A bit of a thematically epic day, yesterday. So much so that I’m compelled to blog again. :)
SUNDAY MORNING
Week 3 of our ‘Because‘ series. This week… ‘We sacrifice because Jesus sacrificed’.
The international day of prayer for the persecuted church was a week ago, but we wanted to turn our attention to this issue in a worship service that would best feature it, so we did it this week. We also shared communion this week (an every-other-month observance for us). Each of these parts speaks strongly to the theme of sacrifice, so we wove them all together with a few songs and a series of readings created by our pastor. It was a more somber worship experience than we are used to, but the content called for this treatment.
Opening Song
“Unashamed Love” (Ten Shekel Shirt) We’ve done this song for several years, and it remains an effective favorite.
The Persecuted Church
Reading: Sacrifice… the persecuted church (link to all 3 readings)
Prayer
“In Christ Alone” (Getty)
Lord’s Supper
Reading: Sacrifice… the Lord’s Supper
“Carried to the Table“ (Leeland) performed by a vocal ensemble, 2 acoustics, piano, and cello. Stunning.
Guitar instrumental.
Offering: “God Leads Us Along” performed by same ensemble and instruments.
Our Call
Reading: Sacrifice… our call
Message: We Sacrifice
SUNDAY EVENING
We hosted a celebration event for our denomination’s missions group. It’s hard to explain adequately, but there is some AMAZING work being done around the world through this ministry. The evening was focused on what is happening in the country of Turkey, where officially there is religious freedom, but in reality not so much. Without anyone orchestrating it, we heard stories that directly illustrated our worship service themes from the morning. We heard about Christians who have been killed for their beliefs, but whose deaths resulted in hundreds of people being exposed to God’s message of truth.
Because we don’t usually have Sunday evening events, these things are not often well-attended. But many more people came than have come in the past. All had the opportunity to hear about God’s work… all were invited to consider participating in some way in this work… and all were invited to worship together and celebrate the God we serve.
‘Glory to God Forever‘ (Fee)
‘Come Thou Fount Come Thou King‘ (Gateway Worship)
opening comments & intro to the situation in Turkey
DVD story of Turkish believers
stories and challenges
prayer for God’s work
offering
‘Carrier‘ (Anderson)
‘Mighty to Save‘ (Laura Story arr.)
‘How Great is Our God/How Great Thou Art‘ (Tomlin)
‘Glory to God Forever’
Because there were other churches invited to this event, we tried to incorporate songs that would be familiar to most attenders. We opened with ‘Glory to God Forever’ as people were finding their seats, and the invited them to sing it with us at the end of the evening. ‘Carrier’ is my very favorite missional song at the moment… because it is new, most people didn’t sing along with it, but it could easily be learned by a congregation. Without question, ‘How Great is Our God’ was the powerful corporate worship moment of the night.
Long day. Good day.
