Saturday, March 13, 2021

Lent Deeply Formed Life Message + Mass @ Home | Revelation 19:1-9: Sexual Wholeness for a Culture that Separates Bodies from Souls

 


The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus by Rich Villodas Book Cover


The Gospel offers us a banquet, a feast ... This is an invitation – whether single or married – to a life of communion, joy, and delight. ... The love of God doesn’t remove our desires; it reorders them. The banquet or feast is the recognition that we were created for ecstasy but that this ecstasy is found only in God. He is the ultimate source of our lives, joy, and sexual desire. ... In Jesus, the banquet is embodied as well as offered. + Rich Villodas, The Deeply Formed Life


Previous 2021 Lenten Deeply Formed Messages + Masses:


Story of God Liturgy Flow | Creation, Crisis, Covenant Community, Christ, Church, (New) Creation


(1) Creation


Call to Worship | Psalm 107:1-2, 19-21 + Our World Belongs to God (34)

 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; Hs love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—those He redeemed from the hand of the foe ... they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He sent His Word and healed them; He rescued them from their traps. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His faithful love and His wondrous works for all humanity.

One: In our world, where many journey alone, nameless in the bustling crowd, Satan and his evil forces seek whom they may scatter and isolate; but God, by His gracious choosing in Christ, gathers a new community—those who by God’s gift put their trust in Christ.

All: In the new community all are welcome: the homeless come home, the broken find healing, the sinner makes a new start, the despised are esteemed, the least are honored, and the last are first. Here the Spirit guides and grace abounds.

King of My Heart
John Mark & Sarah McMillan, 2015 A.D.

Let the King of my heart be the mountain where I run,
The fountain I drink from; O He is my song.
Let the King of my heart be the shadow where I hide,

You are good, good, oh! You are good, good, oh!
You are good, good, oh! You are good, good, oh!

Let the King of my heart be the wind inside my sails,
The anchor in the waves; O, He is my song.
Let the King of my heart be the fire inside my veins,
And the echo of my days; O, He is my song! 
(Chorus)

You’re never gonna let, never gonna let me down!

(2) Crisis


Prayer of Confession + Assurance | 

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us sinners ...

One: O God, King of our hearts, You are good. Thank you for sexuality. Be our song. King Jesus, forgive us for any attitude toward or practice of sexuality that has not honored You as Creator, Redeemer, Liberator & Husband to Your Bride, the Church. 
All: Forgive us for ways we have undermined sexuality that gives You glory. 

One: Forgive us for any way we have related to single or married people that diminishes how each, and all of us together, point to the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. 
All: Forgive us for any harmful ways we have related to any sexual minority that does not honor each person as our neighbor, made in Your image. 

One: We repent if we have harmed anyone, or ignored any of Your good commands. 
All: Holy Spirit, continue to transform us by Jesus’ love, grace, and truth.

(3) Covenant Community


Sermon Video | Sexual Wholeness for a Culture that Separates Bodies from Souls

Sermon Scriptures | Revelation 19:1-9

Sermon Quote |

" ... if Jesus indeed is fully human, He must be fully sexual as well. To be sexual doesn't mean to be sexually active, nor does it mean that Jesus lusted after others. He is the sinless Son of God, who fully participated in the human experience. We tend to believe that unless one is having intercourse with another person, his or her sexuality is not fully manifested. But that is not true. Jesus lives the human experience to the full, connecting with others intimately, compassionately, and sacrificially. In His death and in the Eucharist, He offers His body as a gift. Jesus enters into loving union with others throughout His life and in so doing communes with the Father. The inverse is also true: Jesus lives in loving union with the Father and in so doing communes with the world. This is the banquet. Although it is true that sexual intercourse, flowing from the sacred context of marital covenantal love, is a beautiful sign of God's love, it is not the only way to living one's sexuality to the fullest. ... "

+ Rich Villodas, The Deeply Formed Life

Sermon Questions |

1) How do we honor our bodies? How do we honor the bodies of others?
2) How can we reject in our daily lives the scripts, lies, and disordered appetites that entrench us in deeply de-formed ways?
3) How can we work toward wholeness, healing, integrity, and love in this area of our lives?
4) How do we love God well with our bodies and with our sexuality? ... "

Additional Sermon Resources |

+ Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations About Sexuality and Spirituality 
by Deb Hirsch

+ Breaking the Marriage Idol: Reconstructing Our Cultural and Spiritual Norms 
by Kutter Callaway

+ No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation 
by Gregory Coles

+ An Impossible Marriage: What Our Mixed-Orientation Marriage Has Taught Us About Love and the Gospel 
by Laurie and Matt Krieg

+ Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian 
by Wesley Hill
 
(4) Christ



Christ has died. Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

The Feast
William Gadsby, 1838 A.D.

With wondering eyes, Lord we admire the feast prepared by grace; Come, Lord, and set our souls on fire, and fill each heart with peace. These emblems of Your precious love, by faith may we receive.
And with a solemn pleasure prove, we in Your name believe.

We eat this bread, we drink this wine, 
Come give Yourself to us.
We know You’re here, that’s why we’ve come, 
To feast on You with love.

No goodness of our own we bring; we’re sinners vile and base; Christ is our all; of Christ we sing, and long to see His face.
O may we each with heart and tongue sing, “Worthy is the Lamb!”; To Him alone the praise belongs, and we’ll adore His name. 
(Chorus)

(5) Church


Getting Ready
Maverick City + UPPERROOM, 2020 A.D.

What an honor to be invited to the marriage of the Lamb, 
To come and worship Him.
Celebration, it’s the joining of the Bride and the Son,
The two becoming one.
All the prophecies fulfilled in a moment, so we sing ...

Like the roar of many waters, 
Like the sound of rolling thunder, 
Hallelujah, give Him glory 
For the marriage of the Lamb is coming! 
We’re getting ready, we're getting ready ...

Filled with wonder as we behold the man with fire in His eyes, 
The very Word of God.
You are worthy, every kingdom, every nation bowing down, 
We’ll crown You with many crowns.
Every creed and tribe and tongue declaring in unity ... 
(Chorus)

We’ll shout ‘til the whole world hears it,
We’ll sing ‘til the whole world knows,
"King Jesus, He is faithful! He is the blessed hope!"

(6) New Creation


Benediction 

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you 
until He returns to make all things new.

Lectionary Readings
 
Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21




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

Additional Links for Deeply Formed Life Lent 2021:


Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

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