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Assurance of Pardon

As you can see, these assurances of pardon are organized by topic and scripture reference. Enjoy!

Advent

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. And because you are sons and daughters, God has set the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son and daughter, and if a son or daughter then an heir.

In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!

Anxiety

Inspired by John 6:51-58

Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever.” The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.

Scott Bullock

Atonement

Isaiah 53:1-5

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Church

Isaiah 6:7

Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love. 

Scott Bullock 

Communion/The Lord’s Supper

Inspired by John 6:51-58

Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever.” The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.

Scott Bullock

Compassion

Psalm 103:8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Joel 2:12-13

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Condemnation

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)

Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.

People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Confession

When we speak of our sin

When we stop the silence and cover up

God is faithful to forgive our guilt.

Thanks be to God!

inspired by Psalm 32:5, Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com  

The Cross

Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12

The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.

We affirm the good news that this statement is completely true and should be universally accepted: Christ Jesus entered the world to save sinners. He personally bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might be dead to sin and alive to God.  In Christ we are forgiven.  Amen. 

Stuart Strachan Jr.

Courage

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Covenant

This is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds…I will remember their sins and misdeeds no more. 

Leader: In Christ you are forgiven 

All: Praise be to God

Darkness

Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Christ we are forgiven!

Jacob Traeger

When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist: Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me / and the light around me become night / Darkness itself will not darken for You / and the night will light up like the day / for darkness is as light to you.

Inspired by John 6:51-58

Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever.” The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.

Scott Bullock

Colossians 1:13-14

Brothers and Sisters, be reassured. Your sins are not held against you. By the work of God in Christ, you are forgiven. God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Scott Bullock

Easter

There’s no night so dark  

the light of Christ cannot penetrate to dispel it.  

There’s no pit so deep  

the Lord cannot descend all the way to lift us out of it. 

There’s no obstacle so high  

that Jesus is not higher still and takes us over it. 

There’s no place where we can wander or to which we can run  

that’s too far away 

 for the King of the universe to seek us, find us  

and bring us safely home. 

 

With Christ, in Christ, and through Christ there’s always hope – 

 for if the grave cannot hold him and death cannot defeat Him,  

nothing is impossible for Him. 

This same Christ,  

who offers His sure and certain hope to you and me,  

is with us in this place today;  

and He’ll be with you everywhere and always.   

 

This is Good News!  Alleluia!  AMEN! 

Stuart Strachan Jr.

Epiphany

Inspired by John 1

The Gospel of John declares that the Word made flesh was life and that life was the light of humanity. This Epiphany, the light of God has been made known to us in the person of Jesus. His life and light have arisen upon us. For all who receive him, he gives the right to become children of God. In him we are forgiven and freed, made to live no longer in darkness but in the light of life. Amen. 

Scott Bullock

Eternal Life

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.

Faith

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.

Faithfulness

Adapted from Malachi 3:1-4

In the midst of pronouncing judgment, Malachi reminds Judah that God does not change. God is still faithful, even when God’s people are not. Friends, hear the good news today: God’s grace is sure. Your sins have been forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Austin Hill

Fear of the Lord

Psalm 33:18-22

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

On those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

 

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help. And our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

May you unfailing love rest up us, O Lord,

Even as we put our hope in you.

Amen

Fellowship

1 John 1:4-7

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Forgiveness

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.

As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

 

Leader: You who trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins: hear now and rest in the assurance of your pardon:  

All:   Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:

         though your sins are like scarlet,

         they shall be as white as snow;

         though they are red like crimson,

         they shall become like wool.

Submitted by Dustin Ray

God

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Goodness

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.

Gospel

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)

Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

1 John 1:4-7

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)

Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.

People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

 

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

Grace

Psalm 103:8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Joel 2:12-13

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 

Healing

As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Heart

Psalm 51:9-12 & 2 Corinthians 5:21

The God of David is our God. He hides his face from our sins. He blots our all of our iniquities. He creates in us a clean heart. He renews a right spirit within us. We will not be cast away from his presence, nor have his Holy Spirit taken from us. He has restored to us the joy of our salvation, and upholds us with a willing spirit. O, Children of God, we are forgiven because He has given his own sacrifice in place of ours. “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” Amen.

Scott Bullock

Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12

The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.

Scott Bullock

Hope

When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist: Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me / and the light around me become night / Darkness itself will not darken for You / and the night will light up like the day / for darkness is as light to you.

Jacob Traeger

Inspired by Jeremiah 33:14-16  

The prophet, Jeremiah, reminds us that when it seems all hope is lost, God is still working toward restoration. Friends, believe the Good News today: through the messiah, the righteous branch, our sins have been forgiven and we have been made righteous, too. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Austin D. Hill

Jesus

Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12

The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.

Scott Bullock

Isaiah 53:1-5

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.

Romans 5:1

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

 

When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, he told her, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” Sisters and brothers, Jesus’ forgiveness is as limitless and life-giving as a spring in the desert. So believe the Good News of the Gospel: in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Cody Sandahl

Joy

1 John 1:4-7

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Judgment

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Justice

Isaiah 6:7

Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love. 

Scott Bullock 

Justification

Romans 5:1

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Kingdom

Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Christ we are forgiven!

