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| Pentecost Weekend Lament for Ahmaud, Breonna & George |
We cry out together, "How long, O Lord?!" ... How long, Lord? Will You forget us forever? How long will You hide Your face from us? How long will we store up anxious concerns within ourselves, agony in our minds every day? How long will our enemies dominate us? Consider us and answer, Lord our God. Restore brightness to our eyes; otherwise, we will sleep in death. Our enemy will say, “I have triumphed over them,” and our foes will rejoice because we are shaken. But we have trusted in Your faithful love; our hearts will rejoice in Your deliverance. We will sing to the Lord because He has treated us generously. ... After this, I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams and your young men will see visions." + Psalm 13; Joel 2:28
Pentecost Lament and Message Video + Audio | Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit
+ Reconciliation: The Latin word for eyelash is cilia. If you were so close to someone as to have your eyelashes with theirs, you’d be con–cilia. And if you were once that close, but had segregated or lived life apart, and then returned again, you would be re-con-cilia—you would be reconciled. In the beginning, human beings shared a great closeness with God. But we separated ourselves from God by our pride and grasping at power instead of receiving His love and life; we withdrew from that closeness and we gasped from loss of His life-giving love and breath … but God wanted to breathe into us the Spirit's breath of life and desired for us to be able to look Him in the eye again. So He came among us as one of us, fully divine and fully human in all things with us but sin—He had … eyelashes. Jesus came to us in our separation caused by our sinful segregation from Him, poor in spirit, afflicted, enslaved, abused, oppressed and oppressors, and stood eye-to-eye with us and said: “Your sins are forgiven.” And by His Cross, as a man He hung eyelash-to-eyelash with God and us on our behalf and said, “Father, forgive them,” and God responded, “Yes, it is accomplished.” Through Jesus, by His blood and His Spirit, God demonstrates His love and “has reconciled us to Himself,” even when we were His enemies, into a new humanity of the bloodline of Christ where we get to be His family of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (see Romans 5:6-11).
Sermon Scriptures | Acts 2:32-41
In accordance with state and national authorities, we are looking to return to the front lawn of the Fusion Center at 30 Tyler Prentice Road on Saturday, July 11. More details to come. 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.
Call to Worship | Joel 2:28
Pentecost Lament for Ahmaud, Breonna, and George |
We sit before You today, oh Lord, hearts broken, eyes weeping, heads spinning. People made in Your image have been killed, including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. People turned on them in violence and now we are turning to You in prayer. We stand with the Arbery, Taylor, and Floyd families and the African American community. We collapse with all those still weeping on the streets and in their homes. We kneel to bear the burdens in Jesus’ name.
We cry out to You, oh Lord. The violence in our streets continues to break out from our dark hearts. The hatred in our cities has crept into our stubborn minds. The brokenness in our lives has broken out into the lives of others once again. We also pray for our enemies and those who join with the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. We pray we will not react and respond with the deceiver and prince of the power of the air. We pray we will move with the Prince of peace and King of kings. We cry out to You! May Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We cry out for peace in Jesus’ name.
We pray to You today, oh Lord: We pray to the God of all Comfort to comfort those in their mourning. We pray that You would bestow on them a crown of beauty in the ashes. We pray that You would give them the oil of joy in their mourning. We pray that You would give them a garment of praise that protects them against a spirit of despair. We pray for their comfort in Jesus’ name.
We declare together, oh Lord: We will continue to stand and cry and weep with those who weep. We will continue to make a place of peace for even the enemies. We will continue to open our doors and our hearts to those who enter them. We will continue to seek to forgive as we have been forgiven. We will continue to love in Jesus’ name. You taught us that love overcomes evil with good and covers a multitude of sins. We will continue to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind who helps us receive and give Your perfect love that drives out fear.
Jeremy Riddle, 2011 A.D.
Awaken my soul, come awake to hunger, to seek, to thirst.
Awaken first love, come awake and do as You did at first.
Spirit of the living God, come fall afresh on me,
Come wake me from my sleep.
Blow through the caverns of my soul,
Pour in me to overflow, to overflow.
