Sunday Set List: March 3
O Come to the Altar
Lion and the Lamb
Sovereign Over Us
Jesus Messiah
Great Are You Lord
…Anticipatory Reflections of Sunday…
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because He has dealt bountifully with me.” – Psalm 13:5,6
The mantra “it’s OK not to be OK” is now popular in our culture.. and it’s true. It is completely normal, understandable, and acceptable for our feelings, our emotions, our state of being to be negative, confused and unwell. Just ask David. What David knew, that this generation desperately needs to know, is what to do with our “not OK” problems. How to relate to our issues and how to respond to them. You won’t want to miss this message, as we are together in God’s Word with pastor Jeff.
As we gather, the music of “O Come to the Altar” plays over us. “Are you hurting and broken within?/overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?/Jesus is calling… Sin and our brokenness is overwhelming–it’s OK not to be OK with our sin. No, it’s essential for restoration to not be OK with sin.
The Lion and the Lamb always revs me up! In Leviticus, Karis and I have been reading long, laundry lists of laws for a stubborn nation of hard hearts. God repeatedly declares the reason for the laws with “I am the LORD” like a lion roaring to protect His ways for His people. We read in the Gospels that Jesus patiently goes to the cross, fulfilling the prophecy to be our Lamb.
What a good reminder Sovereign Over Us is for us — in every situation, God is in control. “Even what the enemy means for evil / You turn it for our good…and for Your glory.”
As we sing Jesus Messiah, we prepare our hearts for a time of communion. In a congregation like ours, a little cup and cracker is our modest way of celebrating that Jesus sacrifice was enough for us to experience glorious communion with Him! If you are a believer in Jesus, you are welcome to take this with us. Let’s be careful to remember Him, reflect on our lives, and obey the Spirit’s promptings if He brings up sin in any area of our lives.
Great Are You Lord – Like David’s conclusion in this short Psalm, our conclusion is singing of our great God! I hope you feel freedom to demonstrate your heart to God–sitting and soak in the truth sung around you, standing, shouting out “Great are You Lord!”, raising your hands, or whatever you do to bring glory to Him in that moment, together with our congregation. And, let’s continue our worship into every area in our life. We can lift His praises at all times, in every circumstance.