We encourage you to read and reflect on these scriptures, songs, notes, and prayers as we look forward to our time of worship together this coming Sunday.

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Please print this guide or have it handy in digital format for use during the service.

And don’t forget to join us Sunday immediately following the service in our virtual foyer for a group video chat! It’s easy to join! Just click here.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Come one and all, young and old, let us gather—
We come and worship!
Even if you’re tired and worn out—
We come and worship!
To lay down the heavy things we are carrying—
We come and worship!
Listen to what Jesus wants to tell us—
We come and worship!
See if you can discover how Jesus wants to use you—
We come and worship!
For Jesus is humble and gentle, and he will give us everything we need to follow him.

MUSIC: NONE BUT THEE

CCLI #6291877 | Eric J. Marshall and John Fellows © 2011
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CONFESSIONAL PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Almighty God,
to You all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from You no secrets are hid.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love You
and worthily magnify Your holy name,
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

You are invited to hold your hands out, palm-up as we receive His grace.

There is now no condemnation for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ!
We no longer have to live under the threat of God’s judgment.
For through Jesus, we have been freed from the tyranny of sin and death.
For Jesus did what the law could never do.
He personally took on the human condition, entering into the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all.
Through him we have been set free!

All: Thanks be to God

MUSIC: KING OF KINGS

CCLI #7127647 | Brooke Ligertwood, Jason Ingram, and Scott Ligertwood © 2018
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

WORD

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No Condemnation

Sermon Scripture: Romans 8:1-4 (NRSV)

RECAP
Week One: Sovereignty is not about control, but about the ability of God to take the raw material of our lives and bring about new creation.

Week Two: Christian hope is rooted in resurrection. Resurrection is the ability of God to set things on a new course. That which seemed dead is given new life because of the redemptive purposes of God in the world and in our lives.

Week Three: We live in a body subject to death because of sin, but the spirit that brings life lives inside of us! This has opened up a new way of life for us!

Week Four: The flesh is the way of selfishness while the spirit is the way of self-giving love.

THE LAW OF SIN
What is the law of sin that Paul refers to in verse two?
The law of sin is a way of talking about sin as a power or principle.

“I gladly agree with the Law on the inside, but I see a different law at work in my body. It wages a war against the law of my mind and takes me prisoner with the law of sin that is in my body. I’m a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?” -Romans 7:22-24 (CEB)

Paul agrees with the Law of God in his mind (capital L – referring to the law given to Moses), but notices that there is another law (principle) at work in his body. He admits to the tension and says, “I’m miserable!”

In our context we might say, “I agree with the ways of the Kingdom of God in my mind, but I find there is another power at work within me that keeps me from it.”

Sin is a power that enslaves us.

Sin is personified in Romans 8 in the same way the Ring of Power is personified in the Lord of the Rings books and films.

THE POWER OF SIN BROKEN
“For God has done what the law….could not do by sending his own Son….to deal with sin.” (vs. 3)

God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus in order to break the power of sin in our lives! Therefore, we no longer stand condemned under the power of sin! Just as the power of the ring had to be exhausted in the fires of Mount Doom, so sin entered into the life and body of Jesus and its power was exhausted!

Since sin has been condemned, there is no condemnation for us! We once lived under a power too strong for us to defeat on our own, but thanks be to God that power has been defeated and we are no longer condemned!

There is no doubt about God’s verdict about you – he is for you! You don’t have to live in fear of God or judgement.

The passage closes with this: So that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us! We are free to live according to our lone allegiance which is Christ and the Kingdom.

We must cultivate this freedom through worship, prayer, spiritual disciplines and habits.

TABLE

Prepare the elements of “bread” and “wine” for use as we gather around The Lord’s Table. These can be any items convenient around the home that symbolize these for you. 

CONFESSION OF THE MYSTERY OF FAITH

Christ has died.
Christ is risen. 
Christ will come again.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

As we pray together, we invite you to share your own requests and testimonies with us this week. If you have a request you can share it live in our video stream chat, or you may email us at emmausroadfc@gmail.com

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in heaven,
        hallowed be your Name,
        your kingdom come,
        your will be done,
        on earth as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins
        as we forgive those
        who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, 
        and deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, 
        and the power,
        and the glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

BENEDICTION

You are invited to hold your hands out, palm-up as we receive this benediction.

May you trust in God’s promises to his people:peace, security, blessing, even when they are difficult to believe.
May you know that God’s news is good news, nourishing, true, even when people tell you it is not.
And when you encounter doubt, may God strengthen your belief guiding you in his perfect wisdom and counsel.