Sunday Morning Worship 05.31.2020

There is something pretty awesome about knowing that you are worshiping alongside your church family, singing, praying, listening to the Word, and even partaking of communion at the same time. We invite and encourage you to do that if it can work for you.

4 simple steps to worship at home this Sunday

1. Watch the sermon video

The next few weeks we are changing things just a bit. There will there will no longer be a musical worship video. Just start with the sermon video. You will find this video at the top of this page. Just hit the triangle play button in the middle of the video.

This starts our new series called “Hope Unveiled” about how to understand apocalyptic literature in the Bible. This first sermon is called “Hope or Fear” and is from Mark 13:1-23.

We also have a new podcast available. You can listen by clicking below.

 

2. Take Communion At Home

Though the typical way we partake of communion is together on Sunday mornings, there are other beautiful ways that it can be practiced. Right now, we unfortunately don’t have the opportunity to congregate. So, we will be taking communion at home. The first Lord’s Supper was actually taken in a house, in an upper room, by Jesus and his disciples. As we adjust to this new method, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• We are still participating in communion together, though we are apart. When you take the Lord’s Supper, you do so with all the saints in Christ. Communion unites believers in Christ, and also unites the whole Body with Christ, the Head of the Church.
• Use whatever you have—it can still be sacred! Any kind of bread or cracker will do (unleavened bread is great, but Wonder Bread works too). As for juice, grape is preferable, but you can use another kind that you have on hand (or water, if there’s no juice). True story: I ordered grape juice from Wal-Mart; they were out, they gave me diet strawberry-watermelon juice. You use what you’ve got.
• Prepare your hearts to receive the bread and the cup, Christ’s body and blood. We aren’t going to be doing weekly communion meditations as of now, so I highly recommend reading the following scripture out loud:
• 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
• Frequently, we treat communion in a very solemn manner; sometimes even a bit somber. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this; the Lord’s Supper ought to be treated with respect. However, we do sometimes lose sight of the fact that this is a celebratory meal. Take this opportunity at home to focus on the celebration of communion. Talk about how Christ is working within you, what Christ is teaching you, and openly proclaim to one another how the Resurrected Christ is alive, both in your home and in the world.

If you have any questions, you are always more than welcome to reach out and ask! Also, if you need any help acquiring any of the emblems, or if you’d like a prepped communion kit with the bread and cups that you’re used to from our normal services, we would be more than happy to accommodate you. Come, let us commune with one another through the breaking of bread.

Luke 24:30-31a — When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them; then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

Print This For At Home Use

3. Give

We hope you will consider giving generously. We have made it easier with multiple options for giving, including mail, ACH and now online giving. You can also continue to give food to God’s Storehouse. We are currently meeting the urgent needs of those around us, both in our church family and our community.

You Can Give From Home

4. Pray

 

Sunday School

Beyond the Bible, Episode 2

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Kaleb has started a brand new series called “Beyond the Bible” (BTB for short). It tackles a whole bunch of Bible-adjacent topics, looking at the historical context that surrounds the Bible. This week we look at the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient documents discovered less than 75 years ago, which pushed back our oldest Old Testament manuscripts by over 1000 years! And that wasn’t the only thing discovered…