November 18, 2018
We’re in our eleventh week in the book of Ephesians. As our society continues its trend toward self-centered and superficial worldviews, many have adopted a watered-down view of God that that leads us away from the glory we were made to enjoy. Ephesians shatters this diluted view of God by putting the weight of His glory in our faces in a way that is overwhelming and life-transforming.
Here’s how you can prepare for Sunday:
1. Read through our text, Ephesians 5:22–33.
Paul continues to connect the life-transforming implications of the love of Christ to a few specific relationships in the Christian household. First, he talks about how the relationship between husbands and wives is designed by God to show something of Jesus’ relationship with His church. A Christian Husband is responsible for representing the love of Jesus by sacrificing his own interests and prioritizing His wife’s well-being above his own. A Christian wife is called to represent the church’s submission to and respect for Jesus by allowing her husband to take the responsibility of sacrificial leadership and to respect him as the one who will give an account for how he handled that responsibility. When husbands and wives live into this design, they put on display the beauty of Jesus’ sacrificial love for His Bride, the Church.
2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:
CALL TO WORSHIP: Based on Psalm 150, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):
To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners.
Welcome!
All Creatures Of Our God And King (William Henry Draper, St. Francis of Assisi)
God Is So Good (You Are Worthy) (Pat Barrett, Daniel Bashta, Ben Smith)
CONFESSION OF SIN: From Every Season Prayers by Scotty Smith:
Dear heavenly Father, we come into Your presence this morning only because Your mercies are new every morning. We stand before You in this place only because we stand firmly in Your grace. We dare call You Abba Father only because You have made us Your beloved sons and daughters. We freely confess our sins to You only because You fully gave Jesus for us. For the ways we loved poorly this past week—in our families, at our vocations, and among our neighbors, forgive us.From the foolish idols to which we cling, the broken cisterns from which we drink, and the false lovers to which we turn, free us. For not believing Jesus is enough and Your grace is sufficient, and for not trusting You to be really sovereign and really good, have mercy on us. Our hope rests alone in Jesus’ finished work and Your steadfast love. Amen.
Jesus We Love You (Kalley Heiligenthal, Hannah McClure, Paul McClure)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Colossians 1:18–22
Hallelujah, What A Savior (Bliss, Carter, Ivey, Suh arr. Austin Stone)
GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION
RESPONSE: Song & Prayer
Ever Be (Strand, Greely, Wilson, Heiligenthal)
O Praise The Name (Anástasis) (Benjamin Hastings, Marty Sampson, Dean Ussher)