Emmaus City Liturgy – Celebrating Jesus and Being Part of His Story
Last Sunday, March 9, 2014, we gathered together for the first time in our city of Worcester to have a Sabbath morning celebration. It was a warm setting in one of our homes with adults and kids filling the rooms with joy and laughter.
I couldn't be more thankful and I couldn't be more hopeful. Why? Because Jesus is our hope. We came together to honor Him as Savior and King. Because of what He's done for us in His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of His Spirit, we are a family of His missionary servants who desire to obey His words to be disciples who walk with Him to make more disciples.
Our prayer and focus is to see 1 missional community (MCs) for every 1,000 people in our city. For Worcester today, that would mean 183 MCs. Right now, we are one. This is our beginning. Where will the Spirit of God lead us? That's the adventure we're on with Him to see how He will amaze us. We want to see disciples making disciples, MCs multiplying into more MCs, and the city of Worcester being changed in its neighborhoods, businesses, and communities by people who love Jesus and share His gospel in word and deed with grace, confidence, and humility.
In the weeks and months to come, I plan to share some of what we're learning together by keeping a record of our Sabbath celebrations. These posts will include our liturgy – featuring the themes, verses, hymns and songs (audio and lyrics), and prayers we enjoy together each week. Key notes from the sermons will also be included.
Curious to know more? Want to spend some time with us? Don't hesitate. Contact us and come join us. In the meantime, enjoy the readings and listening to the songs below.
WORSHIP THROUGH QUIET, PRAYER, AND SONG
Moment of Reflection
Prayer of Welcome and The Lord’s Prayer
From Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13
From Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father in heaven,
May Your name be kept holy.
May Your Kingdom come.
May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
And forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those
who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from evil
(For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.)
And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from evil
(For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.)
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Glory to Thee my God this night
For all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, O keep me King of kings
Under the shadow of Thy wings.
Lord, let my soul forever share
The bliss of Thy paternal care.
‘Tis heav’n on earth, ‘tis heav’n above
To see Thy face and sing Thy love.
Amen, amen. (x4)
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Glory to Thee my God this night
For all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, O keep me King of kings
Under the shadow of Thy wings.
Lord, let my soul forever share
The bliss of Thy paternal care.
‘Tis heav’n on earth, ‘tis heav’n above
To see Thy face and sing Thy love.
Amen, amen. (x4)
WORSHIP THROUGH HEARING, LISTENING, AND DISCUSSING
God with Us // Covenant and Kingdom
Introduction
Scripture Reading
Introduction
Scripture Reading
Notes
Much
like the film, "Memento," we are starting at the end to help us
understand who we are in our present identity. One day Jesus is returning to
consummate His kingdom reign. On that day, His glory will fill the earth
and all wickedness, evil, selfishness, waste, pain and suffering will
be wiped away. He will restore what was intended and powerfully make all things new.
Who rejoices in and celebrates His coming kingdom? Those who His Father has
made covenant with, who have accepted the Father's great promises
fulfilled in Jesus, and who, by His Spirit, receive the inheritance of being His adopted
sons and daughters.
Followers of Jesus find their identity in Him. In the great story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, we find our identity secure, our problems solved, and our hope held fast in the Father's loving arms.
This story is found in the Bible. But how do we understand this great story? Two helpful themes are "Covenant" and "Kingdom".
With covenant, we understand our relationship with God and how He has pursued us as our loving Father. With kingdom, we understand God as King and how He has given us responsibility, authority and power to provide glimpses of what Jesus has come to do and will return to complete. But it's not just information we are to know. It's a message that is meant to and can transform us.
"We know that it is one thing to confess the Bible to be the Word of God, but often quite another thing to know how to read the Bible in a way that lets it influence the whole of our lives. There can easily be a gap between what we say we believe and how we live. If God has deliberately given us the Bible in the shape of a story, then only as we attend to it as story and actively appropriate it as our story will we feel the full impact of its authority and illumination in our lives." – Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story
Through the two lens of covenant and kingdom, we can see that God has always been loving and pursuing a people for Himself and has called His children to be a kingdom of priests who are a light pointing to Jesus, the Light of the World.
