Gathering Liturgy | August 23
GATHERING | 8/23 CALL TO WORSHIP
“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— . . . . For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior! Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.”
from 2 Samuel 22:2-3, 32, 47, 50
PRAYER
SONG
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.
SONG
PRAYER OF ASSURANCE
I will praise the Eternal in every moment through every situation.
Whenever I speak, my words will always praise Him. Everything within me wants to pay tribute to Him. Whenever the poor and humble hear of His greatness, they will celebrate too! Come and lift up the Eternal with me; let’s praise His name together! When I needed the Lord, I looked for Him; I called out to Him, and He heard me and responded. He came and rescued me from everything that made me so afraid. This poor soul cried, and the Eternal heard me. He rescued me from my troubles.Taste of His goodness; see how wonderful the Eternal truly is. Anyone who puts trust in Him will be blessed and comforted. For the Eternal watches over the righteous, and His ears are attuned to their prayers. He is always listening. When the upright need help and cry to the Eternal, He hears their cries and rescues them from all of their troubles. When someone is hurting or brokenhearted, the Eternal moves in close and revives him in his pain. Hard times may well be the plight of the righteous—they may often seem overwhelmed—but the Eternal rescues the righteous from what oppresses them.
From Psalm 34
Prayer
SCRIPTURE READING
Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe?Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
John 16:20-24; 29-33
Steadfast vs. Wavering - Jonathan
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD.
COMMUNION | GIVING |
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said,“This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11.23-26)
Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
(For the bread) “This is the body of Christ, broken for you.”
(For the juice) “This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.”
The Gifts of God for the People of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.
SONG
Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)
ANNOUNCEMENTS & GIVING
Community Groups will be starting back at the end of August and meet at least once per month. Check-in with your group leader to see what you group plans to do and speak into the decision on how often you meet throughout the fall.
We are launching a new aspect of ministry at New Circle that should be able to endure even in times of extreme social distancing called Triads. Triads are groups of three people who partner together to help one another grow. They will meet for twelve months. Our desire is for people to experience relational investment, spiritual maturation, and holistic transformation. Please be in prayer concerning if you should be involved. Find more information on our website.
With all of this in the face of the pandemic and social unrest, we want to spend 24 Hours in Prayer on August 29. Sign-up through Sign-Up Genius.
NCC Kids Zoom Classes will begin the first week of September.
will begin worshipping with us on August 23. Demetrius also desires to be a pastor at New Circle. So we will begin the 9-month pastoral process with him soon and Lord-willing he will become the fourth pastor of New Circle.
Matthew Yiesla officially begins his ministry residency with New Circle today! )(Introduce Matt and Kelsey). Matt will be learning from our pastoral team and will be possibly looking to focus in on the area of Youth Ministry in the coming months.
Encourage folks to give online or in the plate.
Encourage folks to give online or in the plate.
Encourage folks to give online or in the plate.
SONG
SONG
BENEDICTION
(May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph. 3.17-19
Peace be with you!
