New Hope At Worship - 10 Feb 2008

Interesting Sunday at New Hope. We have had so many people out sick the last few weeks that I've wondered about providing everyone with webcams and going internet church, or equipping people with masks and antibacterial sprays. But Sunday dawned with beautiful weather and we enjoyed a pretty good crowd.

Worship Theme - Red Letters, Living A Faith That Bleeds
Scriptural Passages of Focus: Matthew 5:17-48

Here I Am To Worship
How Can I Keep From Singing
Call Upon His Name
A Shield About Me
Have Thine Own Way

Sunday night, we ditched our small groups in favor of worship. Here's the layout below.

EVENING WORSHIP FEBRUARY 10, 2008
(I had arranged the chairs in a circle as much as I could with the communion table in the middle. The "elements" were freshly baked bread (thanks Diane) from a bread maker that was cooking all afternoon and had filled the sanctuary with the aroma, and Welch's in typical plastic cups. The lighting was subdued. I handed out a paper on which I had listed every Scripture dealing with relationships between believers.)

PRAYER

VIDEO – SING TO JESUS – FERNANDO ORTEGA (off You Tube, downloaded with Download helper extension and played with the free VLC player) if you haven't seen it, go and prepare to worship.

HYMN: “COME YE SINNERS, POOR AND NEEDY” - Bunny sang (first time ever in a lead way at church - and it was great) and Sean played and did a great job adding some Appalachian feel to it. Raw, sparse, and rare. Very affecting.

MEDITATE ON SCRIPTURE (I asked those present to take a minute or two to look over the list of Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to them through it, examining their practices of these admonitions and instructions.)

FIRST READING

"Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other."

Romans 12:4-10, NLT.

TESTIMONIES OF GOD’S GRACE - note: We actually did have people give testimonies of what God had done in their lives through others who were there. New Hope is normally not very demonstrative and this was a major big deal.

SECOND READING

"Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 1:21-2:5, NLT.

VIDEO – IF WE ARE THE BODY – CASTING CROWNS ( Again off You Tube. It was a slide show with the music behind it. A little jarring since it was more rock than what we had heard up to this point, but that was my intention.)

PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION

VIDEO – LORD HAVE MERCY (Bunny had created a slide show to run along with the song by Eaghmon Haslip, and it was awesome)

PERSONAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION ( I read the scripture where Paul asks those present at the Lord's Supper to examine themselves given what they have been doing when they gathered for the Lord's Supper) Then we prayed.

EACH PERSON COMES AND TAKES COMMUNION WHEN THEY ARE READY. BREAK OFF A PIECE OF BREAD AND TAKE A CUP OF GRAPE JUICE. (We had NEVER done this before)

HYMN: GIVE ME JESUS – FERNANDO ORTEGA (We sang this as a closing hymn.)

CLOSING PRAYER

I was grateful to be in worship yesterday. The Spirit really moved.