Reflect (November 25, 2018)

Welcome to the Sunday Gathering recap (songs, hymns, liturgy and sermon). This blog gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you heard in the gathering or catch up if you weren’t able to be with us.

*The indented sections are responses read aloud by the congregation during the Gathering

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ROMANS - Wrestling with wrath

CALL TO WORSHIP

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Praise be to the LORD God, who alone does marvellous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

(Psalm 19:1-4, 72:18-19)

Song: Indescribable

Song: 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

We've already heard and sung that God's glory has been shown to us since the creation of the world and yet so often we don't give God the glory he deserves. Romans 1 tells us that humanity has supressed the truth of God, not only that but we have also exchanged the truth about God for a lie.

Instead of worshipping God, honouring him and giving him thanks, we direct our worship to so many other things in his place. Instead of looking to God the creator of all things, we become distracted with the things he's created, giving them the glory he deserves. Take a moment to reflect on that now. To confess to God where you see this in your own heart. When we fail to glorify God, our hearts become dark and in need of rescue. In Jesus we have a saviour who turns our darkness into light. Hear his words to us now:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

(John 8:12)

Song: Shine into our Night

PASSING OF THE PEACE

PREACHING OF THE WORD

Gary Aston preached to us from Romans 1:18-32 on wrestling with wrath. Click here to listen to that sermon.

COMMUNION

Every week we want to respond to what God has done for us in Jesus. One of the great ways he has provided for us to remember the truth of the gospel is giving us communion. As we take the bread and wine we remember what Jesus has done for us.

POST COMMUNION READING

Jesus’ death brings us life and this meal reminds us that we are fed by Jesus and forgiven because of Jesus.

We rejoice that You have died, rose again, and are now with the Father advocating for us. Amen.

With our money, time, and talent we give generously, knowing that through Your Son, Jesus, You have generously given to us.

We rejoice that You have given everything and we joyfully give everything back to Your care. Amen.

Song: The Power of the Cross

Song: Before the Throne of God Above

COMMITMENT READING

The truth of the gospel that God does not treat us as our sins deserve, Jesus stepped down into this World and gave himself up for us that we might know forgiveness and relationship with God through him. Let's read these words as a commitment as we prepare to go now:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

(2 Corinthians 5:17 & 21)

Song: Grace Alone

BENEDICTION

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

(Jude 24-25)

Peace be with you.

And also with you.

Prepare (November 25, 2018)

This blog gives you a glimpse into the upcoming Sunday Gathering. It's an opportunity to read through the passage we'll be studying together, pray through some of the liturgy we'll be using, and listen to a selection of the songs we’ll be singing.

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ROMANS - Wrestling with Wrath

SERMON

Gary Aston will be preaching to us this week from Romans 1:18-32 looking at wrestling with wrath.

LITURGY

CALL TO WORSHIP

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

(2 Corinthians 5:17 & 21)

MUSIC

• Indescribable (Chris Tomlin): A song of praise and worship that speaks of the glory of God which can be seen throughout his creation

• Grace Alone (Dustin Kensrue): A celebration of the grace that has been shown to us in Christ and the righteousness that can now be ours.

Making the Most of Advent

- Waiting for the Dawn -

This post brings together resources – music, books & calendars –  for you to use during Advent. It explains how to make the most of the opportunity that Advent affords to receive Christ more fully into our hearts. The blog itself is done as a meditation to slow you down! Read it thoughtfully over the next six days, enjoying the music links as you go. Then decide which resources you would like to use during Advent itself, and schedule in 10 minutes or more each day in December to do so. 

❄ ❄ ❄ 

DAY 1: BE STILL

As you begin to read, listen to Salt of the Sound’s track, From Afar…

Our new EP, Waiting For The Dawn is out now! * iTunes: https://goo.gl/C5tjGT * Spotify: https://goo.gl/8tA3jk * Bandcamp: https://goo.gl/aDvh0a * Google Play: https://goo.gl/xNEZy4 Featuring six reflective tracks, including From Afar, to soothe your soul this Advent. Join us! * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saltofthesound * Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/saltofthesound * Spotify: https://goo.gl/3mNkdL #FromAfar #WaitingForTheDawn #SaltOfTheSound

…Step with me if you will, in your imagination, through the doors of an old wardrobe… Brush past fresh-smelling fir trees into a frosty forest... Deep snow covers the floor of a land where it is always Winter and never Christmas… Breaking the silence is the sound of tiny water droplets falling from crackling branches... A new day is dawning on the darkened horizon… Aslan is on the move.

