Words of Assurance - 1 Timothy 1

by Jamie Barnes on January 8, 2010

God’s grace truly is amazing.
We can share in this astonishment by hearing the famous words of the apostle Paul in this passage:

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,
who has given me strength.
He considered me trustworthy
and appointed me to serve him,
even though I used to blasphemer, a violent persecutor and the very worst of sinners.
But the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
So here are words you may trust,
words that merit full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
To all who confess their sins and believe in Him
he says, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Amen! Praise God for his mercy!
-Based on 1 Timothy 1: 12-17
As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on January 3rd, 2010

{ 0 comments }

Prayer of Confession for a new year

by Jamie Barnes on January 7, 2010

Lord God,
You are faithful, loving, worthy of trust and praise.
We are disloyal, hateful and deserve death.
Lord, we forget that you are our true source of hope and strength.
We are tempted to lean upon our own power to accomplish good and to break the power of sin.
Lord we will fail without your help.
Forgive us for consulting the wisdom of man before bowing before you in prayer.
Forgive us for relying on the perishable
rather than your enduring word.
Help us to trust in your son Jesus, and find rest in the promises that were made in His blood.
In his name we plead for mercy, Amen.

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on January 3rd, 2010

{ 0 comments }

Call to Worship - God’s Promises for a New Year

by Jamie Barnes on January 6, 2010

Here we are on the first Sunday of a new year. For many, a new year means a fresh start.
We may have made promises or resolutions for 2010 or perhaps we are hoping to break some bad habits.
Maybe we’ll succeed, maybe we’ll fail.
Let us be reminded that we are here to worship a God who always makes good on His word.
In Jesus Christ, God has promised us renewal, freedom from the hold of sin and eternal salvation.
Stand with me as we read God’s word together:

All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!”
And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
He has anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Amen!
-2 Corinthians 1:20-22

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky on January 3rd, 2010

{ 0 comments }

Call to Worship from Psalm 95

by Jamie Barnes on December 31, 2009

Our worship together today is a response to God. He opens up the lines of communication first by speaking to us through His word. He is faithful to hear us when we lift our voices in prayer and in song. Stand with me as we echo words of admiration from the scriptures and sing praises to our great God:

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
If today we hear God’s voice
we must not harden our hearts,
we must follow Him.
Come, everyone, let’s sing to the Lord.
Let us tell the world that God has saved us.
Let us thank him from the bottom of our hearts.
Let us sing songs of praise to him.
-Based on Psalm 95

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky on December 27th, 2009

{ 0 comments }

Words of Assurance based on John 10

by Jamie Barnes on December 30, 2009

Jesus, The Good Shepherd says this:

My sheep listen to my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Praise God!
We will listen to the voice to of our Redeemer.
- Based on John 10:27, 28

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on December 27th, 2009

{ 0 comments }

Prayer of Confession - Unstop our ears!

by Jamie Barnes on December 29, 2009

Lord God, Creator of all -
You have spoken to us but we have shut out your voice.
Your word convicts us of our sin and our brokenness.
But we have tried to drown you out with the noise of this world.
We would rather hear our own named praised among men rather than the name of Jesus. We prefer telling people about our petty accomplishments rather than speaking of your righteousness.

Lord, forgive us. Correct us.
Build in us a longing for your comforting voice.
Give us a thirst for your satisfying Word.
Give us joy in speaking your truth
to those that have not heard it.
May your church be faithful stewards

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on December 27th, 2009

{ 1 comment }

Advent Prayer of Confession

by Jamie Barnes on December 19, 2009

It is easy for us to lose sight of what the birth of Jesus means to this dark and dying world. Let us be reminded that Christ came to free us from our sin and reunite us with our Creator: Let’s pray:

God of love,
all year long we pursue power and money,
yet you came in weakness, as a child.
All season long we want more stuff, more for us,
but you alone offer what is lasting.
Through the work of our Lord Jesus,
who comes among us full of grace and truth,
forgive us, heal us, correct us.
Then open our lips,
that we may sing your praise with the angels,
When we allow darkness to overcome the light,
forgive us, Lord.
When we reduce Christmas to plastic and tinsel,
have mercy on us, Father.
When hardness of heart keeps us seeing and believing in Your Song,
let your grace fill us, O God.
Forgive our doubt
and renew our hopes in Christ alone,
that we may watch and wait
and once more hear the glad story of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, the Lord.  In His name we ask, Amen.

- Adapted from the Worship Sourcebook.

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on December 20th, 2009

{ 0 comments }

A Call to Worship for Christmas

by Mike Cosper on December 18, 2009

Welcome…

( Show Image on Screen )

This is a photo of the church of the Nativity. It’s the church that was built on the spot believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

There’s an irony in this place, though. It’s a beautiful, gilded room full of precious metals and intricately carved stone. It’s not unlike the Temple in Jerusalem, which is where God should rightly have been born. But Jesus wasn’t born in the Temple. He wasn’t born in a beautiful room lined with marble and gold. He was born in a stable. Essentially a barn. He was born in a place where animals ate and slept, with dung on the floor, barely shielded from the elements. Jesus didn’t come to a royal palace or a gilded hall. He came to a dungheap, and that was exactly where we needed him. Because Jesus didn’t come to meet with Kings and holy men. He came to rescue the poor, the broken, and the hopeless sinner. And he met them where they were – on a dunghill.
Today, as a family, we can celebrate together the fact that God – who created the entire universe - humbled himself and was born, a child lying in a manger in Bethlehem. In the quiet of that stable, the light of the world, and the hope of all of history was born.

Read with me this passage that prophesied his coming and lets share the joy that it was fulfilled as say these words out loud together:

The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 9: 1-2,6

(Inspired by a sermon by St. Jerome, found in “Proclaiming the Christmas Gospel” edited by Vroge and Witvliet, and available here:

http://tiny.cc/iPD85

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY on December 20th, 2009

{ 0 comments }

Prayer of Lament from Amos 5

by Sojourn Elders on December 18, 2009

We invite you to pray with us, reading the underlined portions out loud.

Holy, Perfect God,
We admit that we put other things above you in our lives.
We say we long for you, but we actually long for more money and more comfort.
Lord, you will come with darkness for us if our hearts remain captive to anything but you.
We confess that we are openly rebellious against you.
We are fallen, never to rise again unless you lift us up.

Lord, we have failed to worship you with our hearts.
Our religious gatherings are hollow because our hearts are slaves to lesser things.
We pay you a visit on Sunday, but we long to go home to our other gods.
Lord God, we confess that we break your heart.
We gather before you half-heartedly, waiting to go back to worshipping ourselves.

When we truly worship you, we will seek good and not evil.
We will hate evil and love good.
Lord God, have mercy.
Renew our hearts within us. Make us long for you, our God.
Amen.


Based on Amos 5-8

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky on December 13, 2009

{ 0 comments }

The Assurance of Advent - 1 John 1

by Jamie Barnes on December 17, 2009

This is what the Gospel declares:

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

– 1 John 1:5-7

Christ cleanses us from our sin so we can have peace with God and peace with each other. Let us reflect the light of Christ now by welcoming each other in grace and peace.

As used by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky on December 13, 2009

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries