JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
Today is “Church Is Family Sunday,” and we’re celebrating with food and fun for the whole family! We’re gathering at Woodland Park on Sunday morning at 11am, but before then, we’re still having a Sunday online gathering at 9:30am (on Facebook Live). Below you’ll find everything you’d encounter on a normal Sunday Worship Guide – our here’s our worship and message!Â
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 5:13-14 NIV
PRAYING TOGETHER
God our creator and sustainer,
Our hope is in you.
Everything in us longs for you.
You uphold us with your
mighty right hand,
Faithful to redeem and forgive.
We wait patiently on you.
Day and night, we cling to your promises.
You alone are God. We serve you only.
Give us joy for today
and hope for tomorrow,
As we keep our eyes fixed on you. Amen.
HOME CHURCH: GROWING TOGETHER IN COMMUNITY
Start your time together by having a few people share where they’ve seen God at work in their lives throughout the week.
God is not contained to a service or a building. We want to live with the expectation that God is present and at work in the everyday stuff of our lives. We listen, join him in his work, and share stories of how he’s moving!
Studying The Scriptures Together
Each week, we approach the Scriptures with 4 primary questions:
1. What does this tell us about God?
2. What does this tell us about ourselves?
3. How does this help us love
our neighbor?
4. How can we put this into practice?
These questions help guide our conversation around the Scripture each week, and encourage us to move beyond knowledge and into action together.
Discussion Questions:
1. The definition of freedom can be different from person to person, but there are some common threads for how we define the concept in modern America. How would you describe the modern understanding of freedom in our nation, and how is it different from the freedom we see in the Scriptures?Â
2. Brian Zahnd writes: The biblical test case for love of God is love of neighbor. The biblical test case for love of neighbor is love of enemy. Who are the neighbors (maybe even enemies!) that you’re struggling to love? How is God challenging you beyond your comfort to love people who stand “on the other side?”
How You Can Pray:
Prayer Walk.
We can’t love people we don’t love. This week, take a prayer walk through your neighborhood. As you pray for your neighbors, ask God to open your eyes to the needs and relationships he may be calling you into as an ambassador for His kingdom. What is He showing you? How is He calling your forward?
NEXT STEPS AND RESOURCES
We meet in the Lyric Theatre, which lies in the heart of the historic East End of downtown Lexington. One of the ways we can love our neighbors well is by understanding their story. Below you’ll find a short (6 minutes) documentary around the history of the East End. Learn about where we worship in our city!Â