Home Church, 1.17.21 | Restoried:Awaken | Spiritual Entitlement

Jan 14, 2021 | Blog

HOME CHURCH GUIDE

In this season where our Church is unable to gather as a whole family for worship, we’re seeking to equip our Restoration family for God’s work among them – right where they are. That’s what Home Church is all about: giving you tools to gather with community groups or other believers (*safely* in person or online) for a shared experience of worship with the whole Restoration family. Below, you’ll find three movements of worship together: Worship (praise and prayer), Word (opening the Scriptures), and Witness (talking it out and living it out. So whether with a community group or a friend or two, let’s worship together!

FAMILY WORSHIP GUIDE

As we make our way through the story of God, we are prioritizing the discipleship of our children through our Family Worship Guide each week! Each week, you’ll find questions, activitives, and other fun stuff that follows along with the same passages as the adults. Join us!

Family Worship Guide:
Click Here!

 

WORSHIP: PRAISE AND PRAYER

Worship is the continual process of orienting our hearts around that which we value most. Each Sunday, we worship in song and prayer to offer our hearts and allegience to Jesus, who alone is worthy of our praise. In your Home Churches, we encourage worship through the use of the video below or by worship in person. If you cannot participate through song in your group, spend time answering this question:

 

What do I have to praise God for this week?

Prayer for the week:

God of mercy and comfort, we come before you weary and confused. Mindful of human frailty and need, we are struggling to find meaning in the face of suffering.
Where tempers flare and a spirit of deeply-rooted injustice provokes new hostility, raise up patient daughters and sons, and anoint them to lead radically.
Where indifference allows crisis to deepen and suffering to go without relief, awaken deliverers who have zeal and strength.
Direct all governments in the way of peace and justice, that your will may be known and done among the nations. Deliver us from the sins which lead to war and conflict, to white supremacy and hatred, and strengthen within us the will to establish righteousness and justice on the earth.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. In this season of Epiphany we desperately seek the light of Christ to be made ever more visible to us all. Amen.
(Body and excerpts partially adapted from the Moravian Book of Worship and from Betsy Miller)

WORD: OPENING THE SCRIPTURES

Listen to the Podcast: iTunes | Spotify

WITNESS: TALK AND LIVE IT OUT

This Week’s Scripture: Luke 4:14-30

Whether among your community group or a few friends over Zoom, we want to challenge you to move beyond just knowledge and information and into practicing the way of Jesus in your everyday life! But we do this together. Below you’ll find some questions to discuss, as well as next steps for living it out!

Studying The Scriptures Together

  1. Jesus spent the first 30 years of his life living in obscurity – a small town, unmarried, working class man simply living as a devout Jew. What is the spiritual significance of the fact that God in flesh spent most of his life outside of the limelight? 
  2. The people of Nazareth at first seem excited about Jesus. But when the full extent of his message was clear, they tried to murder him. How would you describe the different between being fascinated by Jesus and actually putting our faith in his words ?  
  3. Spiritual entitlement is a posture of inherent privilege that positions you at the fron of the line to receive God’s blessings. What are some examples of this kind of entitlement lived out among Christians – and why is it so dangerous?
  4. Read Philippians 3:3-9. Paul’s religious accomplishments gave him every reason to be entitled… but Jesus changed that. Be honest – what religious or moral activities or accomplishments are you tempted to lean on in place of living from genuine faith? 

Next Steps and Resources