Blog Archives - Emmaus Road Church https://emmausroadfc.org/category/blog-posts/ Fort Collins Fri, 24 Dec 2021 19:00:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://emmausroadfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ER-ICON-270-66x66.png Blog Archives - Emmaus Road Church https://emmausroadfc.org/category/blog-posts/ 32 32 Advent Christmas – Christ Is Born https://emmausroadfc.org/advent-2021-christmas-christ-is-born/ Fri, 24 Dec 2021 19:00:00 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27876 Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week's candle. If you do not have an

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Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy

Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week’s candle.

If you do not have an Advent Wreath, any candle will do. We encourage you to seek out an Advent Wreath our future release next week.

Listen

Engage

Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV)

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Discussion Guide

Other Ways to Listen and Share

You may subscribe to the Emmaus Road Church Podcast feed to have these special episodes delivered automatically to your Podcast app of choice.

Additionally, you may listen to the episode of the podcast here on this page, just click the play button.

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Advent Week 4 – Love https://emmausroadfc.org/advent-2021-week-4-love/ Sun, 19 Dec 2021 19:00:00 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27874 Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week's candle. If you do not have an

The post Advent Week 4 – Love appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy

Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week’s candle.

If you do not have an Advent Wreath, any candle will do. We encourage you to seek out an Advent Wreath our future release next week.

Listen

Engage

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12 (NIV)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Discussion Guide

Other Ways to Listen and Share

You may subscribe to the Emmaus Road Church Podcast feed to have these special episodes delivered automatically to your Podcast app of choice.

Additionally, you may listen to the episode of the podcast here on this page, just click the play button.

The post Advent Week 4 – Love appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Week 3 – Joy https://emmausroadfc.org/advent-2021-week-3-joy/ Sun, 12 Dec 2021 19:00:00 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27872 Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week's candle. If you do not have an

The post Advent Week 3 – Joy appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy

Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week’s candle.

If you do not have an Advent Wreath, any candle will do. We encourage you to seek out an Advent Wreath our future release next week.

Listen

Engage

Scripture: Luke 1:39-49 (NIV)

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.

Discussion Guide

Other Ways to Listen and Share

You may subscribe to the Emmaus Road Church Podcast feed to have these special episodes delivered automatically to your Podcast app of choice.

Additionally, you may listen to the episode of the podcast here on this page, just click the play button.

The post Advent Week 3 – Joy appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Week 2 – Peace https://emmausroadfc.org/advent-2021-week-2-peace/ Sun, 05 Dec 2021 19:00:00 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27870 Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week's candle. If you do not have an

The post Advent Week 2 – Peace appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy

Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week’s candle.

If you do not have an Advent Wreath, any candle will do. We encourage you to seek out an Advent Wreath our future release next week.

Listen

Engage

Scripture: Luke 2:13-14 (NIV)

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Discussion Guide

Other Ways to Listen and Share

You may subscribe to the Emmaus Road Church Podcast feed to have these special episodes delivered automatically to your Podcast app of choice.

Additionally, you may listen to the episode of the podcast here on this page, just click the play button.

The post Advent Week 2 – Peace appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Week 1 – Hope https://emmausroadfc.org/advent-2021-week-1-hope/ Sun, 28 Nov 2021 19:00:00 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27867 Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week's candle. If you do not have an

The post Advent Week 1 – Hope appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Advent Wreath Candle Lighting Liturgy

Please use the media and links below to join in a short reflection and Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy. If you have an Advent Wreath with candles, you are all set, listen to the audio program and follow the instructions for lighting this week’s candle.

If you do not have an Advent Wreath, any candle will do. We encourage you to seek out an Advent Wreath our future release next week.

Listen

Engage

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Discussion Guide

Other Ways to Listen and Share

You may subscribe to the Emmaus Road Church Podcast feed to have these special episodes delivered automatically to your Podcast app of choice.

Additionally, you may listen to the episode of the podcast here on this page, just click the play button.

The post Advent Week 1 – Hope appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Ekidz Re-Opening https://emmausroadfc.org/ekidz-reopening-2021/ Mon, 19 Apr 2021 19:52:21 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27718 We are excited to announce that our Ekidz classrooms will be opening back up on the following dates. COVID protocols will be in place to help keep children and volunteers healthy as our kids re-enter the classroom. Here is the schedule for opening: May 2nd - Pioneers (Nursery) May 16th - Explorers (Pre-K) May 30th

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We are excited to announce that our Ekidz classrooms will be opening back up on the following dates. COVID protocols will be in place to help keep children and volunteers healthy as our kids re-enter the classroom. Here is the schedule for opening:

May 2nd – Pioneers (Nursery)

May 16th – Explorers (Pre-K)

May 30th – Path-Venturers (Combined Elementary)  

EKIDZ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

If you are interested in helping in any of our Ekidz classrooms, please contact Pastor Grace.