The magic of Narnia is ours to rediscover during Advent all over again – startlingly beautiful and infinitely precious. We need to make time each day to be still if we are to prepare room in our hearts for all that Christ has come to do there.

According to John 1:1, Christ’s work starts at the outset of creation. John’s words are echoed in Audrey Assad’s New Every Morning:

from INHERITANCE - Available Now http://smarturl.it/AA_Inheritance In the beginning You hovered over the waters: You broke an unbroken silence: You spoke light into darkness And there was light In the beginning we were made in Your image We were naked without shame til we fell for the darkness And there was night Your mercies are new Your mercies are new New every morning.

‘In the beginning, you hovered over the waters, you broke an unbroken silence, you spoke light into darkness, and there was light.’ Jesus, who was with God and was God, who wraps himself in light, will one day usher in the dawn of the new creation in all his radiant glory. While we wait in expectant hope for his return, he dwells in us by his Spirit and reveals his glory to us in the pages of his Word. If we’re prepared to open our hearts to receive him anew this Advent, we’ll find that God is not far from any one of us.

DAY 2: WAIT

When Christ came to Israel, 800 years after Isaiah prophesied to them about a great light that would come into the darkness, they were expecting the Messiah to arrive with great power and authority. Audrey Assad’s Winter Snow envisages how Jesus ‘could’ve come like a mighty storm, with all the strength of a hurricane… like a forest fire with the power of heaven in his flame’, but instead he came, ‘like a winter snow, quiet and soft and slow, falling from the sky in the night to the earth below.’

Winter Snow By Audrey Assad © 2009 River Oaks Music Company (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing) As recorded on Chris Tomlin's album 'Glory in the Highest,' 2009. I do not own the rights to the music. Please support Audrey Assad and Chris Tomlin by buying the song or the album Video Copyright 2014 by Robert J.

Jesus could if he wished sweep into our lives ‘like a tidal wave or an ocean to ravish our hearts… like a roaring flood to wipe away the things we’ve scarred’, but he comes to each of us gently and softly to draw us back to him – if we will let him.

Although John assures us that the light of Jesus shines in the darkness, we often feel as though darkness has overcome our lives. Sometimes we might think that we’re never going to see the light shining brightly again. Salt of the Sound’s Shine So Bright describes a ‘world hopelessly searching for more’, and points to the light that comes into that hopelessness, ‘Like a candle through the shadows Jesus comes, and darkness fades away till it’s gone.’

Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World. He is the light which darkness itself cannot hope to comprehend. Through Jesus Christ you could obtain the light of life itself.The wonderful and soothing song is once again created by the talented Salt Of The Sound and it's appropriately called Shine So Bright.

As you take time during Advent to look at the God who steps down into our darkness, ask him to help you see that light again. Then wait and see how he will reveal himself to you.

Waiting for the Dawn, also by Salt of the Sound, points to the ‘stars still shining for a weary world, and the glimpse of hope in a new and glorious morn’.

Salt Of The Sound's "Waiting For The Dawn" EP releases November 11th. Check out the title track above and find out more about the album here: https://jesuswired.com/salt-sound-announce-new-waiting-dawn-ep/ Check back to our social medias at 5pm CST today for a mini competition!

Ask God today to open your heart to receive him anew, that you would know his glorious hope once more. Pray for Jesus to bring his light and hope into your heart as you light your Advent candles during December.

DAY 3: DWELL

John wrote his Gospel so that we could see for ourselves the glory and grace of God’s one and only Son, Jesus. Tim Chester’s book, The One True Light, provides daily readings from John 1, with accompanying meditations and prayers that will help you dwell in the Word during Advent. Where this volume zooms in on Jesus’ life in the gospel, the readings from Chester’s second Advent volume, The One True Story, zoom out on God’s awesome plan for salvation through human history, from Genesis to Jesus to our lives today.

