Emmaus City Liturgy – Celebrating Jesus and Being Part of His Story
For previous liturgies, click on the links below:
- Sunday, March 9, 2014 – Covenant & Kingdom Intro
- Sunday, March 16, 2014 – Covenant & Kingdom Part 1: Creation and Fall
These posts will feature the themes, verses, hymns and songs (audio and lyrics), and prayers we enjoy together each Sabbath gathering. 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 STORY, PRAYER, AND SONG
Celebration Story
Prayer of Welcome and The Lord’s Prayer
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.)
Be Still My Soul
By Page CXVI (original by Katherine von Schlegel)
1752 A.D.
Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to your God to order and provide
In ever change, He will remain.
Be still my soul, your God will undertake
To guide the future as in ages past.
Your hope, your mind, your will let nothing shake.
All now mysterious shall be bright.
Be still my soul, the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone
Sorrow's forgot, love's joy restored.
Be still my soul. (6x) And praise Him. (6x)
Leave to your God to order and provide
In ever change, He will remain.
Be still my soul, your God will undertake
To guide the future as in ages past.
Your hope, your mind, your will let nothing shake.
All now mysterious shall be bright.
Be still my soul, the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone
Sorrow's forgot, love's joy restored.
Be still my soul. (6x) And praise Him. (6x)
WORSHIP THROUGH HEARING, LISTENING, AND DISCUSSING
God with Us // Person of Peace (Special)
Gospel + Community + Mission Discussion
This Sunday gathering was unique in that some from Emmaus City were able to participate in the GCM Collective One Day training in Haverhill, Massachusetts the day before. So after the shorter message on the Person of Peace, there was a time of sharing and answering questions about the training. Notes from the GCM Collective are provided on the pages linked below.
Scripture Reading
Luke 10:1-11
Notes
Jo Saxton
"Why We Should Look for People of Peace"Verge 2013
Notes
A son or daughter of peace
is someone who God has prepared ahead of time to hear the
message of the gospel of Jesus through your interaction in their lives. Ways to recognize them will be that they will welcome you, genuinely enjoy your company and want to be around you, and will often begin to attempt to serve you in
some way. Jo Saxton does a great job of describing this in greater detail in the video below.
Jo Saxton
"Why We Should Look for People of Peace"Verge 2013
" ... What we see in Scripture is that the Person of Peace is the one who welcomes you, who will receive who you are, who is open to you, open to what you have to say about Jesus, open to the life you live because of Jesus. But they're also someone who serves you. So often when we're seeking to minister, we want to do everything for somebody else. But the person of peace often wants to make a contribution in some way. ... "
However, in order to recognize a person of peace, we need to make ourselves vulnerable. We need not to rely on our self-worth (" ... no moneybag ... "), our self-solutions (" ... no knapsack ... ") or our own self-protection (" ... no sandals ..."). We're going to need to rely on Jesus completely. Which means we're going to need to point people to Jesus. We aren't their savior. Only Jesus is. And we have to be open about that, how He is not only our Savior, but that He has come to be theirs, too.
And this means we're going to need to be willing to be a person of unpeace as well as encounter persons of unpeace.
When Jesus sent His disciples out, He said they would experience welcome and rejection. When they were sent, they were sent in His name to declare and display His kingdom. He
made it clear that we will need to be bold to be on His mission. People will need to know we love Jesus. Some will receive us.
Others will reject us. And until we’re ready to put Jesus first and accept the reception or rejection He received,
we won’t find a person of peace.
