JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
Worship isn’t about performance; it’s about participation. This Worship Guide serves as a weekly resource as we join in singing, praying, and celebrating the work God is doing in our community. Whether you’re at the Lyric Theatre or tuning into our live stream, we’re so glad you are joining us!
Let’s jump in.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.”
Acts 2:1-11 CSB
PRAYING TOGETHER
Spirit of God,
Fall afresh on your people today. Where there is complacency,
call us to courage. Send us on mission as empowered servants,
equipped to love and lead in unity in a world of division. Renew us
in our weariness, refresh us in our exhaustion, and give us
new vision for the work you’ve called us to together.
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. Willie James Jennings writes about the early Church: “In the book of Acts, the fundamental sign of the Spirit is that people are asked to do what they don’t want to do.” Can you share a time when the Holy Spirit was leading you to do something that took you outside of comfort – or something you didn’t want to do? How did He move, and work did you learn?
2. The Holy Spirit teaches us to live in a posture of dependence on God’s power and not our own. Is there an area of your life that you’re experiencing exhaustion, frustration, tension, or defeat? What would it look like to depend less on your ability and expertise and more on God’s power and purpose in the pain?
How You Can Pray:
“Come, Holy Spirit.
Stanley Hauerwas writes: “When we pray “Come, Holy Spirit!” it’s as if we pray, “Bring it on, Holy Spirit! Shake us up, send us forth, kick us out, and make us a more interesting church than we would be if you had left us alone.” This week, spend time daily inviting the Holy Spirit to move and lead you through the day. When you feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and tired, ask for His empowered presence to renew you and draw you in to the love of God.