Power to Sit

Call to Worship

You are worthy of all our praise, O God,
for you are the source of all good power.
By your power, heaven and earth were formed.
By your power, you created us and gave us life.
By your power, we are guided and protected.
By your power, Jesus Christ triumphed over the grave.
By your power, the Holy Spirit comes to sustain and care for us.
And so, in praise and gratitude, we join the generations
of the faithful in singing your praise.
By your power, fill our voices with stories of your grace.
By your power, strengthen our hands for the work of your mercy.
By your power, transform us into your representatives of your love.
In great joy and anticipation, empowered by your Spirit, we offer praise to you, Almighty God, in whom we live and move and have our being.
Amen.

Readings from Scripture

Psalm 147

Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God!

    How pleasant and right it is to praise him!

2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem.

    He gathers the scattered people of Israel.

3 He heals those who have broken hearts.

    He takes care of their wounds.

4 He decides how many stars there should be.

    He gives each one of them a name.

5 Great is our Lord. His power is mighty.

    There is no limit to his understanding.

Sing to the Lord and give him grateful praise.

Isaiah 40

28 Don’t you know who made everything?

    Haven’t you heard about him?

The Lord is the God who lives forever.

    He created everything on earth.

He won’t become worn out or get tired.

    No one will ever know how great his understanding is.

29 He gives strength to those who are tired.

    He gives power to those who are weak.

30 Even young people become worn out and get tired.

    Even the best of them trip and fall.

31 But those who trust in the Lord

    will receive new strength.

So let us sing to the Lord and give him grateful praise.

Let us pray:

Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, we your people acclaim you, we praise you, we exalt you, we bless your holy name.  It is your love that is revealed in the life and death of Jesus, it is your power that is seen in his resurrection, and it is your majesty that is made known by his ascension into heaven to be at your side.  Help us, O God, to always keep your power and your authority and your love and your majesty in our minds and to never neglect doing your will.  Help us to be obedient to the word you place in our hearts and our minds.

We believe that Christ Jesus should rule within our worship and our life together as your people.  We believe too that he should rule over our work in the world and within our family life. Indeed, we profess that he wants to be Lord of our lives, the one who is supreme in deciding how we should relate to our friends and our neighbors.  Help us make this evident in what we do each and every day—in how we make decisions about how we spend our time and our money, in how we employ our hands and in how we direct our feet, in how we speak and in how we think, in how we rest and in how we work.

Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, you revealed to us a power that has no parallel.
May the eyes of our heart be enlightened to this power and all it has done in our lives.
Pour out your Spirit upon us, that we may proclaim your glory and your grace. Amen.

Feel free to read along with Pastor Mary when she reads this scripture:

Ephesians 1:17-23 (NIV)

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 2:6-7 (NIV)

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Gift Offering

For financial gifts, use your bank’s online payment option to send a gift to Discovery, or have someone address an envelope (a good opportunity for digital natives) and place the stamp on it. Checks can be mailed to:

Discovery Church
7245 Eastern Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508

Please specify “general fund” or “missions fund” on the memo line.

Or, use this form to give online via the Christian Reformed Church’s site (our denomination). Be sure to choose Michigan- Grand Rapids- Discovery CRC from the drop-down list. You can give via credit card or automatic bank withdrawal. A 3% fee will be charged to Discovery.

For gifts of encouragement, write a note or draw a picture for someone who may need encouragement at this time. Have someone address the envelope and place a stamp on it. Or deliver it in person (keep that six foot social distance) to a neighbor or loved one.

For gifts of art, share a picture or video of your artistic response to the talk or your coloring page with us on Instagram (@discoverycrc) (parents permitting).

Blessing

As you go from here into the coming week,
may God open your mind to His presence,
so that you may truly come to know Him;
may He open the eyes of your heart
so that you can experience the hope he offers
to all who follow Him;
and may you come to understand
the full extent of God’s power at work in your life—
the very same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead,
and seated him at the right hand of God.

Digital Prayer Pad

Prayer requests will be sent to Sara, our administrator, who will compile and distribute them to the congregation via email throughout the week as usual.

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