Sunday July 28

As you prepare for Sunday let nothing keep you from being among your gathered church.  As you come be prepared to worship by considering our sermon, scripture, prayer, songs and our response .

The Sermon;

As we gather this  week we continue our journey through the life of Moses. Sunday we will explore bread from heaven and water from a rock in Exodus 16 and 17 Come expecting to be reminded of the certainty of God's provision and fulfillment of His redemptive purpose in the lives of His chosen people.

The Scripture;

Two our pastor/leaders, Danny Moore and Ryan Mckay will be reading scripture.  Each Sunday in July we are reading from Romans and from Pslam.  Tomorrow we will read from Romans 13 and Psalm 25.  As your pastors/leaders read these text pay special attention to the perfect plan for our salvation and the amazing greatness of our God and Creator.

The Prayers;

Our pastors will lead in focused prayer that our hearts be made ready to receive the Gospel and that our passion for God will become the goal and ambition of our hearts, that we may battle sin by pursuing the superior pleasure of making much of God.

The Songs;

We desire the single identifiable characteristic of the music is the singing of the gathered church. Tomorrow our songs will be:

Come thou all mighty King - as we acknowledge God's sovereign role as supreme King over all. This song helps lead us to a correct understanding of the nature of God and how we are to understand ourselves in light of that nature.

At the Cross- this glorious hymn speaks of the atonement of our Lord and of the sin that is ours which makes that atonement a necessity in our life. This song clearly reminds us of our sinful nature.

Wonderful merciful Saviour- what a wonderful response to our sinful estate!  A wonderful merciful Saviour who completely accomplishes our total redemption.  He makes it as though we have never sinned!  We are clean and able to enjoy God for eternity. 

I'd rather have Jesus- this song is our response to the glory of God, the reality of our sin and the joy of our salvation.  We respond by acknowledging we desire Jesus over all else.  Our hearts, our goals and our ambitions are changed from the profane to the holy.  

As  in chapter 6 of Isaiah where the prophet sees God high and lifted up in the temple, so we sing Come thou almighty King. As Isaiah was made aware of his sin by acknowledging his unclean lips, so we sing At the Cross.  As Isaiah felt the coal from the alter purge his sin, we sing Wonderful merciful Saviour. And as Isaiah responded by saying "here am I send me" we respond by singing I'd Rather have Jesus.  Please come ready to sing as the gathered church to celebrate our God and our salvation.  The singing of the church is our liturgy as we corporately make much of God.

Expectation;

Come tomorrow expecting God to renew your mind as you hear His word, sing His praises and pray with passion. Come ready to celebrate the freedom from bondage that is the reality of all who are redeemed.

Worship July 21, 2013

As we gather tomorrow morning 

The Sermon
As we gathered this week we continue our journey through the life of Moses. Tomorrow will explore the amazing story of Moses and the Children of Israel after crossing the Red Sea.   You would think after that experience the Children of Israel would never again doubt God's power and protection but as we will see it didn't take long for the fear of the future overcame the victory of the past.  Just like us.  Tomorrow come expecting to be reminded of the certainty of the peace and protection of the Children of God, the redeemed ones.

The Scripture
Two our pastor/leaders, Danny Moore and Ryan McKay will be reading scripture.  Each Sunday in July we are reading from Romans and from Psalms.  Tomorrow we will read from Romans 13 and Psalm 25.  As your pastors/leaders read these texts pay special attention to the perfect plan for our salvation and the amazing greatness of our God and Creator.

The Prayers
Our pastors will lead in focused prayer that our hearts be made ready to receive the Gospel and that our passion for God will become the goal and ambition of our hearts, that we may battle sin by pursuing the superior pleasure of making much of God.

The Songs

We desire the single identifiable characteristic of our music to be the singing of the gathered church. Tomorrow our songs will be: Behold our God, which speaks of the glory and awesome power of God.   This song will lead our hearts to praise God as we truly see Him in all His majesty

I Ask The Lord- this wonderful song speaks to our constant request that God bring us peace, yet it is not until He brings us to the place where we forsake all else and trust Him alone that we can indeed find true peace.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent- this song brings to our heart the reality of God's glorious power and salvation.  We are reminded of the depth of our sin and the heights of our salvation

Abide with Me-  this song reminds us that even though we as the redeemed have been saved from sin and death, we daily, moment by moment need to be aware of the power that has saved and continues to save us.  As the children of Israel needed to be aware of the continual saving power of God even after crossing the Red Sea, so do we.

