Worship Notes
My notes are a little long this week. So, in the interest of not taking up the entire weekly e-mail, I am only including them for a couple of songs. I have included the titles and YouTube links to the rest so that you are able to review them before Sunday if you want. I hope you will.
I want to thank all of you for allowing me to continue to do this each week. It is an absolute joy and increases my faith as I get to work through the services. I also want to thank you for being a church that welcomes all ages to serve and have welcomed my sons taking on roles on the worship and tech teams. On that note, the youth group is putting together its own worship team. If you are a youth and are interested in joining, please talk to Daniel Coleman for more information. We will also be looking for some extra adult coverage during rehearsal times, tentatively Thursdays. If you can help, please reach out to me (chris@colemanequip.com) Amy Mitchell (amymitchell@sbc.net) so that we can discuss details.
As always, excited to worship with you this Sunday!
Chris
To God Be the Glory – Hymnal #72
Listen to this hymn with full text here:
The Way
John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus has told us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He told His disciples that they knew the way to where He was going. Still, the disciples were confused and anxious and they continued asking questions about what was to come and what was “the way.” We have the benefit of perspective. We can read ahead and know what is to come. Still we also regularly ask questions and doubt.
Jesus didn’t say that He was a way and a truth. He is the way and the truth. The search is over. There are no other answers. When we confess Jesus as the way, we are proclaiming the hope that we have in Him. He will be the truth that speaks into every circumstance if we can just remember to listen.
Listen to this song with full text here:
No Longer Slaves
For years I heard people say that we have freedom in Christ. I must confess that until a few years ago, even though I was a Christian, I didn’t really know what that meant. How can we have freedom when so many choices are not up to us? How can we have freedom when bad things are still going to happen? When my dad got sick a few years ago, we were having a lot of struggles in the family business. I was fighting things and pushing for my way. I was too blind to see at the time, but this only made things worse. These struggles poured over into my time at home. I was grumpy a lot of the time. I met with consultants and coaches, I watched leadership seminars, but I just couldn’t find that perfect strategy that would get me where I thought I should be.
Looking back, I know that I was simply afraid. I was afraid of the things that I could not control. I was afraid of what others might do that would affect me. This drove me to mistrust a lot of people around me and doubt their intentions. One day as I was driving to a contentious meeting, I was practicing, out loud, all the things I was going to say to a person who I thought was causing a lot of my troubles. For privacy, let’s call him Fred. Suddenly, out of my mouth came words that I was not thinking, “Jesus Christ died for Fred!” I was overwhelmed and almost broke down right there on the highway. It was instant perspective. Jesus paid the price for all of us and has already done the work Himself. Why was I fighting so hard? I was fighting against God’s purposes because I was focused solely on earthly matters and putting my fear before Him. I was a slave to fear.
Especially today, it is hard to not be ruled by fear. Fear of catching COVID, fear of giving someone COVID, fear of breaking a new rule, fear of the new rules…. The list is long. We can’t control any of these fears, but God can keep it from controlling us if we let Him. We must remember that we are children of God and were purchased with a price. We don’t just live in a post-crucifixion world; we live in a post-resurrection world with the promise of eternal life and that gives us the freedom to live fearlessly.
Listen to this song with full text here:
My Jesus I Love Thee – Hymnal #370
Listen to this song with full text here:
other sermons in this series
Apr 18
2021
LUKE: The Early Gathered
Preacher: Jeff Flanagan Scripture: Luke 24:13–35 Series: LUKE
Apr 4
2021
LUKE: Because Christ was Raised
Preacher: Jeff Flanagan Scripture: Luke 23:50– 24:12 Series: LUKE
Mar 28
2021
LUKE: The Silent, Suffering, Servant of God
Preacher: Jeff Flanagan Scripture: Luke 22:63– 23:25 Series: LUKE