Gathering together as the body of Christ each Sunday is so vital to the life of the Christian. To come together and sing praises to our Lord, participate in the Liturgy, take the Lord's Supper, and be formed under the preaching of the Word, all of these things are a means of God's grace toward us! Below is a rundown of what our gathering looked like this past Sunday.

- Opening Song: "Be Thou My Vision" by Ascend the Hill

CALL TO WORSHIP 

Hear the call to worship from Psalm 66 ...

 

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

Sing the glory of his name;

Give to him glorious praise!

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.

All the earth worships you

And sings praises to you;

They sing praises to your name.” Selah

Come and see what God has done:

He is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

He turned the sea into dry land;

They passed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in him,

Who rules by his might forever,

Whose eyes keep watch on the nations—

Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

Come and hear, all you who fear God,

And I will tell what he has done for my soul.

I cried to him with my mouth,

And high praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

The Lord would not have listened.

But truly God has listened;

He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,

Because he has not rejected my prayer

Or removed his steadfast love from me!

- Song: "God With Us" by All Sons & Daughters

CONFESSION OF SIN 

Let us confess our sins to the Father together…

 

Lord God, we have given more weight to our successes

and our happiness than to your will.

We have eaten without a thought for the hungry.

We have spoken without an effort to understand others.

We have kept silence instead of telling the truth.

We have judged others, forgetful that you alone are the Judge.

We have acted according to our opinions 

rather than according to your commands.

Within your church, we have been slow to practice love of our neighbors.

And in the world, we have not been your faithful servants.

Forgive us and help us to live as disciples of Jesus Christ,

your Son, our Savior. Amen.

ABSOLUTION #1

Hear the good news from Romans 5...He

Since we are justified by faith,

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand;

And we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

If you have turned from you sin and placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you now stand in the grace of God! Now, let us boast in the hope of the Gospel that we share!

 

- Song: "In Christ Alone"

PROFESSION OF FAITH: MSA Catechism Q. 22-25

Let us profess our faith together by answering the following questions from the Morning Star Catechism...

 

L: Q22 - What is sin?

 

C: A - Sin is disobeying God’s Word.

 

L & C: “Anyone, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” - James 4:17

 

L: Q23 - What was the sin of our first parents?

 

C: A -Eating the forbidden fruit.

 

L & C: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some at ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”- Genesis 3:6

 

 

L: Q24 - Who tempted them to sin?

 

C: A - The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.

 

L & C: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” - Genesis 3:1

 

L: Q25 -What happened to our first parents when they sinned?

 

C: A -Instead of being blessed, they were cursed.

 

L & C: “To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing, with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you ‘You must not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” - Genesis 3:16-19

- Song: "Brokenness Aside" by All Sons & Daughters

Though Sunday morning gatherings are so important to the Christian life, those times hardly account for what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus. To account for the other 6 days of the week at Sacred City, we have what are called "Missional Communities", these are communities of faith that meet together on a weekly basis to share life, meals, prayers, and the word of God together, all while being on a mission to see our city renewed for the glory of God. We periodically like to share some break out stories from what God is doing in and through our MC's. This Sunday we shared Tim & Lindsay Harrington's Redemption Story:

Tim & Lindsay Harrington's Redemption Story from Sacred City Church on Vimeo.

 

- Sermon: "Identity, Community, Mission" by Samuel Schmidt 

- Communion

 

LITURGICAL PRAYER 

Please Stand and let us pray to our Father together...

 

Almighty God,

who sees that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves,

keep us, both in our bodied and inwardly in our souls,

that we may be defended from all adversities,

which may happen to the body,

and from all evil thoughts,

which may assault and hurt the soul;

through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns

with You and the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

Amen.

- Song of Response

BENEDICTION 

As we leave here today…

 

 

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen!

[Jude 24-25 NIV]

 

L: Peace be with you!

C: And also with you!