As we continued our series, “Rejoicing Our World,” we focused on the outward dimension of righteousness. The righteous ones have a deep concern for the welfare and well-being of their community (see Jeremiah 29) and are willing to do whatever it takes to work in concert with God in the establishment of shalom in their world. What is shalom? I love how Cornelius Plantiga describes it:

“In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.”

 Here is our complete worship flow:

• Now and Forever (One Sonic Society)
• Call to Worship from Psalm 86:1-10
• O This God (Matt Redman)
• Like a Lion (Daniel Bashta)
• How Great Is Our God (Passion World Version)
• Announcements and Offering
• Message (Rejoicing Our World)
• God of This City (Chris Tomlin)

You can learn what other communities of faith experienced in worship this weekend at The Worship Community.

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These words from the song, “Hosanna” written by Brooke Fraser, captured the essence of our worship gathering this morning. As we continued our series “Rejoicing Our World,” we explored the state of our own hearts by looking inward. As Amy Sherman says, “the righteous seek not only to act rightly but also be right on the inside.”

Of course, it is only through the righteousness of Christ and his finished work on the Cross that we can stand as the righteous before God. But the righteous person who brings joy to his/her world pays careful attention to these fours areas of life:

• personal holiness
• the fruit of the Spirit
• generosity
• compassion

Why not pause for a moment and take your spiritual pulse and ask the Lord to reveal to you the true state of your heart?

Here is our complete worship flow:

• Here For You (Matt Redman and Matt Maher)
• Collect for Purity: Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)
• Forever Reign (One Sonic Society)
• Salvation Is Here (Hillsong)
• Psalm 15 and Prayers of Confession
• Hosanna (Brooke Fraser)
• Announcements and Offerings
• Message: Rejoicing Our World 3
• Shine (Matt Redman)

Why not take a moment and drop by The Worship Community and learn what other communities of faith experienced this weekend in worship.

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Douthat, an op-ed writer for the NT Times and conservative Catholic states:

“The future of American religion depends on believers who can demonstrate, in word and deed alike, that the possibilities of the Christian life are not exhausted by TV preachers and self-help gurus, utopians, and demagogues.”

If you are interested here are links to a number of reviews of the book:

• Christianity Today
• Tim Keller
• New York Times

I found Douthat’s critique helpful as we moved in the second week of our series, “Rejoicing Our World.” Proverbs 11:10 states: “When the righteous prosper the city rejoices” and this morning we explored three characteristics of the righteous. The righteous possess: a Godward orientation, a spirit of humility and an eternal perspective.

We closed with a song from Matthew West called My Own Little Word.” I especially love the bridge and closing chorus:

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
that I could be living right now?
I don’t wanna miss what matters.
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
so I can start living right now
Outside my own little world
My own little world, My own little world

Enjoy the video:

Here is our complete worship flow:

• Open the Eyes of Your Heart (Sonic Flood version)
• Welcome and Call to Worship (Based on Ephesians 1:15-19)
• God Is With Us (Trent, Vineyard)
• Your Love Never Fails (Jesus Culture)
• Hosanna (Hillsong)
• Announcements and Offering
• Message (Rejoicing Our Word 2)
• My Own Little world (Matthew West)

You can learn what other communities of faith experienced in worship this weekend at The Worship Community.

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When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. (Proverbs 11:10)

I was introduced to the power of this text by Amy Sherman and her tremendous book Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. She writes of the glorious vision of Proverbs 11:10 and boldly declares:

“Dancing in the streets rejoicing occurs when the tsaddiqim (righteous) advance justice and shalom in the city in ways that vulnerable people at the bottom stop being oppressed, start having genuine opportunity and begin to enjoy spiritual and physical health, economic sufficiency and security.”

Here are a couple of questions for you to ponder:

1. What does a “rejoiced” world look like?
2. What are you doing to “rejoice” your city?

Our new song for the morning was “Now and Forever” by One Sonic Society. They describe their mission as:

One Sonic Society is about unity, creativity, and community. Led by Jason Ingram [vocals/guitar], Stu Garrard [guitar/vocals] and Paul Mabury [drums]; an international collective of respected artists, united in creating music to serve the Church.

These guys are tremendous songwriters with a huge heart for the Church – check them out!

Here is our complete worship flow:

• Now and Forever (One Sonic Society)
• Call to Worship (Psalm 40:5)
• Fall on Your Knees (David Crowder Band)
• Our God Is Mercy (Brenton Brown)
• Prayers of Confession/Assurance of Pardon
• Jesus, Son of God (Passion, White Flag)
• We Are Saved (Paul Baloche)
• Announcements and Offering
• Message (Rejoicing Our World)
• Reprise: Our God Is Mercy

You can learn what other communities of faith experienced this weekend in worship at The Worship Community.

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We used these words from The Worship Sourcebook yesterday as we gathered for the second Sunday of Easter. The good news is that the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is not confined to a single day but rather is a season of continual celebration. Christ is Risen – He is risen indeed!

Yesterday Josh Lucas, who serves as the Area Director for Young Life South Hills was our guest speaker. Young Life is one of our ministry partners and Josh shared an important message on the place of fellowship in fulfilling the great commission of Christ. Josh closed his message with these words from Elton Trueblood:

“What we need is not intellectual theorizing or even preaching, but a demonstration. There is only one way of turning people’s loyalty to Christ, and that is by loving others with the great love of God. We cannot revive faith by argument, but we might catch the imagination of puzzled men and women by an exhibition of a Fellowship so intensely alive that every thoughtful person would be forced to respect it. If there should emerge in our day such a fellowship, wholly without artificiality and Free from the dead hand of the past, it would be an exciting event of momentous importance. A society of loving souls, set free from the self-seeking struggle for personal prestige and from all unreality, would be something unutterably precious. A wise person would travel any distance to join it.”

Here is our complete worship flow:

• Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (Aaron Keyes)
• Like a Lion (Daniel Bashta)
• Easter Call to Worship
• My Savior Lives (Glen Packiam, Jon Egan)
• Reading from Titus 2
• Prayers of Confession and Words of Assurance
• We Are Saved (Paul Baloche, Ben Fielding)
• Mighty to Save (Reuben Morgan)
• Announcements and Offering
• Message – Fellowship (Josh Lucas)
• Reprise: We are Saved

You can learn what other communities of faith experienced yesterday in worship at The Worship Community.

Stay connected…