If books are too expensive for you, or if you’d like to learn how to meditate on God’s word (a thoroughly biblical concept!), you could read John 1:1-18 each day during Advent. Read the passage slowly & thoughtfully; listen intently to what God has to say to you; respond to him in prayer – whether thanks, praise or lament; and finally rest in him – be still and know that he is God. Repeat with the same passage each day, and note down any verses that you might like to learn – and perhaps include in your Christmas cards and emails this year.

Tim Keller’s Hidden Christmas helps us to see, hear and almost touch the Jesus of the gospels, and is a great book to read as a DNA group. You might read four or five pages each day of Advent, and then share together what you’ve discovered over a cuppa, a pint or a mulled wine & mince pie. Listen to Josh Garrel’s The Light Came Down as you decide which Advent book you will read. Rest in the knowledge that God has heard all of your fears and hopes and prayers and comes into our hearts by his Word over time to answer our longings and cast our darkness away. 

"The Light Came Down" by Josh Garrels from the album -The Light Came Down (November 24th, 2016) Order CD Here: http://store.bandfarm.com/joshgarrels/product/?prodID=4962 Order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-light-came-down/id1170756163?ls=1&app=itunes Order on Bandcamp: https://joshgarrels.bandcamp.com/album/the-light-came-down ------------------------------------- - - The Light Came Down - - There is a Light Bright Star Shining In the Dark Night Old

DAY 4: MARVEL

The Jesse Tree (referring to the line of David in the Old Testament from which Jesus descends), was a medieval tradition used to tell the story of the Bible from Adam to Jesus. The Littlest Watchman Advent calendar helps young children delight in the arc of this story for the first time. As you share each day’s reading, the calendar doors can be torn off to hang on cut branches and make your own Jesse Tree at home. 

John 1 tells us, ‘To all who receive the light he gives the right to become his children’. You don’t have to have children to marvel at the mystery of God’s plan once more – you are still his precious child! The Thomsons at Grace Church Hartlepool have devised a set of beautiful wooden decorations to hang up each day as you go through their Jesse Tree reading plan. (You can also use these decorations with children in conjunction with readings from The Jesus Story Book Bible). This set is something of an investment, but costs the same as about half a dozen chocolate Advent calendars and lasts a lot longer… And in case I haven’t already pricked your conscience enough, 10% of their profits go to support the work of Bible translation and distribution!

As you rekindle your amazement at God’s plan for salvation, you might just find he is opening your heart to receive his love and light anew. Express your gratitude to him as you listen to Salt of the Sound’s Come Let us Adore Him.

O Come Let Us Adore Him (The Day Has Dawned) by Salt Of The Sound, released 11 November 2016 O come with hearts wide open, Unveiled before our eyes. O see, and bow before Him, The day has dawned, O come.

Josh Garrel’s Come to Him reminds us that Jesus came to give us peace and that joy shall be our crown. What joy to know that God’s love for you is so great he sent his precious Son to die for you. What peace to come to him with all your heart and lay your burdens down, knowing that Jesus is the one true light of the world – and our only hope.

"Come To Him" by Josh Garrels from the album - The Light Came Down (November 24th, 2016) Order CD Here: http://store.bandfarm.com/joshgarrels/product/?prodID=4962 Order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-light-came-down/id1170756163?ls=1&app=itunes Order on Bandcamp: https://joshgarrels.bandcamp.com/album/the-light-came-down _____________________________ - - Come To Him - - Come to him With all your heart Come and Lay Your burdens down For peace he came to give And Joy shall be the crown And Joy shall be the crown Words and Music by Josh Garrels © 2016 Josh Garrels Small Voice LLC (ASCAP).

DAY 5: INVITE

The world did not recognise Jesus when he came, and still does not today. Josh Garrel’s May you Find a Light speaks of, ‘Lost and weary travellers searching for the way to go, heavy-hearted and longing deeply to be known.’

"May You Find A Light" by Josh Garrels from the album - The Light Came Down (November 24th, 2016) Order CD Here: http://store.bandfarm.com/joshgarrels/product/?prodID=4962 Order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-light-came-down/id1170756163?ls=1&app=itunes Order on Bandcamp: https://joshgarrels.bandcamp.com/album/the-light-came-down _____________________________ - - May You Find A Light - - Lost and weary traveler, searching for the way to go.

