Welcome to Grace Fullerton IN FULLERTON. What a blessing the Lord has provided for us here in this space! It’s been quite the journey, with moments of doubt along the way, but we are here. The Lord has provided free furnishings (like the chairs you’re sitting in and the tables your kids are coloring at) and He has stirred up many to give their time and energy generously to make this a beautiful place to gather and worship and grow and reach this city.
Psalm 100 is such an appropriate call for us to worship this morning. (Let’s all read together the underlined parts.)
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
His steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
PSALM 100
Let’s stand and sing.
Song: Praise the Living God
Response of Praise and Thanksgiving (Congregation)
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, we’re gathered here to worship AS the temple of God this morning, not IN the temple of God.
It’s no small thing to realize that when a Christian shows up, God shows up. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)
So when the church gathers, it gathers as a collection of people in whom God dwells. God inhabits the gathered church because these scattered worshipers are all temples, who together make a greater temple.
“You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:19-22)
When this temple gathers, something otherworldly takes place. It’s an outpost of hope in a dying world, a fellowship of resurrected sinners, whose presence in the world is a foretaste of a greater transformation to come.
This gathering is an encounter with the people of God, filled with the Spirit of God, spurring one another along in the mission of God. Christ in me meets Christ in you.
MIKE COSPER, Rhythms of Grace
This is why Jesus taught his disciples to pray like He did. Let’s pray the prayer He taught us to pray using this song.
Song: Hallowed Be Your Name
Greeting
Call to Confession
“Hallowed be Your name. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God,
We confess how hard it is to be your people.
You have made us a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for Your own possession
who are called to proclaim Your excellency.
But we acknowledge that we are often more apathetic than active,
more indifferent than involved,
more callous than compassionate,
more obstinate than obedient,
and more legalistic than loving.
Forgive us, Lord.
Lead and empower us, Holy Spirit,
to do your will on earth as it is in heaven.
In the name of Jesus our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
adapted from The Worship Sourcebook
Song: Great God of Glory
Assurance of Pardon
Be encouraged! The same Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin is the guarantee that Jesus has truly covered our sin.
All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
ROMANS 8:14-17
Song: O Fount of Love
Offering Prayer
Offering Song: Speak, O Lord
Sermon (John Rinehart, Jerrel Haugen, Kenny Clark)
How to Wait for God’s Son from Heaven
Closing Song: O Church, Arise
Benediction
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