Expectation
Come tomorrow expecting God to renew your mind as you hear His word, sing His praises and pray with passion. Come ready to celebrate the freedom from bondage that is the reality of all who are redeemed.

Our pastoral intern Stephen and his wife Madison and little Melody will be leaving Kansas City in two weeks to move to San Diego where Steven will begin his study for his master in theology degree from Westminster Seminary.  We want to provide a love gift to this fine young couple to help defray the cost of the move to San Diego.  Please simply indicate Steven on your gift or use the basket that will be on the platform before and after worship tomorrow and July 28.  They leave for California on July 29.  We are proud and blessed to be sending and sponsoring this fine couple as they take this next step on their ministry journey.

JM

Preparing for Worship 7-14-21

Preparing ourselves for gathered worship

July 14, 2013

Crossing the Red Sea

 

The Sermon

As we gathered this week we continue our journey through the life of Moses.  Tomorrow will explore the amazing story of Moses and the Children of Israel crossing the Red Sea.  I admit it will be hard to sleep tonight knowing the thrilling narrative that I am privileged to share with you in the morning. God freed His people from Egypt and He placed them in a situation where they were powerless to save themselves and God saved  them and destroyed their enemy.  Just exactly as He has done for us! 

 

The Scripture

Two our pastor/leaders, Danny Moore and Nathan Sanderse will be reading scripture.  Each Sunday in July we are reading from Romans 12.  Our passage for tomorrow is Romans 12:9-21.  As this text is read tomorrow consider Paul’s desire that as followers of Jesus who have experienced the Gospel in our lives we live our lives as those who love without limits as God loved us without limits.   We will also continue our reading in the Psalm.  Last Sunday we read the familiar Psalm 23 and this week will move into Psalm 24 where we will be made aware of the glory and majesty of our God.

 

 The Prayers

Our pastors will lead in focused prayer that our hearts be made ready to receive the Gospel and that our passion for God will become the goal and ambition of our hearts, that we may battle sin by pursuing the superior pleasure of making much of God.

 

The Songs

We desire the single identifiable characteristic of the music is the singing of the gathered church.  Tomorrow we will have an all acoustical worship experience with guitar, banjo, violin and blended voices leading us in singing.  We understand the singing of the gathered church to be our liturgy.  This is where we raise our voices together to make much of God.  Tomorrow our songs will be:

 

Indescribable – by Chris Tomlin speaks of the glory and awesome power of God.  It contains a phrase I use frequently when seeking to describe God’s power “You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name”.  This song will lead our hearts to praise God in all His amazing and indescribable glory

 

Oh Help my Unbelief – by John Newton, this great hymn was written by the former slave trader who after his conversion became a tireless leader of the movement to abolish slavery in Great Britain.  The writer of many great hymns including of course “Amazing Grace”.  This song reveals to us the truth of our desperate need of salvation and continued need of the grace of God.

 

Nothing But the Blood –by Robert Lowry, this hymn written well over 100 years ago has been sung by millions of Christians to express what we know to be true, only the blood of Jesus can provide our salvation.  This song draws our attention to the solution of our unbelief, the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus, the pure Lamb of God.

 

Here I am to Worship –by Chris Tomlin, this song provides our response to the glory of God, the realization of our sin and the embracing of the salvation that atones for our sin.  When we are made aware of God’s glory, our sin and our redemption from that sin we will desire to respond with our lives, with service, with obedience.   As we sing this song it reveals the appropriate response to a holy God who for His glory has saved us from ourselves and from the sin that enslaved us.  As God saved His people from Egyptian slavery He has saved us, the redeemed from a much greater slavery, the slavery to sin and to death.  Our response to that salvation is that of Isaiah who responded after God purged his sin with the proclamation “here I am Lord, Send me.”

 

Expectation

Come tomorrow expecting God to renew your mind as you hear His word, sing His praises and pray with passion.   Come ready to celebrate the freedom from bondage that is the reality of all who are redeemed.