blood of the passover lamb, he did not allow the destroyer to enter the marked home. The firstborn sons in all of the land of Egypt died that night, but the Israelites were spared.

Finally, in the middle of the night, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and demanded that they and the people of Israel leave Egypt. Right in the midst of this sobering story, the Lord gives the Israelites instructions for the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover meal as a commemoration of both the justice of God against human evil and the mercy of God through the substitutionary blood of the passover lamb.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: John 11:25–26, 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,
the Conqueror of the grave, the resurrection and the life.
Welcome!

Doxology (Amen) (Bourgeois, Ken, Owens, Wickham)
O Praise The Name (Anástasis) (Benjamin Hastings, Marty Sampson, Dean Ussher)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

God of life and new birth,
we confess our own propensity to return to old sinful ways of living
that hurt us and those around us.
This includes ways of living and ways of thinking
that aren’t aligned with You or Your kingdom.
Please forgive us!
We are not our own; we belong to You.

God of glory,
fill Your church with the power
that flows from Christ’s resurrection
so that, in the midst of the sinful world,
it may signal the beginning of a renewed humanity,
risen to new life with Christ,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 2 Corinthians 5:21

Nothing But The Blood (Robert Lowry arr. Charlie Hall, Frontline Music)

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION

Holy Spirit (Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt arr. Jesus Culture)
Before The Throne Of God (Charitie Lees Bancroft arr. Citizens & Saints)

VOCATIONAL COMMISSIONING: TECHNOLOGY

Your Labor Is Not In Vain (Wendell Kimbrough, Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019

This Sunday is Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the victory of Christ over sin and death at His resurrection. It’s the hopes of the world realized in the completed work of Jesus. Here’s how you can prepare for our exuberant time together!

1. Read through our text, Matthew 28:1–10.

What do we do with the empty tomb? Though the response of the elders of the people was a conspiracy attempt to falsify the resurrection through a lie and a bribe, its historical reality is well-recorded and richly-realized in countless hearts as the Gospel fills the earth through God’s people. We see a clear choice emerge: excuse and reject Jesus’ resurrection or draw near to Him and worship!

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

GREETING, BAPTISMS, & PROCESSIONAL

Roll Away The Stone (Latifah Alattas, David Wilton)
Oh Happy Day (Philip Doddridge, Edwin Hawkins)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)

CALL TO WORSHIP: Matthew 28:1–6, 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,
To all who hunger and thirst for righteousness;
And to whomever will come:
This church opens wide her doors
wand offers her welcome in the name of Jesus Christ

Doxology (Amen) (Bourgeois, Ken, Owens, Wickham)
Up From The Grave He Arose (Robert Lowry arr. The Christian Year)

CONFESSION OF SIN:

Jesus, You said, “I am the resurrection and life,” and yet we constantly live as if life could be found apart from You. The brokenness we find in ourselves and in the world around us reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. Only You have the words of life. Only You can resurrect our dead hearts and lives. Please forgive our sin and waywardness that leads only to death, and guide us in the way everlasting. In Your powerful name, amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 2:4–7

Is He Worthy? (Andrew Peterson, Ben Shive)
Living Hope (Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham)

SERMON

Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)

BENEDICTION

in Easter Sunday • Preparing for Sunday

Good Friday, April 19, 2019

This Friday, April 19 is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus’ death. But why do we call this day “good,” of all things? When we consider the implications of Jesus’ death for the redemption of mankind, no word may be quite as effective as “good.”

Our Good Friday services will be at 5:30pm and 7pm, including scripture reading, singing, and a short message. Darkness is an important theme of the service both visually and artistically, and the service will end with communion and departure in silence. Why should you come to such a somber service? Thomas Watson writes, “Til sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” We encourage you to use this service to ponder the implications of sin and the good work of Jesus before we gather together again on Sunday for Easter—the sweet and night-crushing contrast. But first, here’s how you can prepare for Good Friday:

Read, pray, and sing through the service:

READING ONE: Matthew 26:36–56

Nothing But The Blood (Robert Lowry arr. Page CXVI)
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Townend, Charlie Hall arr. Chichi Agorom, The Christian Year)

READING TWO: Matthew 26:57–75

Psalm 22 (Joel Limpic arr. The Christian Year)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)

READING THREE: Matthew 27:1–31

Man Of Sorrows (Matt Crocker, Brooke Ligertwood)
In Christ Alone (Keith Getty, Stuart Townend)

READING FOUR: Matthew 27:32–66

HOMILY
COMMUNION

in Good Friday • Preparing for Sunday

April 14, 2018

This week is Palm Sunday. We will be in our 12th week in the book of Exodus, discussing God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in this world.

Holy week continues after this Sunday with Good Friday services on Friday, April 19 at 5:30 and 7pm, and Easter services on Sunday, April 21 at 6:30, 8, 9:30, and 11am. Here’s how you can prepare for Palm Sunday this week:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 7:14–11:10.