Light

1 John 1:4-7

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist: Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me / and the light around me become night / Darkness itself will not darken for You / and the night will light up like the day / for darkness is as light to you.

Jacob Traeger

Love

Psalm 103:8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Joel 2:12-13

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.

Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

 

Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Dearest Brothers and Sisters, the One who was rejected by family, friend, and neighbor, is the One who expresses love for sinners like us. He epitomizes the love of which Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church: He is patient, kind, and humble. He does not insist upon his own way, complain, or hold grudges. He is saddened by sin and rejoices in truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. For us, he endured the extent of shame and scorn upon the cross so that we may be unfettered and freed to live and love. In Him, we are forgiven. AMEN.

Scott Bullock

But God commends his love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  We gratefully accept Christ’s sacrifice of love for the forgiveness of our sins and confess, “In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.” Amen.

C. Hassell Bullock

Mercy

Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Christ we are forgiven!

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.

 

The Lord our God is rich in mercy, slow to anger, and abounds in steadfast love. He does not pay us back what we deserve, but even while we were his enemies he sent his son to die for us. Christ died for you as God’s gift – not because God owed you, but because God loves you. You have been forgiven and you are freed to love others as God has loved you.

Jacob Traeger

Need

Jesus knows the wilderness of our need
Because he’s been there before, he will not hesitate to go there to find us
Because he’s been there before, he can lead us out

In the name of Jesus, we are found and forgiven

Glory to God, Amen.

Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com

New Life

The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Obedience

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Offering

Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Peace

Romans 5:1

Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Your torture puts hostility to death
Your broken body breaks down every dividing wall
Your blood makes us blood

What wondrous truth
What dazzling grace

Bring us near again, Jesus
Help us remember and re-member
Make us one in your generous, fierce love

Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com

Purity of Heart

Psalm 51:6-12

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts,

you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take the Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Amen

Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:20, 21

Brothers and sisters, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Redemption

Isaiah 35:10

Now return to the Lord with joy and gladness.

Sing a song of redemption!

Let sorrow and sighing be no more.

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

Kimberly Bracken Long, Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 1, Westminster John Knox Press.

Isaiah 62:11-12

“The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth:

“Say to the Daughter of Zion,

‘See, your Savior comes!

See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ “

They will be called the Holy People,

The Redeemed of the Lord;

And you will be called Sought After,

The City No Longer Deserted.”

Amen.

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. And because you are sons and daughters, God has set the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son and daughter, and if a son or daughter then an heir.

In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!

Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Christ we are forgiven!

Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. In Him, we are forgiven. AMEN

Repentance

Joel 2:12-13

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Restoration

Isaiah 6:7

Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love. 

Scott Bullock 

As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Inspired by Jeremiah 33:14-16  

The prophet, Jeremiah, reminds us that when it seems all hope is lost, God is still working toward restoration. Friends, believe the Good News today: through the messiah, the righteous branch, our sins have been forgiven and we have been made righteous, too. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Austin D. Hill

Inspired by Zephaniah 3:14-20

Zephaniah reminds the people of God that God will gather the exiles. God will restore his people. Believe the good news today. Through our Messiah, your sins have been forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Austin D. Hill

Isaiah 51:22-23 

This is what your Sovereign Lord says,

Your God, who defends his people:

“See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger;

From that cup, the goblet of my wrath,

You will never drink again.

Live in the freedom of the Lord’s forgiveness.

Amen.

Submitted by Bud Thoreen

Psalm 113 says this: “Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high? He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes!” So does the Lord do for us. He stoops down to look at us, exactly as we are, and chooses to lift us up in the name of Jesus Christ. We are forgiven! Amen.

Submitted by Cody Sandahl

Sacrifice

Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Salvation

Psalm 145:17-20a

The Lord is righteous in all his ways

and loving toward all he has made.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;

He hears their cry and saves them.

The Lord watches over all who love him.

 

The first chapter of the Gospel of John has this incredible statement: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In otherwords, God knew we couldn’t save ourselves, so he saved us. Believe the Good News of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Hallelujah!

Cody Sandahl

Adapted from Psalm 91:14-16

Because he loves me”,  says the Lord,

         I will rescue him;

         I will protect him, for he

                     Acknowledges by name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

         I will be with him in trouble,

         I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him

         And show him my salvation.

Submitted by Bud Thoreen

Self-Awareness

The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

 

Jesus says:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

 

Blessed are you who know you’re not enough, for God’s grace is sufficient for you. Your sins are forgiven, go in peace as God’s people.

Jacob Traeger

Sin

Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12

The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.

Scott Bullock

Inspired by John 6:51-58

Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever.” The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.

Scott Bullock

Sons and Daughters

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters. And because you are sons and daughters, God has set the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son and daughter, and if a son or daughter then an heir.

In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!

Suffering

Isaiah 35:10

Now return to the Lord with joy and gladness.

Sing a song of redemption!

Let sorrow and sighing be no more.

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

Kimberly Bracken Long, Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 1, Westminster John Knox Press.

Isaiah 53:1-5

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Truth

1 John 1:4-7

And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Weakness

Psalm 103:8-12

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Worship

Christ took our place in the grave, being bathed in death, taking away our grave clothes. Let us worship Him with full hearts, knowing that it is good and right to worship Him fully.

Charles Teixeira