Christ & the Coronavirus Palm Sunday Weekend Facebook Live Video + Liturgy | Jesus, Our Deliverer Who Provides What We Need Even When It Looks Like Defeat

Facebook Live Message: Jesus, Our Deliverer Who Provides What We Need Even When It Looks Like Defeat

Do we see that even this can be holy ground with Jesus as He takes the little we think we have and reveals what He can do?

Sermon Video + Audio | Jesus, the Deliverer Who Provides What We Need Even When It Looks Like Defeat

In accordance with state and national authorities, we will wait to return to the Fusion Center at 30 Tyler Prentice Road sometime later this spring or summer. In the meantime, we are still gathering every Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST via Emmaus City Church Facebook Live. The liturgy with links to songs will be posted Saturday morning on our Facebook page beforehand. We would love for you to join with us! Also, you can contact us at info@emmauscitychurch.com.

Sermon Scriptures | Exodus 3-4:17; Matthew 14:15-21

Sermon Story | 

“We who were atheists until yesterday, now pray to God for peace.”

Lulian Urban Lorenzo is a thirty-eight-year-old doctor in Italy, where coronavirus is especially virulent. He has released this statement, which was translated into English: “Until two weeks ago, we and many of my colleagues were atheists. One hundred percent believed that science excludes God because we are doctors. I used to look at my parents at church and mock them. A seventy-five-year-old clergyman arrived here nine days ago. A poor man. He was struggling to breathe. But he always had a Bible in his hand. He reads it to the patients who are dying ... He places the Bible in the hands of some and we looked at it intently.” 

Dr. Lorenzo and his colleagues came to see that “as human beings, we have reached our limits. There is nothing we can do except increase the death toll of the people we care about.” Then, he says, “We began to notice his work. We began to feel that God begins where man ends. Slowly we approached the priest.” As a result of his influence on them, “We who were atheists until yesterday, now pray to God for peace. Pray for us to help care for the sick. The courage that was supposed to be lost has somehow returned. We are more energetic now." 

“Yesterday, that seventy-five-year-old priest died. That means 120 deaths in three weeks. He helped to give us the peace we never expected in just nine days, when all hope was shattered. Remembering that we were helped by his weakness . . . the good shepherd went to the Lord.” 

Dr. Lorenzo closes: “Now I realize I am nothing on this earth. But I will live like that priest until my last breath for others.”

+ Reported by Dr. Jim Denison

Call to Worship | Psalm 107:9

(In desert wastelands ... ) The LORD God satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Wondrous Love
Anonymous, 1811 A.D.

What wondrous love is this, 
O my soul, O my soul! 
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss 
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, 
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown, 
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul, 
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb, we will sing, we will sing;
To God and to the Lamb we will sing.
To God and to the Lamb who is the great “I Am”; 
While millions join the theme, we will sing, we will sing; 
While millions join the theme, we will sing.

Oh how high, oh how wide, oh how deep is Your love! 
Oh my soul, set on fire by Your wondrous love for us! (Repeat)

And when from death we’re free, we’ll sing on, we’ll sing on; 
And when from death we’re free, we’ll sing on.
And when from death we’re free, we’ll sing and joyful be, 
And through eternity we’ll sing on, we’ll sing on,
And through eternity we’ll sing on. (Repeat Bridge)

All Praise
Steffany Gretzinger + Sean Curran, 2019 A.D.

Every breath, it is a gift,
Every moment is a treasure, 
All my past and my regrets, 
My present and my future. 
Every table is a feast,
Every heartbeat is an altar, 
Every step a mystery,
I’m walking with the Author.

So I fix my eyes upon You,
I fix my eyes uponYou.
I fix my eyes uponYou, I fix my eyes ... 
All praise, all praise!
Heaven bent to meet us,
Father, Son, and Spirit!
All praise, all praise!
God and man together,
One with us forevermore.

In famine, we will eat,
In drought, we’ll see a downpour.
So let all our fighting cease,
The Prince our Peace has conquered! (Chorus)

Why should my heart grow weary? 
Don’t be so downcast, O my soul! 
You are in every moment,
You are my greatest miracle! (Repeat 3x)

Lord, I Need You
Chris Tomlin, 2011 A.D.

Lord, I come, I confess,
Bowing here I find my rest.
Without You I fall apart.
You’re the One that guides my heart.

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You, 

Every hour I need You;
My one defense, my righteousness, 

Oh God, how I need You!

Where sin runs deep,Your grace is more. 

Where grace is found is where You are. 

And where You are, Lord, I am free, 

Holiness is Christ in me! (Chorus)

Teach my song to rise to You.
When temptation comes my way,
And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You. 

Jesus,You’re my hope and stay. (Chorus)

Break Every Chain + Fill Me Up
T. Cobbs & W. Reagan, 2013 & 2015 A.D.

There is power in the name of Jesus (x3) ... 

To break every chain, break every chain, 

Break every chain!

All sufficient sacrifice,
So freely given, such a price 

Bought My redemption, 

Heaven’s gates swing wide.

There’s an army rising up (x3) ...
To break every chain, break every chain, 

Break every chain!

You provide the fire, I’ll provide the sacrifice. 

You provide the Spirit, I will open up inside. 

Fill me up, God (x3) ... Fill me up!

Love of God, overflow,
Permeate all my soul.
Fill me up until I overflow!
I want to run over, I want to run over!

Lenten Prayers of Confession & Assurance
(Based on Psalm 103:8-14, 42:11)

One: King Jesus, today we confess we need to remember ...
All: The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in unfailing love!

One: He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
All: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;

One: As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.
All: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for we will yet praise Him, our Savior and our God!

Pass the Peace | In the Story of God, Jesus declared, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you" (John 14:26) during humanity's darkest, most tragic weekend of His death. And then after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, defeating evil and death, He said, "Peace be with you ... Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:21-22). Somehow, with Jesus, peace is possible even in our darkest moments. During this time, we desire to share with each other peace that passes understanding, empowered by the Spirit of Christ.

The peace of the Lord by always with you.

And also with you.

Lenten Creed
By Patmos Abbey, Order of St. Columbia, AU

We believe that our lives are held within the all encompassing love of God our Father, who knows our names and recognizes our deepest needs.

We believe that Christ is the only begotten Son of the living God, and that His grace is like living waters that can never be exhausted.

We believe in the birthing, renewing, enabling Spirit of God who yearns over our welfare as a mother yearns for her child.

We believe that God is in the arid desert as well as in green pastures, and that hard times and disciplines are also loving gifts.

We believe that our journey has a purpose and a destination, and that our path leads to a glory we cannot yet imagine.

We believe that in Jesus’ Church we are fellow pilgrims on the road, and that we are called to love one another as God loves us.

This is our faith and we are humbled to profess in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Benediction adapted from Psalm 107:1-2, 4, 9, 43

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord tell the story of God to the many you encounter during this season of Lent, especially those in desert wastelands. He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. May many see in our story King Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us, and the faithful love of the Lord. You are sent out by His Spirit to share His Good News in the grace and peace of Christ!

To connect with us, please contact info@emmauscitychurch.com

Next Video + Liturgy: Christ Over the Coronavirus Easter FB Live Video + Liturgy | Jesus, Death-Conquering Deliverer, Knows Your Name

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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