In the midst of the series of plagues, a major theme begins to take shape—the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. As the first five plagues wreak havoc in Egypt, the text tells us that either “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (v.7:13, 14, 22; 8:19; 9:7) or that “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (v.8:15, 32). Pharaoh has chosen to harden his heart in opposition to the explicit warnings of God and the clear displays of His power. Then, throughout the last five plagues, we see that the Lord Himself “hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (v.10:1, 20, 27; 11:10, 14:8). Here we see the sovereign judgment of God, hardening the heart of Pharaoh to accomplish His own redemptive purposes. Taken as a whole, we find one of the mysterious tensions of the Bible: On the one hand, human beings are responsible and accountable for our actions, and at the same time, God is absolutely sovereign and nothing happens outside His sovereign purposes. Above all, God wields His sovereign purposes to judge rebellion and to redeem a people for His Kingdom.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Zechariah 9:9

All Creatures Of Our God And King (William Henry Draper, St. Francis of Assisi addl. verse by Sovereign Grace Music)
Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery (Michael Bleecker, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

O Lord, who on this day entered the rebellious city that later rejected You,
we confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem’s,
that our faith is often more show than substance,
that our hearts are in need of cleansing.
Have mercy on us, Son of David, Savior of our lives.
Help us to lay at Your feet all that we have and all that we are,
trusting You to forgive what is sinful, to heal what is broken,
to welcome our praises, and to receive us as Your own. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 John 4:14–16

Reckless Love (Cory Asbury, Caleb Culver, Ran Jackson)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE, & COMMUNION

Crown Him (Majesty) (Bridges, Cash, Elvey, Maher, Thring, Tomlin)
Hosanna (Praise is Rising) (Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

April 7, 2019

This will be our 11th week in the book of Exodus, discussing God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in this world.

This is also the fifth week of Lent, the ending of the season of 40 days leading up to Easter. Next Sunday, April 14, will be Palm Sunday, followed by Good Friday on April 19 and Easter Sunday on April 21. But here’s how you can prepare for the Sunday ahead of us:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 7:14–11:10.

The drama of the Exodus story increases with God’s decree of the ten plagues. Far from being a cavalier showcase of power, the plagues are each aimed at very specific purposes. First and foremost, each of the plagues are an escalated judgment against Pharaoh’s evil and hard-hearted determination to keep God’s people in slavery. Second, the plagues are also specifically designed to show the people of Egypt the sovereign power of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Each plague makes a disrupting example out of a specific Egyptian deity, explicitly targeted at the three realms of Egypt’s primary sources of life—the Nile, the land, and the sun.

Last, the plagues are also intended to show the Israelites the sovereign power of Yahweh, their Redeemer. When the people experience deliverance from their brutal experience in slavery, and when they are free to live in their own land with their God, they will be forever look back and see that it was not their strength or cunning that saved them—There was was no epic human hero. It was Yahweh, and Yahweh alone.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 91:1–6, 9–10

Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)
Yet Even Now (Joel Limpic)

CONFESSION OF SIN:

Oh God who is both fearful and merciful,
We confess that we often forget whose people we used to be,
and whose people we are now.
Forgive us when we consider ourselves above judgement
and surely on the “Israel” side of the plagues,
for this is only true so far as Christ, our Passover Lamb, has borne our judgement.
Forgive us also when we consider ourselves targeted by You,
afflicted by You, and surely on the “Egypt” side of the plagues,
for Christ, our Passover Lamb, is the one who was truly smitten by You,
and afflicted by You on our behalf.
Father, as we consider the endless joy You now take in us as a result of Your Son’s work,
we repent both of our ignorance to our sin and our ignorance to our salvation.
We gratefully receive His work,
and we ask You for greater joy in all that it means for us,
through Jesus Christ our Savior, amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Peter 2:9–10

What A Beautiful Name (Ben Fielding, Brooke Ligertwood)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE, & COMMUNION

King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
Stronger (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

March 31, 2019

We’re in week ten of Exodus, a book all about God’s mission to redeem a people for His Kingdom in this world.

We’re also in week four of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter where we prepare our hearts to remember and celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection. A couple good resources for this season include this recent blog by Joel Limpic and the The Christian Year. Here’s how you can prepare for this week at Park:

1. Read through our text, Exodus 7:1–13.

After a season of resistance and hesitation, Moses has finally come to the point of trust and obedience to the call of God on His life. God will speak to Moses, and Aaron will his spokesperson before Pharaoh. The passage reiterates that Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. They performed God’s sign before Pharaoh, turning Aaron’s staff into a serpent, but the Egyptian magicians matched their sign, turning their own staffs to serpents. The dual of powers had begun, and the story is clear about who will prevail.

Aaron’s staff swallowed up the Egyptian magician’s staffs, displaying the supreme power of Yahweh above all other powers. This first sign sets the trajectory for the rest of the ten plagues that will follow. In the end, the power of Yahweh will prevail against all who oppose Him. This demonstration of the power of the Lord, however, did not move Pharaoh’s hardened heart. He continued in his refusal to let the people go, just like the Lord had foretold to Moses.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 95:1–3, 6–7

Praise To The Lord The Almighty (Joachim Neander, Catherine Winkworth addl. verse Joel Limpic, JD Raab)
The Lion And The Lamb (Brenton Brown, Brian Johnson, Leeland Mooring)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From The Worship Sourcebook:

We confess today that though You are a great God, we act as if we are gods without regard for You. Though You are a great king, we act as if we are kings and queens ruling our individual kingdoms. Though You are our good Shepherd, we stray like sheep far from Your pasture and care. Though You are a God who speaks, we harden our hearts and busy ourselves with a million other things.

Today, would You soften our distracted hearts by Your Spirit? Where there are barriers and blockades, would You tear them down? Where there are anxieties and fears, would You still them? Where there is shame, would You lift our eyes to see Your kind loving eyes? We want to hear Your voice and in turn follow You as beloved children of God. Not just today, but also throughout the week! In our homes, in our jobs, in our lives. For this we need Your grace and Your power.

In Jesus’ powerful name, amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Matthew 11:28–30

O Come To The Altar (Brock, Brown, Furtick, and Joye)

GREETING, SERMON, RESPONSE, & COMMUNION

Christ The Sure And Steady Anchor (Matt Boswell, Matt Papa)
Living Hope (Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday