Posted on Dec 12, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 126
Of the many themes that run throughout the Bible, faithfulness is central. Not only are we called to be faithful to God and to have faith in God, but we are also to remember that God is faithful. So much of the Bible reminds us that God is faithful, even when we are not. Once again, then, this passage from 1 Thessalonians reminds us that God is faithful, specifically in regard to the return of Jesus and the sanctifying of God’s people.
Our scriptures this week include the passage Chess is discussing, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, as well as Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126, and John 1:6-8, 19-28
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
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Posted on Dec 5, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 144
Waiting in Peace
As we wait for Jesus to return and for him to bring us home to a new heaven and earth, where righteousness is at home, Peter encourages us to wait patiently and peacefully, reminding us that we have the time to find peace in all aspects of our lives – with the tragedies of our past, with unmet expectations and goals, with our failures, with those who have failed us, with our enemies, with our families, and with everything. We have been given the opportunity to wait, and Peter reminds us to wait with peace.
As you read 2 Peter 3:8-15a ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
- What do you do while you wait?
- What does it mean to be found blameless when Jesus returns?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, Mark 1:1-8
We will be using this Order of Worship for our morning virtual services.
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
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Posted on Nov 28, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 127
As you wait
Advent is a season of longing and waiting. It is a time to remember that amidst all the things we are doing with our lives – our careers, our hobbies, our goals and plans – that we are a people who wait and long for the return of our savior. But unlike most waiting rooms, we do not wait alone. God is faithful and has strengthened us so that we might be found blameless on the day of Jesus’ return.
Questions:
- How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
- What do you do while you wait?
- What does it mean to be found blameless when Jesus returns?
Our other Scriptures this week:
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
Be encouraged this week by these songs. You can find our playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
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Posted on Nov 21, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 117
Return with Thanksgiving
Ten lepers are healed by Jesus, yet only one takes the time and effort to return to thank Jesus. How often do we return to thank God for the blessings, forgiveness, and very life that we live? This holiday season, at the end of a difficult year, perhaps it is hard to find reasons to be thankful, but God has already given us so many reasons to return with thanksgiving.
As you read Luke 17:11-19 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- Do we limit thanksgiving to received blessings, or do we remember to be thankful for the works of God we might otherwise take for granted (i.e., forgiveness, life, and love)?
- Do we remember to give thanks when life does not go our way?
- What daily habits can we nurture to help us return with thanksgiving?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Deut 8:7-18; Psalm 65; 2 Cor 9:6-15
Peace,
Chess
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Posted on Nov 14, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 117
We look forward to seeing you in our service. To participate via Zoom (and see, visit and encourage each other) click here to
request the link. If you prefer to just view via YouTube, you will find the service
streaming here on our YouTube channel. Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Live with God
As children of the light, Paul outlines what life is like while we wait for the expected return of Jesus. Armored with faith, love, and salvation, Paul reminds us that we are destined for salvation, not wrath, so that we might live our lives with God.
As you read I Thessalonians 5:1-11 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
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- How often do we feel God’s salvation compared to God’s wrath? Is God’s wrath an active, fearful part of your relationship with God?
- What does living with God look like, practically speaking? Is it more than simply obeying commands?
- How might we do as Paul asks and encourage one another with these words?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; Matthew 25:14-30
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Posted on Nov 7, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 128
We look forward to seeing you in our service. To participate via Zoom (and see, visit and encourage each other) click here to
request the link. If you prefer to just view via YouTube, you will find the service
streaming here on our YouTube channel. Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Encourage One Another
As Christians were dying from persecution, they began to lose hope and confidence in their faith. So, Paul reminds them to encourage one another with the hope that no matter what happens in this life, Christ is triumphant for all of eternity. We are certainly not in the same position of persecution as those of Thessalonica, but we can still draw encouragement from the hope of eternal life.
As you read I Thessalonians 4:13-18 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- What threatens our hope and confidence in our faith?
- How do these words encourage us?
- How can we use these words to encourage one
another?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; Matthew 25:1-13
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Posted on Oct 30, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 136
Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Kingdom and Glory
God’s word was made flesh and sent to live among us, working in us to call us into God’s kingdom and glory, but what will we do with this word? Will we let it transform us into the image of God, or will we limit and edit the word of God? Will we live a life worthy of God?
As you read I Thessalonians 2:9-13 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- In what ways is the word of God working among and in us?
- In what manner do we accept the word of God? With welcome and zeal or hesitancy and reluctance?
- In what ways are we called into God’s kingdom and glory today?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
You can find our playlist for this week
here:
Other Key Links:
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Posted on Oct 21, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 120
Please let us know you joined us by filling out our
Welcome Card
Sharing
In chapter one, Paul writes of sharing the gospel in word and power, and in chapter two the concept is elaborated by adding the sharing of ourselves. It is not enough to share the content of the gospel; we must also share ourselves, which requires an uncommon vulnerability.
As you read I Thessalonians 2:1-8 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
What is the connection between sharing of self and sharing the gospel?
How can we share ourselves?
How can we share ourselves and the gospel during the pandemic?
Our other scriptures for the week include:
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Posted on Oct 21, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 124
Preach Often
God has chosen to give to us the Word, which is not only scripture, but is Jesus himself. This Word, Paul writes, was given to the Thessalonians and they in turn sent it back out into the world so that others might received it also. But they sent the Word not with words, but with their reputation.
As you read I Thessalonians 1:1-10 ask yourself these questions. Talk about them at your dinner table.
- For what has God chosen us? To simply be forgiven, or for more?
2. What or whom do we imitate?
3. What “word sounds forth” from us, individually and/or corporately?
4. What role does the Holy Spirit play in our lives? In this passage?
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
You can find our playlist for this week
here:
Other Key Links:
Read more...
Posted on Oct 14, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 133
Peace of God
In Philippians 4, Paul characterizes the life of a Christian as a life of peace. However, so much of our daily life is plagued by worry, anxiety, conflict, stress, and hardship that distracts and detracts from any sense of peace. Thankfully, this passage offers a lot of advise for how to maintain peace in our lives.
Questions:
Jesus promised a different peace, what makes it different?
What brings and supports God’s peace?
What distracts and detracts from your sense of peace?
What actions can you take to increase the peace in your life?
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
Read more...
Posted on Oct 7, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 162
Heavenly Call
God has called us to share in the death and life of Jesus, but are the things of our past that we have let define us preventing us from this call? Or are we more interested in calling Jesus to share in our life? Resurrection always requires death, and new life with Christ follows dying to self.
Questions:
What is “the heavenly call of God?”
How can we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus now?
What prevents us from sharing in the life of Christ?
What is defining us other than the life of Jesus?
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Posted on Sep 30, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 166
Emptied
Philippians 2:1-13
Using what is probably one of the oldest Christian hymns, Paul paints a beautiful picture of Christ emptying himself. But what does it mean to empty one’s self? And if we are to have the mindset of Christ, how are we to empty ourselves as well? Perhaps the act of emptying requires faith that we will be filled by “God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.”
Questions:
- What does it mean that Christ emptied himself?
- How can we have the same mind as Christ and empty ourselves?
- What are some practical ways that you can empty yourself?
- What prevents us from emptying ourselves?
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
Read more...
Posted on Sep 23, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 161
Philippians 1:21-30
Writing from prison, Paul emphasized a unity of spirit and mind for the sake of the gospel. Though separated, Paul was still unified with the church in Philippi. The same is true today; though circumstantially separated, we are still on Church, united in spirit and mind.
Questions:
- What challenges come from being a church divided by Covid-19?
- How does worship (even as it is today) help us stay united?
- How can we maintain “one mind” while also maintaining social distance?
- What defines our unity if not our physical presence?
Sing with Us:
While we cannot sing in our in-person worship, we can be united in mind and heart by listening to and singing the same songs while we are apart.
Read more...
Posted on Sep 20, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 163
Forgiveness
Have you ever thought of Forgiveness as essential to worship?
Peace, Chess
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Posted on Sep 5, 2020 in English Words of Encouragement, General | 242
Hearts of Worship
Psalm 149
With in-person worship resuming next week, this is a good time to look back on our virtual worship experience as it informs our future worship experiences. Psalm 149 provides a unique perspective on our year so far and the rest that is to come.
Peace,
Chess
Our Worship this Week:
Hymns for the Week:
As you prepare for this Sunday’s worship
Included here are the scriptures, reflection questions, and prayers that are thematically matched to our Sunday worship outline.
Scriptures: Exod 12:1-14; Ps 149; Matt 18:15-20; Rom 13:8-14
Questions for Reflection:
How do you reconcile a God who would “strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals” (Exod. 12:12) with a God who would die for the sins of the entire world?
Morning Prayer:
O God of this and every morning, as I begin this day, call my name; as I step into this day, guide my feet; as I live this day, care for those I love; as I learn this day, teach me your ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Evening Prayer:
God of stars and planets, the setting sun ends this day for us as it rises on a new day for others. For us and for them, be light in every darkness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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