Easter Sunday is the most attended church service every year. It is also a great opportunity to invite those who don’t normally attend to visit your church. Check out the March Church Hack and consider using our linked Easter icons and imagery to make your Easter service last beyond the Hope Avenue experience on Sunday. #gcichurchhacks 2023-CH3-Easter.pdf (gci.org) Read the article
Adapted and paraphrased from Living the Christian Year, by Bobby Gross. Palm/Passion Sunday – This is a week to follow Jesus and vicariously enter in his suffering. Imagine laying your coat in the road before him as a sign of honor and respect. Wave your palm branch over him as you worship and shout Hosanna, which is from Psalm 118:25: “Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success.” Then join him as he stops and weeps over Jerusalem (Luke19:28-44). Joyfully welcome Jesus’ presence in your life and join him as he laments over the pain and suffering those in the city will face. Maundy Thursday – Whether you meet as a group or not, this is a day to reflect on Jesus’ example of servant-leadership. Am I leading and serving as he did?... Read the article
Psalm 130 • Ezekiel 37:1-14 • Romans 8:6-11 • John 11:1-45 This week’s theme is living into life. The call to worship Psalm is an individual’s prayer offered in hope that the Lord will save him from trouble on account of the Lord’s steadfast love. The Old Testament reading from Ezekiel offers a vision of dry bones coming to life as a prophecy to Israel that they will be delivered from the death of exile to live again in their own homeland. Romans records Paul’s comparison of life in the Spirit with death in the flesh. In the Gospel reading from John, Jesus raises Lazarus to life after being dead four days. A Mindset of Life and Death Romans 8:6-11 (ESV) We are now five Sundays into Easter Preparation (referred to as Lent... Read the article
Psalm 23:1-6 · 1 Samuel 16:1-13 · Ephesians 5:8-14 · John 9:1-41 This is the fourth week of the Easter Preparation season (Lent), a time when we ready ourselves to commemorate the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and when we prepare to celebrate the glorious empty tomb of our resurrected Lord. To participate in the process of examining our walk with Christ, we have to recognize our inability to accurately discern spiritual things. We need God to reveal us to ourselves to be aware of the ways in which we need to spiritually grow. It is only by the Spirit that spiritual growth takes place. This week’s theme is God leads us through spiritual darkness. In the call to worship Psalm, we read how the Lord leads the psalmist peacefully... Read the article
Psalm 95 • Exodus 17:1-7 • Romans 5:1-11 • John 4:5-42 This week’s theme is thirsting for love. The call to worship Psalm presents a liturgy of praise celebrating God’s provision of water in the wilderness to his people, while also using their example of complaining as an admonishment against hardened hearts. The Old Testament selection from Exodus recounts this story of Israel complaining about thirst, which is met by God’s gracious act to provide water through a rock Moses was instructed to strike. The epistolary text in Romans provides a contrast to Israel’s complaining hard hearts, using Paul’s picture of endurance that flows from God’s love poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel reading... Read the article
Psalm 121 • Genesis 12:1-4a • Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 • John 3:1-17 This week’s theme is the eyes of faith. In our call to worship Psalm, we have the psalmist lifting up his eyes to God to trust and see God’s care for him. In Genesis, we see God asking Abraham to leave behind everything and to trust that God will show him where to go. In Romans, Paul confirms that Abraham did trust God by faith in what was unseen to him. And in John’s gospel, Jesus talks to Nicodemus about being born from above and seeing the kingdom of God as a result. Abraham’s Children: By Law or by Faith? Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 (NRSVUE) Today, we find ourselves in the second Sunday of Easter preparation. This is a time to reflect on the importance of... Read the article
Psalm 32:1-11 • Genesis 3:1-7 • Romans 5:12-19 • Matthew 4:1-11 In our first week of Easter preparation, we reflect on Jesus’ reversal of the sinful state of mankind. Our theme is the dominion of life over death. In the call to worship Psalm, King David reminds us of our need to bring our sins before God to receive his abundant forgiveness and love. In Genesis, we witness how the dominion of death came about through the sin of Adam and Eve, leading to their shame and guilt. Paul explains to believers in Rome how the grace and life given to us by Jesus heals the death and separation caused by sin, and it establishes us in his new and better life. In our scripture passage today, Jesus enters the wilderness and reminds the devil... Read the article
Psalm 126:1-6 • Isaiah 43:16-21 • Philippians 3:4-14 • John 12:1-8 Our theme this week is the abundance of God. The call to worship Psalm talks about mourning being turned into rejoicing by God’s abundant provision. Isaiah 43 describes God’s deliverance for Israel, creating abundance in the wasteland. Philippians 3 shares Paul’s “riches” in his past life that he gave up to know the overflowing riches of Christ. Our sermon comes from John 12 – a portrait of the abundant worship of Mary at Jesus’ feet. The Lingering Fragrance of Grace John 12:1-11 ESV Have you ever smelled good perfume? Most of us have, and unless we are allergic to perfume, we enjoy the fragrance. If you put a dash of perfume or cologne on the neck... Read the article
Psalm 32:1-11 • Joshua 5:9-12 • 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 • Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 The theme for this week is God’s great act of removing our sins and the shame that sin brings. God has done all the work necessary to reconcile the world to himself. In our call to worship Psalm, the psalmist asserts the relief felt by those whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. In the book of Joshua, God removes the disgrace of the Israelites captivity and takes them out of that situation. In 2 Corinthians, Paul proclaims that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s sins against them. And in Luke, Jesus tells a parable of a father who forgives his prodigal son and goes above and beyond to restore him... Read the article
Psalm 63:1-8 • Isaiah 55:1-9 • 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 • Luke 13:1-9 This week’s theme is repentance. The call to worship Psalm provides a fitting response of praise and worship from those who have turned to the Lord for their salvation. The Old Testament reading from Isaiah calls sinners to forsake evil and turn to the Lord who is abundant in mercy. The Gospel reading from Luke presents a parable from Jesus that gets to the root of repentance. The epistolary text comes from 1 Corinthians where the Apostle Paul, drawing from Israel’s experience in the wilderness, instructs believers to repent of the idolatry of self-reliance with the reminder of God’s faithfulness. Repent or Perish Luke 13:1-9 (NRSV) Tragedy. Disaster.... Read the article