NEW CLASSROOM LOCATIONS!
See video below…..

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Worship Resources for Sunday, March 21st https://emmausroadfc.org/worship-resource-20210321/ Sat, 20 Mar 2021 04:04:16 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27691 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.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, March 21st appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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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.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join in on the bolded lines.

The Lord is making a new covenant with the people of God.
Here in this place, Christ writes the law of love on our hearts.
We are children of the living God.
Together, let us worship the Lord of Love!

MUSIC: REJOICE

CCLI #7004663 | Dustin Kensrue and Stuart Townend © 2013
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

MUSIC: GREAT IS OUR GOD

CCLI #6291530 | Eric J. Marshall © 2011
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CORPORATE PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.
(BCP, Lent 5)

MUSIC: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

CCLI #5196100 | Thomas Obediah Chisholm
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

WORD

Lamentations: The Fourth Poem
Lamentations 4:2-9 (NLT)

Intro
The fourth poem of Lamentations makes comparisons between the way things were in the past and the way things are now in the siege.
-Children used to play in the streets and laugh
together, but now they are left to beg for food.
-The wealthy used to eat fancy meals, only to find themselves scavenging for food along the ground.

-The leaders of the city we once filled with splendor, but now are dirty, ragged, and unrecognizable.
Chapter four takes a deeper dive into lament.

Three Observations

  1. The need for lament continues for as long as injustice and sin continue. Life doesn’t always resolve the way we want or hope.

    While life is not a formula of predictable outcomes, we can rest in the hope of redemption. Lament IS NOT the loss of hope, but an expression of it! Just as the conditions for suffering persist, so does our lament. This DOES NOT mean we live overwhelmed by sadness or despair. Rather, it means that a full-bodied faith is honest and willing to engage in the hard realities of life.
  2. The most revered are only human.

    Look at vss. 7-8, “Our princes once glowed with health brighter than snow, whiter than milk. Their faces were as ruddy as rubies, their appearance like fine jewels. 8 But now their faces are blacker than soot. No one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin sticks to their bones; it is as dry and hard as wood.

    Celebrity is the term we’ve used to describe people we revere as more valuable. The Latin root of our word “celebrity” means “honored.” We honor those with the most. Those with the most often have the most because of their beauty. Or their political power.

    Lamentations chapter four challenges the celebrity impulse by pointing out suffering and injustice is no respecter of celebrity or power or beauty or platform. There is this universality to the human experience.

    This is why the incarnation of God is so important. God held the highest privilege and honor and let that go to enter the human experience. The Creator God became unrecognizable. He entered into the injustice, sin, and brokenness in order to redeem it. May we see Lamentations four, not just as a critique of celebrity (and the ways celebrity has entered the church), but as a reminder of what God has done in Christ.
  3. The innocent suffer the most.
    Verses 3-4 describe the toll that the siege took on the children of Jerusalem. This points us to an important truth: It is the most vulnerable who suffer the most in a broken world.

    Suffering, disaster, injustice are all common to the human experience, but these things disproportionately affect vulnerable communities.

    This lament is an invitation to recognize this reality. To admit out loud when we are less affected by an event because of our wealth, access to health care, or color of our skin. Then, to see and know the invitation that God gives the Church to participate in caring for vulnerable communities.

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.

Go now, and invest your lives in the works of faith.
May you be known for generosity and compassion.
Fulfill God’s holy law by putting love into action
as eagerly for others as you would for yourselves.
And may God be your defender and provider;
May Christ Jesus dispel all that disturbs or disables you;
and may the Holy Spirit make you rich in faith and loving and merciful in action.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, March 21st appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Worship Resources for Sunday, March 14th https://emmausroadfc.org/worship-resource-20210314/ Thu, 11 Mar 2021 17:11:58 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27682 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.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, March 14th appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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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.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Friends of God, believe this – God loves the world, we are the beloved!

May the truth of this great love story, shine through our worship today, and renew our sense of calling.

So come, with your tiredness,
your frustrations and your discouragements;
come with your doubts, your fears, and your longings;
come, to discover yet again
how Jesus reveals God’s love and mercy.

