Dear Maranatha Family,
"The LORD is good, and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations."
--Psalm 100:5
Even in this season, even as we voice our laments and our urgent intercessions, we affirm this to be true. And since we do, we continue to turn to God in worship, offering our praise and our prayers, our cries and our trust, as we tune our ears to God's Word.
Our format for worship this week will be very similar to the format we followed last week. Once again, we are providing the following resources:
A Liturgy/Order of Worship. You will find this document ATTACHED. There are several transitions written into the document that help facilitate this service--as well as a beautiful prayer written by Gail Wiersma. If you are worshiping with others present, I would encourage you to read these sections out loud to share in this together. If you are home by yourself, perhaps you could connect with a family member or friend over the phone or Facetime and worship together that way. In any case, I trust the attached liturgy will give you a sense of participating in a regular service even while we're apart.
Video Links. In order to facilitate our singing, Scripture reading, and the sermon time, here are several links for you to click when prompted to do so in the liturgy:
Opening Songs:
Song of Assurance: Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)
Scripture Reading (read by Kevin Bashaw)
Sermon. This video includes:
A (Brief) Word to (All of Us) Children
Message: "Aching for the Glory of God"
Benediction
Closing Song: Great I Am
May the Lord bless our worship together.
As we prepare to worship, let's remember that we worship mindful of the gift of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is God's gift to us. It's time to rest and to center our attention on God. It's time to remember God's past deeds of creation and redemption and to anticipate what God will yet do through Jesus Christ. It's time to take note of God's good gifts and to give thanks. Even as we find ourselves enduring a season that is uncertain and distressing, may the God who gives and promises Sabbath Rest refresh and sustain you through Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Matt
