LEFC Guide to Worship at Home
Resurrection Sunday
April 19, 2020
$ Introduction
$ Home Worship Guide
$ More
Links to Helpful Resources
Introduction
Dear
Church Family,
I’ve
been praying for all of us to experience “the peace that transcends
understanding,” a supernatural and seemingly illogical serenity in the face of
anxiety-inducing days. One way to seek that peace is to worship God with our
whole hearts. We have prepared another ten step guide for you to use in family
worship at home, and I will be recording another video message and posting it
to YouTube and Facebook this weekend.
Lord-willing,
my message will conclude our 80-part sermon series, “Following Jesus,” on the
Gospel of Matthew, and it will highlight the Hide the Word verses we’ve been
memorizing this Spring. Our “Worship in Unity” this week draws from our own
EFCA statement of faith and emphasizes the disciple-making mission our Lord has
entrusted to us.
We are
planning another Family Fellowship Meeting on Zoom, and you and your family are
invited. This week, we are going to be joined by Greg Strand from the EFCA
national office. Many of you know Greg as the teacher at our Stay Sharp
theology conference. I’ve asked him to share with us some of his thoughts about
COVID-19 and Christianity. Bring your theological questions!
[As
before, I will be there on Zoom at 10:45am to help anyone who needs a little
practice to get set up. This technology is new to most of us.]
I hope
you are playing Christian music in your home during this strange season,
especially songs about the resurrection. The 50 days after Resurrection Sunday,
often called “Eastertide,” are a great time each year to meditate on the
resurrection and fill your heart with the truth of the gospel. Tune into
Christian radio or television. Find resurrection-themed playlists on YouTube
and Spotify. But don’t let everybody else do your singing for you. Make sure
that you raise your own voice in praise of the Lord because “His love endures
forever!”
What
time are you going to gather your household this weekend to worship the risen
Lord Jesus Christ?
In His
Grip,
-
Pastor Matt
Home Worship Guide
1. Call to Worship
Read
Psalm 136 which is about God’s loyal love for His people.
**Option:
Divide up your family into two groups: readers and chorus. Have the readers
read the first part of each verse in Psalm 136 and then the chorus shout the
refrain together, “His love endures forever!” For even more fun, have the
chorus say their part in Hebrew which sounds like, “Key Leholam Hasdo.”
Have
someone pray and ask God to bless your time of worship at home.
2. Worship in Singing
As a
household sing “Come, Christians, Join to Sing” by Christian Bateman
(1843).
**Option.
Our church family often adds in this verse by poet Kevin Hartnett:
“Come, praise the risen Lamb,
Alleluia!
Amen!
He died to ransom man.
Alleluia!
Amen!
On that triumphant day,
He took our sins away;
Death could not bid Him stay,
Alleluia!
Amen!”
3. Worship in Unity
Recite
together Article 8 of the EFCA Statement of Faith:
“We
believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying
power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others
sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion
toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s
power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual
forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples
among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.”
4. Worship in Lament and Thanksgiving
Psalm
136 recounts God’s faithfulness in both the joys and hardships of life. Have
each family member share something they are missing right now and something
they are thankful for this week.
**Option:
Have everyone shout, “His love endures forever!” after each family member
shares.
**Option:
During the family fellowship meeting on Zoom today, we are going to ask
everyone, especially the kids, to tell us something your family did for fun at
home this week. Prepare a family spokesman to tell us about your family’s fun
item.
5. Worship in Bible Memorization
As a
family recite our “Hide the Word” verse for this Spring: Matthew 28:18-20.
“Then
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.”
**Option:
We have reached our goal! Challenge each family member to say the whole thing
on their own out loud for the group.
6. Worship in Prayer
Take
prayer requests and pray for each other.
Read
the prayer guide together and pray for the rest of the church family and the requests
listed.
7. Worship in the Word
Watch
or read Pastor Matt’s message: “Go and Make Disciples.”
Some
families (especially those with teens) may want to watch/read the message on
their own and then have a Bible study and discussion together during this time.
Application Questions for Personal Reflection
and Family Discussion:
1. Do
my choices in daily life demonstrate that Jesus has all authority in heaven and
on earth?
2.
What am I currently doing to make disciples of Jesus?
3.
Have I been baptized? Why or why not?
4. Who
am I teaching to obey the things Jesus has commanded?
5.
What difference will it make for me this week that Jesus is with me to the end
of the age?
8. Worship in Singing
Sing “All Glory Be To Christ”
by Dustin Kensrue (2012) to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne.”
9. Worship All Week
Have
someone pray a prayer of commissioning for your family as you end this time of
gathered worship and face a week of new opportunities and new challenges to
serve the Lord, the church, and the world in His Name.
10. Participate in LEFC Family Fellowship
Meeting on Zoom.
- See
one another’s faces and hear each other’s voices.
- Tell
the group something your family did for fun at home this week.
-
Interact with Greg Strand from the EFCA national office.
- Pray
for one another live and online.
More
Links to Helpful Resources
Since
the beginning of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Greg Strand has been providing
helpful resources and theological reflection. Consider taking time today to
read through a few of them:
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