A THOUSAND SHORES
Call to Worship: Philippians 2:5-11
GOODNESS OF GOD
O PRAISE THE NAME (ANASTASIS)
Sermon: Matthew 28:16-20, Matthew 26:26-29
The Apostles’ Creed
The Lord’s Supper
THIS I BELIEVE (THE CREED)
Benediction
Grace
17 September: Liturgy + Set List
GRAVES INTO GARDENS
Call to Worship: Romans 11:33-12:2
All we do is give back to God what always has been His. We live in response to the mercy and grace of God by offering our lives as an act of worship. Part of what we do as we gather is reorient our lives around responding to the mercy and grace of God. Let’s do that together as we sing:
ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST
HOLY IS OUR GOD
Sermon: Mark 10:1-12
Scripture says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Some of us have sin that is loud and obvious, all of us have sin that is subtle and subversive and deep in our hearts. As we continue in worship, we’re going to confess our sins to God and one another:
Book of Common Prayer Corporate Confession
Now that we have confessed our sins to God and one another, I want to give you a few moments of silence to consider and confess your own sins.
Brothers and sisters hear the good news: The Lord who loves you says in His word: Go and sin no more.
HOLY FOREVER
LAMB OF GOD
Benediction
Tuesday Refocus: July 11
“The grace of God means something like: ‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.’” - Frederick Buechner
I heard a pastor once articulate grace as undeserved favor, in the face of deserved wrath. Every person on the planet is a recipient of God’s common grace - breath, relationships, beauty, all of these speak to God’s common grace. Those who have a relationship with God through Jesus are recipients of God’s saving grace - because grace is not just a thing, but a person. Christ embodies undeserved favor toward humanity, the face of the wrath our sins deserved (Romans 6:23). And every follower of Jesus is sustained, and perseveres not in our own effort - but through the sustaining grace of God.
In this world, beautiful and terrible things can, will, and do happen. But for followers of Jesus, we never need to be afraid because Christ became forsaken on the cross so that we might never be left or forsaken by Him (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 13:5).
Father, we thank you for the common, saving, and sustaining grace you give in the face of deserved wrath. May we be aware of this beauty in a new fresh way today, in the name of Jesus, amen.
Grace,
AB
30 April: Liturgy + Set List [Life Church]
HOW GREAT THOU ART
Call to Worship: Ephesians 2:1-10
If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, you can rest and rejoice in the saving and sustaining grace of God toward you. We are going about and from those truths this morning. This is a song that we have not sung together before, but may be familiar to you already…
ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST
YET NOT I, BUT THROUGH CHRIST IN ME
Sermon: Mark 7:1-23
Communion
The Apostles’ Creed
FORGIVEN FOREVER
Benediction
November 22: Tuesday Refocus
“Jesus transforms our hearts by service, not by power.” - Tim Keller
The weeks of Thanksgiving into the season of Advent are an opportunity for followers of Jesus to remember once more, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). All is gift. All is grace.
The arrival of Christ into our world was not marked by power.
It was marked by service. Because, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).”
Christ transforms our hearts because He has first served us by emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, humbling himself, and becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:7-8). Christ transforms our hearts once more when we seek to serve others as Christ has first served us.
Lord, may this upcoming Advent season be a time of heart transformation as we see how You have first loved and served us. Amen.
In service,
AB
31 July: Liturgy + Set List
ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
Call to Worship: Psalm 121
If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, you need to know that the One who upholds the universe by the word of His power, is the same One who holds you and keeps your life. Whether your life has been or will be marked by sorrow and suffering, joy and celebration, there never has and will never be a moment where you have not been pursued by the steadfast love, grace, and mercy of God. Let’s sing those truths together:
GOODNESS OF GOD
HYMN OF HEAVEN
Sermon: James 5:19-20
One of our core values here at Life Church is ‘We belong together.’ And we belong together not because we meet in this room once a week, or because we share preferences or interests in common. Not because of our background or education, our family of origin, or our education, not because of our ethnicity or political affiliation. If you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, we belong together because we share the same Father. We have been adopted into the family of God through the blood of Christ. Let’s stand and celebrate our adoption through Christ’s completed work:
SON OF SUFFERING
Benediction: Jude 1:24-25
Connecting Songs and Sermons
There is a critical 90 seconds every Sunday morning. That sliver of time between the end of the sermon, and the song. Part of our role as worship leaders is to connect what happens on a Sunday morning with all of life. To make sense of what we have heard in the Word preached, to fuel our worship in song and response. But many worship leaders struggle to feel competent and capable when it comes to speaking and communicating verbally to the congregation. If you struggle with knowing how to take advantage of those moments to hit home with the pieces of the sermon, and connect them to the songs of response, here are some suggestions:
Listen to the sermon. Be present and engaged, even taking notes of things you want to remember personally, and want to communicate to the congregation following the sermon. Don’t use the sermon as a time to check out mentally, or physically.
Read the text beforehand. Spend time in the particular Scripture passage being taught in your own time of preparation for Sunday morning. What do you see? What do you notice about who God is, what He has done, and how He has called us to live?
Speak with the preacher. Find out where the preacher is headed for the weekend. What are some of the main points? Any additional passages they will be using? How are they wanting to land the sermon? What is the one thing they hope people remember and take away from the weekend?
Connect everything to Jesus. Read the Jesus Storybook Bible. Sally Lloyd Jones does an amazing job of connecting every story to Jesus. How does the sermon/text and the morning point our lives, and lift our eyes to Christ?
Plan beforehand. After speaking with the preacher, and spending time in the text, and considering your final song(s), write down some thoughts about how you could connect the songs and sermon verbally. Practice speaking out loud to get used to hearing yourself connect and communicate in that way.
Write it down. As you continue to grow as a verbal communicator, write everything down. You can manuscript what you want to communicate so that you don’t miss any part of what you intended to say. Reading something that is written, will help to build confidence and familiarity, rather than trying to hold everything in your mind, and stumbling over your words.
Remember there is grace as we grow. Let’s not miss the opportunity to take those critical 90 seconds and point people to Jesus.
October 27: Tuesday Refocus
‘His grace enables us to respond to Him with daily lives of total worship.’ – Marva Dawn
Have you ever wondered if you’ve reached the end of God’s grace?
Traveled too far,
too long,
and this is where the road of God’s graces finally ends?
As one pastor described, ‘Grace is undeserved favor, in the face of deserved wrath.’ Grace is not merely something given, but Someone given. Grace is Jesus. And ‘…from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (Jn 1:16).’ There is no end to grace because there is no end to Christ. The One who is not made unclean by sinners, but makes sinners clean (Lk 8:43-48, Matt 14:36).
This indeed is grace upon grace.
We have no need to presume upon God’s kindness and character when we realize we are swimming in oceans of His grace (Rom 2:4). And it is this revelation of God’s grace that enables us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices in response to the givenness of Christ on our behalf (Rom 12, Eph 5:2).
Lord, in our sin and brokenness, there is more than enough grace. In our weariness with COVID-19, there is more than enough grace. During an election season and divided days, there is more than enough grace. For this very moment, there is more than enough grace. Thank you, in Your name, amen.
In grace,
AB
10 October: Tuesday Refocus
‘All truth, no grace… we dry up.
All grace, no truth… we blow up.
Truth and grace… we grow up.’ – Scotty Smith
This is my prayer for each of us, that grace and truth will be inseparable in our lives. And this marriage will be reflected in our demeanor and attitude, in our posture of serving, and in our words, actions and thoughts towards our families, friends, and the family of God. Oh, that Truth would pierce our hearts with floods of grace! Would you pray that with me this week?
AB