Gathering Liturgy | August 30
CALL TO WORSHIP
God is our shelter and our strength. When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help. So why run and hide? No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails. When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless. When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless. Even in heavy winds and huge waves, or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless. A pure stream flows—never to be cut off bringing joy to the city where God makes His home, the sacred site where the Most High chooses to live. The True God never sleeps and always resides in the city of joy; He makes it unstoppable, unshakable. When it awakes at dawn, the True God has already been at work. Trouble is on the horizon for the outside nations, not long until kingdoms will fall; God’s voice thunders and the earth shakes. You know the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies surrounds us and protects us; he True God of Jacob is our shelter, close to His heart. Come, gaze fix your eyes on what the Eternal can do.“Be still, be calm, see, and understand I am the True God. (From Psalm 46)
SONG | Blessed Be Your Name
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Eternal God, in whom we live and move and have our being, your face is hidden from us by our sins, and we forget your mercy in the blindness of our hearts. Cleanse us from all our offenses, and deliver us from proud thoughts and vain desires. With lowliness and meekness may we draw near to you, confessing our faults, confiding in your grace, and finding in you our refuge and strength; through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.
SONG | Lord I Need You
PRAYER OF ASSURANCE
O True God, You are my God, the One whom I trust. I seek You with every fiber of my being. In this dry and weary land with no water in sight, my soul is dry and longs for You. My body aches for You, for Your presence. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and have been awed by Your power and glory. Your steadfast love is better than life itself, so my lips will give You all my praise. I will bless You with every breath of my life; I will lift up my hands in praise to Your name. Often at night I lie in bed and remember You, meditating on Your greatness till morning smiles through my window. You have been my constant helper; therefore, I sing for joy under the protection of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right-hand reaches down and holds me up. (From Psalm 63)
SONG | How Deep the Father’s Love
SCRIPTURE READING
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent — Jesus Christ. I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed. “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me. “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth. “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.” (John 17.1-26)
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
SERMON NOTES
We can be encouraged because Jesus is ___________________!
John 16:33
Be encouraged because Jesus does all for ___________________.
John 17:1-5; Deuteronomy 21:23; Isaiah 53:5; Galatians 3:13
Be encouraged because Jesus cares for your ___________________.
John 17:9-16; John 15:18, 20
Be encouraged because Jesus prays for ___________________.
John 17:14-19
“The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” - Brennan Manning
Be encouraged because Jesus desires ___________________.
John 17:20-23; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Be encouraged because Jesus enables us to ___________________.
John 17:24-26; Romans 8:31-32
"Be courageous! I have conquered the world." - Jesus (John 16:33)
For further study:
Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30; Ephesians 6:10-18
Resources: “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning
To prepare for next week: John 15:1-25; The Vine and the Branches
COMMUNION
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 | What a Beautiful Name
ANNOUNCEMENTS & GIVING
Newcomers Coffee in the Courtyard
Giving on the App
Keep us updated on prayer requests and needs.
NCCKids class-specific zoom calls will begin the first week of September on the following schedule: Purple Room (4th grade and up): Tuesdays at 7:30 PM; Yellow Room (1st-3rd grade): Wednesdays 6:30 PM; Green Room (pre-K & K): Tuesdays 7:00 PM
CG Outdoor Meetings
August 31-September 4
Triads Launch - Check out the website for more details
SONG | The Blessing
BENEDICTION
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11.33; 36)
Peace be with you! And also with you!