COVENANT – Our relationship with God and everyone else
Father: We live our lives under His loving and generous gaze
Identity: Our sense of security and confidence comes from Him and His grace, not from ourselves or from how others perceive us
Obedience: We will act with God and with others in a way that is consistent with our identity, whether we find our identity with how our good, perfect and loving Father sees us, or with how we react to our imperfect selves or others' imperfections
If we try to earn our relationship with the Father through obedience, we are not receiving His grace as He intended and will either become exhausted or embittered. We rest in our identity in Him that He has given to us freely so we can love and obey His call on our lives to extend grace and forgiveness and point to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
KINGDOM – Our responsibility to God and everyone else
King: We see God as Jesus, the King incognito, who lived a sinless life of love and sacrifice for others in everything He said and did
Authority: We have been given the responsibility of representing Jesus' life and rule through how we love and sacrifice for others
Authority: We have been given the responsibility of representing Jesus' life and rule through how we love and sacrifice for others
Power: We cannot do this with our own strength, but have been given the Spirit of Christ so we can have power to represent His kingdom reign with humility and confidence
If we try exert our own power to show others the King, or earn a place in His kingdom, we will not know how to receive His authority to live for and serve others, and will end up attempting to establish our own kingdoms.
WORSHIP THROUGH CONFESSION AND COMMUNION
Prayer of Confession
Communion
(Read Emmaus City's Purpose and Prayers for Communion)
WORSHIP THROUGH REJOICING
How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the Man upon a cross,
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything,
I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.
(Repeat Verse 1)
All Creatures of Our God and King
By West Coast Revival (original by St. Francis of Assisi)
Early 1200s A.D.
His wounds have paid my ransom.
(Repeat Verse 1)
All Creatures of Our God and King
By West Coast Revival (original by St. Francis of Assisi)
Early 1200s A.D.
All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Thou, burning sun with golden beam,
Thou, silver moon with softer gleam.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness.
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, Three-in-One.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
All the redeemed washed by His blood
Come and rejoice in His great love.
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Christ has defeated every sin.
Cast all your burdens now on Him.
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
He shall return in pow’r to reign
Heaven and earth will join to say
O praise Him! Allelujah!
Then who shall fall on bended knee?
All creatures of our God and King
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Allelujah! Allelujah! Allelujah!
The Great I Am
By New Life Worship (original by Phillips, Craig and Dean)
2012 A.D.
I want to be close, close to Your side
So heaven is real and death is a lie.
I want to hear voices of angels above singing as one
Hallelujah, Holy, Holy
God Almighty, the Great I Am.
Who is worthy? None beside Thee.
God Almighty, the Great I Am.
I want to be near, near to Your heart
Loving the world and hating the dark.
I want to see dry bones living again singing as one
(Chorus Repeat)
The mountains shake before Him,
The demons run and flee
At the mention of the name, “King of Majesty.”
There is no power in hell or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the Great I Am!
The Great I Am. (x5)
(Chorus Repeat)
The demons run and flee
At the mention of the name, “King of Majesty.”
There is no power in hell or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the Great I Am!
The Great I Am. (x5)
(Chorus Repeat)
WORSHIP THROUGH SENDING
Prayer of Mission
Apostles’ Creed
390 A.D.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended to the dead.
The third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit
The holy catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.
Amen.
Prayer of Mission
Apostles’ Creed
390 A.D.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended to the dead.
The third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit
The holy catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.
Amen.
Benediction
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." – Jude 1:24-25
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." – Jude 1:24-25
Next liturgy post: Sunday, March 16, 2014 – Covenant & Kingdom I: Creation and Fall
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