"(Jesus’ disciples) had been sent out by Jesus as those who were in relationship with him, to go to certain places in his name, representing him, with a specific message to proclaim and task to perform. Jesus didn’t send them out as undercover agents. They were openly proclaiming that God’s kingdom had come near in Jesus. There was nothing subtle about why they were in town. If you go out representing Jesus (in his name, with his authority), then it’s true when he says: 'If they welcome you, they welcome me. If they reject you, they reject me.' But if you are ashamed of Jesus or the gospel in any way, if we are unwilling to experience the same kind of scorn and opposition that Jesus faced, you won’t be able to perceive the Person of Peace, because that person is primed and ready to receive Jesus, and you won’t look like Jesus to them, because you are essentially going out 'in your own name,' not on behalf of Christ. There is a line we must cross, a death we must die before we can see Persons of Peace. When we die to ourselves and embrace being identified as a 'fool for Christ,' we will find Persons of Peace, and we’ll also find rejection and opposition, because you don’t get one without the other. The good news, though, is that if we embrace this and truly go out in Christ’s name, then it will be his authority that clothes us, and his power that protects us and flows through us." – Ben Sternke, 3DM
So, as Emmaus City, and as individuals and families throughout Worcester, we will need to ask the Holy Spirit again and again:
Help us to be bold and to risk the reception and rejection of others in order to recognize Persons of Peace in our lives so we can join You,
Jesus, on Your mission as You redeem and restore the lives of our neighbors and friends by Your Word and Spirit.
Gospel + Community + Mission Discussion
This Sunday gathering was unique in that some from Emmaus City were able to participate in the GCM Collective One Day training in Haverhill, Massachusetts the day before. So after the shorter message on the Person of Peace, there was a time of sharing and answering questions about the training. Notes from the GCM Collective are provided on the pages linked below.
WORSHIP THROUGH CONFESSION AND COMMUNION
Prayer of Confession
Communion
(Read Emmaus City's Purpose and Prayers for Communion)
Prayer of Confession
Communion
(Read Emmaus City's Purpose and Prayers for Communion)
WORSHIP THROUGH REJOICING
God I look to You
And I won't be overwhelmed.
Give me vision
To see things like You do.
God I look to You
And I won't be overwhelmed.
Give me vision
To see things like You do.
God I look to You
And You're where my help comes from.
Give me wisdom – You know just what to do. (2x)
And I will love You, Lord, my Strength.
Give me wisdom – You know just what to do. (2x)
And I will love You, Lord, my Strength.
And I will love You, Lord, my Shield.
And I will love You, Lord, my Rock.
Forever all my days, I will love You, God.
Hallelujah, our God reigns. (3x)
Forever all my days, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, our God reigns. (3x)
Forever all my days, Hallelujah.
WORSHIP THROUGH SENDING
Prayer of Mission
Our World Belongs to God // 41
2008 A.D.
Joining the mission of God, the church is sent with the gospel of the kingdom
to call everyone to know and follow Christ
and to proclaim to all the assurance that in the name of Jesus
there is forgiveness of sin
and new life for all who repent and believe.
The Spirit calls all members to embrace God’s mission
in their neighborhoods
and in the world:
to feed the hungry,
bring water to the thirsty,
welcome the stranger,
clothe the naked,
care for the sick,
and free the prisoner.
We repent of leaving this work to a few,
for this mission is central to our being.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
Next liturgy post: Sunday, March 30, 2014 – Covenant & Kingdom Part II: Sin's Destruction and God's JusticePrayer of Mission
Our World Belongs to God // 41
2008 A.D.
Joining the mission of God, the church is sent with the gospel of the kingdom
to call everyone to know and follow Christ
and to proclaim to all the assurance that in the name of Jesus
there is forgiveness of sin
and new life for all who repent and believe.
The Spirit calls all members to embrace God’s mission
in their neighborhoods
and in the world:
to feed the hungry,
bring water to the thirsty,
welcome the stranger,
clothe the naked,
care for the sick,
and free the prisoner.
We repent of leaving this work to a few,
for this mission is central to our being.
On our part in God’s mission, see Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 24:45-49, and John 17:18; on seeing our mission beyond our local community, Matthew 24:14 and Acts 13:1-3; on meeting the needs of people, Matthew 25:31-46 and Luke 4:18-19; and on the centrality of mission to our being, John 20:21.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
– Sully
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