The day the time changed.
My pastor friends were asking, "did the time change hurt you guys?" My answer was "maybe, but people out sick and out of town hurt more." There's so much lingering sickness in the area, still.
Beautiful day.
Our music today:
The Heart of Worship - classic to prepare to be in God's presence
True Worship Song - really enjoy this one
Your Name - awesome song
Come Thou Fount - tied in so well with the message
I Surrender All - all
And a special musical offering by our littlest praise team members: "I'll Fly Away".
The message came from Matthew 7:13-29 - the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was testing His congregation to see if they understood what He was asking them to do and challenging them with choice and consequences. I really felt that God was dealing with some people as we went through the wringer together.
Sunday night: We continued our special worship meeting for pre-Easter. I distributed several pieces to be used in worship. "Guilty" name badges, a stripe of red ribbon, and a sheet of Scriptures telling of God's love for us. The name badges were placed on at the beginning of worship and taken off and placed on the cross as we came to take communion. The ribbons were to represent the "stripes by which we are healed".
EVENING WORSHIP MARCH 9, 2008
Worship Theme: “Loved”
Opening Prayer
Intro: “The Truth” - (grabbed this video off Youth Specialties site - very impactful)
By Any Means Necessary – Reading 1
Hosea 1:2 says: When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord."
Video – “How Deep the Father’s Love” - Fernando Ortega - You Tube
Go, show your love again – Reading 2
Hosea 3:1-3 says: The Lord said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."
[2] So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about [10 bushels] of barley. [3] Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."
Video: What does Love Sound Like? - Worship media purchase - worked well
Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. [10] This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
What does love look like?
(Now we focused on the stripes)
John 15:13 (HCSB) No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION
Video: In Christ Alone - Great hymn set to images from the Passion of the Christ - You Tube
PERSONAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
EACH PERSON COMES AND TAKES COMMUNION WHEN THEY ARE READY. TAKE A PIECE OF BREAD AND TAKE A CUP OF GRAPE JUICE. WHEN WE ALL HAVE THEM, WE WILL FIRST EAT THE BREAD, THEN DRINK THE JUICE.
1 John 4:16a (NIV)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
To wrap things up, I played a video of a guy who calls himself "Juan Mann" who goes to public places offering "Free Hugs". I prefaced it by saying "love wins". Great and inspiring. - You Tube
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