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.

God is with his people.
He dwells in their midst.
Listen and hear him speak.

Our hearts long for his word.
We wait upon the Lord
so that we may renew our strength.

God is our help and our support.
His spirit moves among us
to lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days.

With joyful hearts we sing God’s praise.
With rejoicing we call upon Him.
The Lord is our hope and our salvation.

MUSIC: PRAISE THE LORD YE HEAVENS

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

CONFESSIONAL PRAYER

Please join in on the bolded lines.

[Silence]

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent,
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.
(Source: Book of Common Prayer)

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

You are God’s Beloved; with you, God is well pleased. You are renewed and restored. You are forgiven and loved. You are a new creation in Christ, everything old has passed away; see, everything is becoming new.

All: Thanks be to God

WORD

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Holy – Week Four

Sermon Scriptures:
Ephesians 2:14-22 (NRSV)
John 7:37-39 (NRSV)

RECAP

We’ve been on journey over the past few weeks seeking to understand what it means to be holy. 

We began by learning that the word holy means unique and set apart.

At first, God’s holiness was seen as dangerous and incompatible with human impurities, but two prophets had visions that challenged that notion. Isaiah stood unclean in the temple of God when a seraph touched his lips with a piece of coal from the altar and made him pure. Ezekiel saw a river flowing from the temple bringing life to all that it touched. 

Jesus came as the embodiment of Isaiah’s vision. 

But what about Ezekiel’s vision? How does that image anchor our understanding of holiness?

New Testament authors pick up the imagery of Ezekiel’s vision in interesting ways. 

Ephesians 2:14-22 (NRSV)

GOD’S NEW TEMPLE

Paul’s argument in this passage is that Christ has broke down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles and is forming around himself a new humanity defined by peace and reconciliation.

The passage ends with Paul using the imagery of a building. He says we are now members of the household of God. This house is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (the people through whom God announced the Good News of the peace of Christ) with Christ as the cornerstone. When you join the pieces together it grows into a holy temple. 

The temple was the residence of God and, as such, was the place where heaven and earth intersected. Paul, along with other New Testament authors draw upon the imagery of the temple and apply it to the new humanity in Christ. God is now building a new temple, but not with brick and stone – with people!

The living God now makes his home in us! Heaven and earth now intersect in us! People encounter the presence of the living God through community with others!

WATER SPRINGS FORTH

New Testament authors were quick to pick up on the imagery of the temple and apply it to the people of God. Listen then, to what Jesus says about people who put their trust in Him.

“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” -John 7:38b (NSRV)

Jesus picks up on Ezekiel’s vision and says that those who place their trust in him shall have rivers of living water flowing out of them. 

The implication is clear! Holiness in our lives is going out into the world to share in the life-giving water of Christ.   

“The sanctification of the disciples has a threefold purpose: to enable them to enter into and live in that relationship with God, which was intended from the beginning; to make them one with either in love, and to enable them to acts as agents of that reconciliation in the world.”
-Kent Brower, Holiness in the Gospels, pg. 80

First, we are purified by God by placing our trust in Him. He does the work of transformation, our part is opening ourselves up to Him. Having placed our trust in God, we are made part of a community of people. In this community, we must learn to love well, for these are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Having learned how to love and live reconciled with one another, we are set loose in the world to proclaim the peace of Christ. 

Christian holiness is a social phenomenon, not an individual one.

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.

MUSIC: INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE

Written by Leslie Jordan, Copyright © Leslie Jordan, 2020
Performed by Emmaus Road Worship Team

BENEDICTION

Please join in on the bolded lines.

Go now like those prepared for the Lord to return.
Resisting evil, pursuing good;
seeking justice, rescuing the oppressed;
giving freely to those in need;
and storing up our treasures in the things of heaven.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.

(Written by Nathan Nettleton)