Awaken my soul, come awake
To worship with all your strength. (Chorus)
Come and fill this place, let Your glory now invade!
Awaken my soul, come awake to hunger, to seek, to thirst.
Awaken first love, come awake and do as You did at first.
Spirit of the living God, come fall afresh on me,
Come wake me from my sleep.
Blow through the caverns of my soul,
Pour in me to overflow, to overflow.
Awaken my soul, come awake
To worship with all your strength. (Chorus)
Come and fill this place, let Your glory now invade!
Spirit, come and fill this place,
Let Your glory now invade! (Chorus)
King of Kings
Let Your glory now invade! (Chorus)
King of Kings
Hillsong Music, 2019 A.D.
In the darkness, we were waiting without hope, without light,
Till from heaven You came running. There was mercy in Your eyes
In the darkness, we were waiting without hope, without light,
Till from heaven You came running. There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the Word,
From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt.
Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three-in-one,
From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt.
Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three-in-one,
God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings!
To reveal the Kingdom coming, and to reconcile the lost,
T o redeem the whole creation, You did not despise the cross.
For even in Y our suffering, You saw to the other side.
Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus, for our sake, You died. (Chorus)
And the morning that You rose, all of heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death.
To reveal the Kingdom coming, and to reconcile the lost,
T o redeem the whole creation, You did not despise the cross.
For even in Y our suffering, You saw to the other side.
Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus, for our sake, You died. (Chorus)
And the morning that You rose, all of heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good, for the Lamb had conquered death.
And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe,
For the souls of all who’d come to the Father are restored. ...
And the Church of Christ was born, then the Spirit lit the flame!
Now this Gospel Truth of old shall not kneel, shall not faint!
By His blood and in His Name, in His freedom, I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me! (Chorus)
For the souls of all who’d come to the Father are restored. ...
And the Church of Christ was born, then the Spirit lit the flame!
Now this Gospel Truth of old shall not kneel, shall not faint!
By His blood and in His Name, in His freedom, I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me! (Chorus)
Kim Walker Smith, 2015 A.D.
Our Father, all of Heaven roars Your name
Sing louder, let this place erupt with praise
Can you hear it? The sound of Heaven touching earth,
Sing louder, let this place erupt with praise
Can you hear it? The sound of Heaven touching earth,
The sound of Heaven touching earth!
Spirit break out, break our walls down!
Spirit break out, break our walls down!
Spirit break out, Heaven come down!
King Jesus, You're the name w e're lifting high,
King Jesus, You're the name w e're lifting high,
Your glory shaking up the earth and sky.
Revival, we want to see Your Kingdom here;
We want to see Your Kingdom here!
Your Spirit
Your Spirit
Tasha Cobbs Leonard, 2017 A.D.
Not by might, not by power,
By Your Spirit, God,
Send Your Spirit, God. (Repeat)
You are the fire, we are the temple.
Not by might, not by power,
By Your Spirit, God,
Send Your Spirit, God. (Repeat)
You are the fire, we are the temple.
You are the voice, we are Your song.
You are our God, we are Your people.
You are the light, we stand in awe ...
We stand in awe of You,
We stand in awe of You! (Chorus)
You called us out, out of the darkness
Into Your love, into Your light.
Grace upon grace, beauty for ashes,
You come to us, we come alive.
We stand in awe of You,
We stand in awe of You! (Chorus 2x)
Breathe, come and breathe on us!
Spirit, breathe, come and breathe on us!
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.
You are our God, we are Your people.
You are the light, we stand in awe ...
We stand in awe of You,
We stand in awe of You! (Chorus)
You called us out, out of the darkness
Into Your love, into Your light.
Grace upon grace, beauty for ashes,
You come to us, we come alive.
We stand in awe of You,
We stand in awe of You! (Chorus 2x)
Breathe, come and breathe on us!
Spirit, breathe, come and breathe on us!
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.
Benediction from 2 Corinthians 13:14
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Next post: Pentecost Continued FB Live Introduction, Prayer & Message | I Can't Breathe + We Need the 2nd Wind
To connect with us, please contact info@emmauscitychurch.com
Christ is all,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
Christ is all,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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