Come, in friendship to God and to each other,
and in friendship to the world,
to listen for God’s Word to us,
to offer our prayers, and to renew our calling.

Friends of God, let us worship together!

MUSIC: GREAT IS OUR GOD

CCLI #6291530 | Eric J. Marshall © 2011
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CORPORATE PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

MUSIC: GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

CCLI #5196100 | Thomas Obediah Chisholm
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

MUSIC: KING OF KINGS

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

WORD

Lamentations: The Third Poem
Lamentations 3 (NLT)

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.

Just as God’s Word was sent into the world to heal and redeem,
so God sends you into the world this day;
to be light and love, healing and hope.
Go now to be light for the world!
And may the grace and peace of God the Creator,
the Redeemer, and the Sustainer
come upon you this day
and remain with you always.
Amen.

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Worship Resources for Sunday, March 7th https://emmausroadfc.org/worship-resource-20210307/ Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:00:52 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27674 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.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, March 7th appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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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.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join in on the bolded lines.

The heavens are telling the glory of God
May our worship reflect God’s glory.
The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
May we see each other as the handiwork of God.
Let our prayer and praise, our singing and proclamation project the love of God.
We commune with Christians around the world, with Christians throughout time.
With Christians across geography and across time,
Let us worship!

MUSIC: COME HOLY ONE

CCLI #6291516 | Eric J. Marshall © 2011
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CORPORATE PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you:
Look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants,
and purify our disordered affections,
that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

MUSIC: O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO

CCLI #7098754 | Susan Veira, Jonathan Veira, and George Matheson © 2017
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

MUSIC: CHRIST BE ALL AROUND ME

CCLI #7016414 | David Leonard, Jack Mooring, Leeland Mooring, and Leslie Jordan
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

WORD

Lamentations: The Second Poem
Lamentations 2:1-9 (NLT)

INTRO
We are discovering that Lamentations has a lot to teach us about what it means to be people of faith through the whole human experience.

Last week, we learned that in the first poem, the city of Jerusalem is personified as a widow. This widow attributes her suffering to her own sin while also feeling shame from that sin. We learned that the redemptive purposes of God are intended to release us from the guilt of personal sin AND rescue us from the shame of sin.

This week, we explore the second poem.

THE SECOND POEM
In the first poem, the widow saw her sin as the primary cause of suffering. In this poem, God is portrayed as angry, retributive, and clearly to blame for the suffering of Jerusalem.

How are we to understand passages in the Bible like this? Are we to take our cues about the character of God from passages like this? Are we to understand that God is actually angry and retributive? Does God punish us for sin in order to teach us a lesson? These are important interpretive questions. How do you square these passages with passages that speak of God’s love, patience, mercy, and forgiveness?

We need an interpretive center of the Bible to help us make sense of things. The Bible itself points to Jesus as that interpretive center.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s being.” Jesus reveals the character and nature of God to us. If that is the case (and it is), then what do passages like this show us?

This poem shows us that to express anger at God is not blasphemous or unfitting for prayer. In fact, it shows us that anger, in times of suffering, can be a sign of fidelity to God! In fact, to be angry with God and lament is to have faith that God is a God of justice and will act to make things right and bring redemption to the situation.

Let that sink in: To lament is to have faith that God will act to make things right.

The Bible is not a book that reflects perfect life and tidy doctrine. It is a book that reflects the grittiness of life.

EXCEPTIONALISM
The language in Lamentations 2 reveals a bit about how Jerusalem saw itself. Look at vss. 1 & 3:
“…thrown down from the heights of heaven” (vs. 1)
“All the strength of Israel vanishes…” (vs. 3)

Jerusalem saw itself as exceptional. Who could blame them? They were the nation chosen by God to carry the message of hope and salvation to the world. And yet, they found themselves experiencing unimaginable loss.

The American Evangelical Church has been caught in a narrative of exceptionalism. We have come to believe that we are the standard-bearers for what it means to be Christian.

Idolizing narratives of success from our “brand” of Christianity runs the risk of considering evangelicalism over and above all other forms of Christianity.

“Non-Western expressions of Christianity can be portrayed as inferior to the successful formula for ministry put forth by many white evangelicals in mainstream Christian culture.” -Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament, pg. 96

Lament helps keep us from these attitudes of exceptionalism because it requires humility. Lament calls us into a proper view of ourselves. May we, who might think ourselves exceptional by any standard, see ourselves simply as recipients of God’s grace.

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.

Creator God—
as we go out into our community, workplaces, and homes,
may Your Spirit open our eyes anew
to the vastness and splendor of Your beauty all around us.