Each of us knows so many people who feel lost, weary, sad or lonely. Jesus knows each of them by name too, every thought on their minds and the longing in the hearts. He is the way they are looking for, and his light is yours to give. Invite your friends and family to join our Redeemer church family for Hog Roast and Carols, that they might see the glory of Jesus’ light come down.

DAY 6: REJOICE

Finally, it will be time to celebrate Christmas. Rejoice with Sojourn’s Glory Be and Joy to the World. The beautiful key changes of these songs take us from darkness to light, from waiting to receiving, from ‘always winter’ to the dawn of Christmas morning.

Glory Be Words and Music by Mike Cosper Performed by Sojourn On "Advent Songs" 2008 Sojourn Music mp3 download: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001HWN462?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=s9_simh_bw_p340_d0_i2 Sojourn Music: http://sojournmusic.com/ Sojourn Digital Hymnal: http://sojournmusic.com/hymnal/

Provided to YouTube by TuneCore Joy to the World · Sojourn Advent Songs ℗ 2007 Sojourn Music Released on: 2007-12-01 Auto-generated by YouTube.

It is my prayer this Advent that, in the stillness of winter and the darkest month of the year, you will see the Light of Jesus blaze more brightly than ever before and discover a joy more deep than you have ever known.  

Text Copyright © 2018 Elspeth Taylor in conjunction with Redeemer Church Leeds UK. All rights reserved.

Reflect (November 18, 2018)

Welcome to the Sunday Gathering recap (songs, hymns, liturgy and sermon). This blog gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you heard in the gathering or catch up if you weren’t able to be with us.

*The indented sections are responses read aloud by the congregation during the Gathering

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ROMANS - The power of the gospel

CALL TO WORSHIP

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.

Great is our LORD and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

(Psalm 145:3, 147:1-5)

Song: All Praise to Him

Song: Come Praise and Glorify

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

We've already heard and sung of God's power, that he is the creator of all things, that he brings salvation and redemption from sin. When we're faced with God's power and majesty, we're humbled to see our weakness before him. Without God, we are weak, we have no way of saving ourselves. Every week at Redeemer we take a moment to confess our sin to God together, it's a way for us to be humble before God and admit our need for him. Take a moment to do that now, to confess in the quiet of your heart now. The truth of the gospel is that Jesus died to save us from our sin and now equips us with the Holy Spirit. We can know God's power at work in our lives as his Spirit dwells within us. Hear these words of assurance now, they are true for us today:

God's grace is sufficient for you, for his power is made perfect in weakness.

(based on 2 Corinthians 12:9).

Song: O God of Mercy Hear our Plea

PASSING OF THE PEACE

PREACHING OF THE WORD

Gary Aston preached to us from Romans 1:16-17 on the power of the gospel. Click here to listen to that sermon.

COMMUNION

Every week we want to respond to what God has done for us in Jesus. One of the great ways he has provided for us to remember the truth of the gospel is giving us communion. As we take the bread and wine we remember what Jesus has done for us.

POST COMMUNION READING

Jesus’ death brings us life and this meal reminds us that we are fed by Jesus and forgiven because of Jesus.

We rejoice that You have died, rose again, and are now with the Father advocating for us. Amen.

With our money, time, and talent we give generously, knowing that through Your Son, Jesus, You have generously given to us.

We rejoice that You have given everything and we joyfully give everything back to Your care. Amen.

Song: Jesus Paid it All

Song: Man of Sorrows (Oh the Rugged Cross)

COMMITMENT READING

Every week at Redeemer we have a time of commitment, it's a way for us to respond to God's word preached to us with a commitment to live out the invitation of the gospel. It's a sending into the world, a declaration, a commitment to deeper faith, a call to mission with Jesus. A time to be reminded of and re-state our faith in Jesus.

So let's read these words as a commitment as we prepare to go now:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

(Romans 1:16)

Song: O For A Thousand Tongues

BENEDICTION

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen

(Ephesians 3:20-21)

Peace be with you.

And also with you.