CALL TO WORSHIP
- Opening choruses
- Opening prayer
WELCOME and THANKS for joining us
OPENING REMARKS
- Today is the third Sunday of Easter
- The theme this week is receiving salvation’s new orientation.
- The readings for today are …
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- Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 … which reflects on the psalmist’s experience of deliverance and his offering of himself to live a life of devotion in thankful response.
- Luke 24:13-35 which recounts the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus when He opens the hearts of two disciples, who at first did not recognize him, prompting them to return to Jerusalem to share the story of their encounter with the risen Lord.
- Acts 2:14a, 36-41 which records the final section of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost where he urges repentance and baptism as a response fitting to receiving forgiveness.
- 1 Peter 1:17-23 which gives a reminder to those who have already been saved by the blood of Christ to live accordingly.
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FIRST READING
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
‘O Lord, I pray, save my life!’
12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid. You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
OPENING SONGS
A PRAISE MEDLEY — Come, Now is the Time to Worship … Open the Eyes of My Heart … Here I Am To Worship …
SPEAKING OF LIFE
- Title: Born Again
- Presenter: Greg Williams, GCI President
- Keynote Passage: 1 Peter 1:3-5
Any thoughts … insights? Takeaway(s)??
From the transcript . . .
As a Christian, you are probably familiar with the metaphor of being “born again.” Jesus used it when talking to Nicodemus to try to explain the radical difference that one must undergo to enter the kingdom of God. Peter later used the same image to encourage a church that was being treated as exiles because of their faith in Christ.
The image of being born again works on both fronts. Certainly, entering the kingdom of God is like being born again as one becomes a new creation filled with life. But have you ever considered that this metaphor also speaks to the experience of believers being exiled from their old way of life?
Peter did. When he began his letter to a church that was being ostracized because of their faith, he chose to use the “born again” image to encourage them not to conform to their former ways of living.
Let’s read how he uses this image in these verses.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV)
Did you catch the picture? Being “born again” involves being born into something – “a living hope.” It also includes being born out of something – “from the dead.” Like a newborn baby, the new life it has after birth will be completely different than the life it had in the womb. Can you imagine a baby trying to live as if it is still in the womb? That would be nonsensical.
But, as Christians, we live with the constant temptation to return to a life that conforms to our old ways of moving and breathing. Especially since we are surrounded by a culture that resists and even persecutes those that live in such a way that challenges and calls into question the status quo. Being a Christian in this world is to live in exile. We are no longer at home in the womb of this world.
But that does not mean we do not belong. We belong to our heavenly Father, and we belong to a new family of brothers and sisters who live together in his love. Our new life of freedom lived in the light is beyond compare to the dark and restrictive life we once had.
So, if you sometimes feel like an exile in this world … take courage and live in hope. It comes with the territory of being born again.
SECOND READING
Luke 24:13-27,28-35
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad.
18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’
19 He asked them, ‘What things?’
They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’
25 Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.
32 They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’
33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
SHARING TIME
- Announcements
- Prayer Requests
- Prayer Updates
- Intercessory Prayer
THIRD READING
1 Peter 1:17-23
17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, (then) conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.
SPECIAL MUSIC
SERMON REVIEW
What Shall We Do?
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
. . .
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
WHAT IS THE PASSAGE SAYING TO YOU?
How do you understand v.38?
How do you understand the “for” in “for the remission of your sins”? (Note Acts 2:38 on biblehub)
How do you understand the ‘of” in “the gift of the Holy Spirit”? (see John 14:15-17)
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
. . .
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
How do you understand the “for” in “for the remission of your sins”?
- (Note Acts 2:38 on biblehub)
How do you understand the ‘of” in “the gift of the Holy Spirit”?
- (see John 14:15-17)
MAIN TAKEAWAY
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
. . .
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
So, what shall we do?
1. Repent
2. Be baptized
3. Receive the Holy Spirit
Welcome … Accept … Follow … 1 Peter 1:17-21, 22-23
SONG OF RESPONSE