Veritas Gathered: Preparing for Sunday – May 26th, 2013

 ::SERMON::
Starting this week we will be taking a break from our current series in Romans.  For the next seven weeks we will be looking at the seven churches of Revelation.  Our text on sunday will be from Revelation 2: 1-7 and we will be looking at how the church in Ephesus seems to be missing the point.  Jesus’ call to this church is that while they are committed to right thinking and right service for him they have forgotten what it is to love Jesus.  This is a call to repent and return to the way they loved him at the start. It is easy to look at a text like this and immediately point a finger at their failure without even realizing how often we fall into the same rut.  Join us as we look at what it means to be moved by the gospel to simply love Jesus.

::LITURGY::
We don’t want to ever hear the call of the gospel and not be moved to respond to it.  The gospel is something, that once grasped, requires a response.  This is why each week we wrap our gatherings up with a reading of commitment. This is meant to allow us as a gathered communal body to outwardly declare our intent to respond to the gospel message we heard during the sermon. This weeks commitment reading comes from Prayers Encircling the World: An International Anthology of 300 Prayers.  As you prepare for sunday we would encourage you to think through this text and consider what keeps us from wholeheartedly committing to the gospel.

L: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, the privilege is ours to be called to share in the loving, healing, and reconciling mission of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, in this age and wherever we are.
C: Since without You we can do no good thing, may Your Spirit make us wise; may Your Spirit guide us; may Your Spirit renew us; may Your Spirit strengthen us so that we will be strong in faith, discerning in proclamation, courageous in witness, persistent in good deeds. This we ask through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

::MUSIC::
Check out some of the songs we will be singing together this week:

– “Hail The King”, a newer song that allows us to express our utter joy and thanks for the work of Christ.

– “There Is A Peace”, a Veritas favorite that reminds us of the great peace and rest that is present in the gospel.

– “Grace Alone”, another new song that speaks of the fact that it is only by grace that we are saved and redeemed.

– “Be Thou My Vision”, a classic hymn that is flowing with rich lyrical expression of our cry for God to be all that we ever need.

Here is a link to a Spotify playlist.

Even though our arrangements might be slightly different, listen through these songs and see the great truths that they speak about our God and then come prepared to sing them out loudly and joyfully as a gathered church.

See you Sunday!