May we hear, and smell, and see, and touch
Your glory evident in all of Your creation.

Above all, let us see Your beauty
even in the brokenness of our brothers and sisters—
all of them, created in Your image,
and waiting to experience that redemption that comes
only through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We go now to love and serve our Lord—Amen.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, March 7th appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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Worship Resources for Sunday, February 28th https://emmausroadfc.org/worship-resource-20210228/ Thu, 25 Feb 2021 23:33:37 +0000 https://emmausroadfc.org/?p=27664 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.

The post Worship Resources for Sunday, February 28th appeared first on Emmaus Road Church.

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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.

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

CALL TO WORSHIP

Please join in on the bolded lines.

God touches the world, and the world changes.
God touches us, and we are transformed.
In the brightest of day, in the deepest of night,
on mountain, in valley, everywhere.
In this time, together, we invite God to open our eyes,
to His transformation taking place in our lives, here and now.
And in this renewal, we will worship Him.

MUSIC: OH OUR LORD

CCLI #6092289 | Paul Baloche, Leslie Jordan, and David Leonard © 2011
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

MUSIC: PRAISE THE LORD YE HEAVENS

CCLI #7026992 | Eric J. Marshall © 2014
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

CORPORATE PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Almighty and merciful God, we confess that we have erred and strayed from your ways. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

O Lord, have mercy upon us. Restore those who confess their faults, according to your promises declared to the world in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
And grant, O merciful God, that we may live a holy, just, and humble life to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

MUSIC: THE NEARNESS OF YOU

Asher Seevinck, Dave Wilton © 2014
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

WORD

Lamentations: Intro to Lament
Lamentations 1 (NLT)

INTRO
The book of Lamentations is a series of five lament poems written by an anonymous author in response to the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC.

During 1.5 years of warfare, suffering, and famine, the city was totally destroyed and the inhabitants taken to Babylon in exile.

The exile was, by far, the most horrific time in Israel’s history. It was nothing short of a national tragedy that meant the loss of comfort, security, and identity. In other words, Lamentations doesn’t exist in a vacuum. These poems emerge out of very real suffering.

THE VALUE OF LAMENT
Lament accomplishes at least three things:

  1. Lament is form of protest: Lament lets the world (and God) know that which is not right. To lament is to name the pain, suffering, or injustice in our lives and in the lives of others.
  2. Lament offers us a chance to express emotion: Lament offers us the opportunity to express anger, frustration, disappointment to God.
  3. Lament offers us a chance to express confusion: Few things cause us to question the foundation of life more than suffering. When we suffer we ask questions about God’s character, God’s existence, and how the world is set up to run.

These poems show us that biblical story doesn’t ignore suffering. In addition, these emotional poems give a sacred dignity to human suffering.

THE FIRST POEM
In the first poem, the city of Jerusalem is personified as a widow (“daughter of Zion”). Personification is popular in poetry because it helps to make intangible things more tangible.

The widow is simultaneously a sinful offender and a victim of sin. This incongruity points us to an important element we don’t often consider in American evangelicalism; how victims of sin experience sin.

“Traditional theology has emphasized one-sidedly the sin of all people, while ignoring the pain of the victim. Western concepts of sin lead us to feel guilty when we do something bad, but we often do not have the language of shame when we are sinned against.”
-Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament

We have language for when we are sinful. We even have language for the redemption and forgiveness of that sin. But, we have very little language to talk about the shame we feel when we are the victims of sin. Further, we don’t have language to talk about God’s redemptive work over our shame.

The value of lament is to sit, if only for a while, with the reality of our sin AND the results of when we’ve been sinned against (and also how our sin has affected others).

We do this so that we can invite God’s healing work of redemption in our lives. God’s work is to release us from the guilt of sin AND rescue us from our shame.

“We are too busy patting ourselves on the back over the problem-solving abilities of the triumphant American church to cry out to God in lament. But lament cannot and must not be ignored. In the biblical world, hope does not emerge from the act of recounting our successes. It is the desperate plea for God’s intervention that arises out of lament that reveals a flickering glimpse of hope.”
-Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament

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.

Go now and celebrate wherever God’s name is honored.
When suffering comes, pray in faith.In times of joy, sing songs of praise.
Persevere in prayer and action to bring the fallen back to the truth.
And may God save you from all that would harm you;
May Christ Jesus heal you and raise you up;
and may the Holy Spirit anoint you
and give you peace with one another.We go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

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