Worship Guide for Sunday, March 22nd

*For information on these worship guides & to access other weeks, please click HERE.

This page is meant to be a resource to guide worship at home while we are unable to gather corporately on Sunday mornings. Below you will find an Order of Service that is designed to be worked through in your families (or a small group of less than 10 with appropriate safety measures in place, such as what is suggested in this helpful guide). If you are an individual quarantined on your own, particularly high-risk, or uncomfortable gathering with others right now, we strongly encourage you to find a way to work through this with others using FaceTime, Zoom, or some other technology.

Resources from Kingdom Kids

We have sent out a link to a Google Drive folder via email this week that has corresponding curriculum pages for Kingdom Kids classrooms 2, 3, & 4, along with instructions for parents. Please email Amy if you need access to this folder or have any questions

Tips for Working through the Order of Worship

We encourage that someone takes the lead in prompting through the prayers, reading, and discussion questions below, as many sections will have a “leader” and a response by “everyone.” Accordingly, each participant is encouraged to follow along on their own device (or displaying this on a screen everyone can see). *Underlined Text is meant to be read together, corporately. Links to the songs have been provided if they would be useful for singing together.

ORDER OF WORSHIP

CALL TO WORSHIP
Psalm 86:8-10

SINGING
All Creatures of Our God & King
(Norton Hall Band arrangement)

PRAYER OF LAMENT
(Adapted from Psalm 13)

*In times of difficulty, crisis, sickness, or oppression, God’s people have found prayers of ‘Lament’ to be an appropriate and helpful way to lay out honest complaint before God, asking him to intercede, all while fighting to trust the promises of God’s goodness.

Leader:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Everyone: But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 46

SERMON
“A Present Help in Great Trouble” (Psalm 46)

DISCUSSION & PRAYER

Based on Psalm 46 & Pastor Ian’s Sermon, discuss the following questions:

1. Where have you been tempted to turn for “refuge & strength” instead of the Lord? How has this affected you over the past week?

2. Is your heart “still” and “settled” before the Lord right now? What practical steps could you take to “be still and know that he is God?”

3. How does the good news of Jesus equip us to endure through this season - no matter what the days and weeks ahead look like?

Spend a few minutes praying together for the following:

• Pray that we would be a community that finds our refuge & strength in the Lord and the Lord alone

• Pray for the stop of the spread of this virus & for those that are sick to be healed.

• Pray for healthcare workers & others who are on the front lines of caring for those who are sick; pray for our government and its leaders to make wise decisions in these difficult circumstances.

• Pray that the Lord would open our eyes for opportunities to declare and display the gospel to others in this season, and for gospel courage in the midst of a culture of fear & uncertainty.

CONFESSION OF SIN, COMMUNION, & ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*The Lord’s Supper is a meal instituted by Jesus for his followers to specifically remember his death on our behalf (see Matt. 26:26-28 & 1 Cor. 11: 23-26). Partaking in the bread and the cup together is a reminder of where our hope is rooted, and prepares us for the marriage supper of the Lamb that is to come in the New Heavens & the New Earth. Accordingly, only Christians (and Christians with a clear conscience) should partake in this meal. A confession of sin & assurance of pardon bookend communion below to capture our need and response to the death of Jesus. (See this helpful article for more on why we are continuing this practice even while scattered)

CONFESSION OF SIN

Leader: Awesome and compassionate God, you have loved us with unfailing, self-giving mercy, but we have not loved you. You constantly call us, but we do not listen. You ask us to love, but we walk away from neighbors in need, wrapped in our own concerns. We condone evil, prejudice, warfare, and greed.

Everyone: God of grace, as you come to us in mercy, we repent in spirit and in truth, admit our sin, and gratefully receive your forgiveness through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

COMMUNION

Leader:
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he 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, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Psalm 32:3-5)

Leader: “While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. “

Everyone: Thanks be to God!

SINGING
Come Thou Fount
(Phil Wickham arrangement)

BENEDICTION

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord
Everyone: Thanks be to God!

GIVING

In this unique & difficult time, it's important to remember that the Lord is still at work. We anticipate there being many ministry needs and opportunities in the coming days and weeks. As you are able, consider giving to support the mission & vision of The King’s Church.