Leader: O Holy Love, food of our souls, living spring of the water of life, we worship you. All: Our souls thirst for your presence; and we hunger for your grace. O Christ, Bread of Life, sown...
In one stream of church history, this can help explain worshiping in a dead language like Latin—holy language that honors God but leaves the church bewildered. It’s believed that the incantation “hocu...
Why worship in our native language? Well, for one thing, it can keep people from distorting the Christian faith into a superstition: In one stream of church history, this can help explain worshipi...
Millennials aren't looking for a hipper Christianity. We're looking for a truer Christianity, a more authentic Christianity. Like every generation before ours and every generation after, we...
John 12:1-8, Mark 14:1-2, Matthew 26:3-13, John 11:45, Luke 7:44-47, Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:40, John 11:50-53, Luke 24:41-43, John 21:10-14, Acts 10:40-41, John 12:7, Philippians 2:6-8, Romans 6:1-10
Preaching commentary Introduction This narrative is slightly changed from the Synoptic accounts. Matthew and Mark’s Gospels place this narrative two days prior to the Passover (Matt: 26:6-13; Mark ...
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Pastor: We praise the One who extends the invitation: People: Come, all you who are thi...
Mark 14:1-72, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 7:36-50, Luke 8:1-3, John 12:1-8
Anointed One, Heal our stingy, selfish ways Silence our accusations End the worship wars The congregation is invited to offer their own prayers of confession silently We remember our faithful sist...
John 4:7-26, John 6:1-15, Galatians 4:21-31, Psalm 42:7, Psalm 121:null
New Testament Mountains Like the Old Testament, the New Testament has plenty of references to mountains. There’s the Sermon on the Mount, obviously. Jesus often went onto hills or mountains to pray...
John 4:7-26, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Peter 12:12-23, John 6:1-15, Galatians 4:21-31, Psalm 42:7, Psalm 121:null
New Testament Mountains Like the Old Testament, the New Testament has plenty of references to mountains. There’s the Sermon on the Mount, obviously. Jesus often went onto hills or mountains to pray...
Leader: Come, and worship the Lord, who fills mouths with laughter and tongues with shouts of joy. People: The Lord has done great things for us, and so we rejoice. Leader: May those who sow in te...
John 12:1-8, Mark 14:1-2, Matthew 26:3-13, John 11:45, Luke 7:44-47, Matthew 26:6, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:40, John 11:50-53, Luke 24:41-43, John 21:10-14, Acts 10:40-41, John 12:7, Philippians 2:6-8, Romans 6:1-10
Introduction This narrative is slightly changed from the Synoptic accounts. Matthew and Mark’s Gospels place this narrative two days prior to the Passover (Matt: 26:6-13; Mark 14:1). Three Evangelist...
Worship means, literally, acknowledging the worth of something or someone. It means recognizing and saying that someone or something is worthy of praise. It means celebrating the worth of someone or s...
You God, are my God. I earnestly seek you. I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and beheld your power...
The words that are usually translated as ‘worship’ in English [Bible] translations have little to do with either praise or music, as today’s popular Christian culture suggests.
It is not a gathering of 'escapees' from the world, bitterly enjoying their escape, feeding their hate for the world. Listen to their psalms and hymns; contemplate the transparent beauty of th...
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand
The best liturgies in use in Christian churches are ancient, well-worn compositions permeated with scriptural language skillfully deployed across a series of pastoral pronouncements, prayers, congrega...
Preaching Commentary What is “Good” about Friday? For the work-a-day world in the United States of America, Fridays are good. TGIF, “Thank God It’s Friday!” is an interjection we use to convey reli...
We come to this place seeking something ... something better than ourselves; something that gives life meaning; some relationship that reaches deep into our souls to fulfill us; maybe e...
In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the ...
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? Context in Mark Recall the context. In chapter 11, Jesus entered Jerusalem to much acclaim and briefly entered the temple (vv. 1-11). The next day,...
Preaching Commentary Summary of the Text Songs of Ascent Psalm 133 is part of the Psalter’s collection of the Songs of Ascent, Psalms 120-134. The Songs of Ascent were sung by the throng of pilgri...
As in ancient Israel, thanksgiving had a liturgical form in the communities of early Christians. In talking about tongues, Paul says that one who does not know the tongue cannot join in the “Amen” at ...
The closer you get to the truth, the clearer becomes the beauty, and the more you will find worship welling up within you. That's why theology and worship belong together.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 23:4, 5, 13-36, Mark 12:42, Luke 21:2, Isaiah 58:6, Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
AIM Commentary Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? "Hear O Israel..." The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) commands the Israelites to love the Lord their God with h...
God has come to us and revealed Himself fully to us Yet too often we hide ourselves from His love and salvation Instead of focusing on you, Lord God, we focus on ourselves Instead of trusting yo...
There was much I could have said in that moment. I could have contrasted different philosophies of ministry, especially in relation to the seeker movement in our postmodern culture, and explained how ...
John Ruskin (1819-1900), the famous art historian, wrote about a beautiful tradition that existed among the shepherds of the Swiss Alps during his lifetime. These shepherds grazed their flocks often i...