Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Thank you for joining us for our Digital Worship Gathering! You can use the worship guide below to follow along with songs, prayers and readings. This is the first week in our new series on the Beatitudes called Socially Distanced from God? 8 Ways God Draws Us Closer.

See last week’s service here | Listen to previously recorded talks here | Want to join us on Zoom? Send us a message.

Call to Worship

To You, O God, we lift up our souls.
To You we offer our praise and prayer,
our worship and thanksgiving,
even our very lives.

Make Your ways known to us.
Show us the path on which we should walk.
Lead us in Your truth and teach us.
For You alone are the God who saves,
the God in whom we trust;
and the One on whom we wait.

A Scripture Reading from James 4

As the Scripture says, God gives strength to the humble but sets himself against the proud and haughty.

So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone to make them pure and true to him. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief. Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.

Let us pray:

God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is given to them. But we have been proud in spirit, inflated with pride in our own self-sufficiency. We have forgotten how needy we are. Father, too often our hearts become hard, unpliable, and unmoved because of our stubborn will or due to our own ignorance. Our pride convinces us that we know best and we become reckless along the way. We want to trust You as the Master Potter when You break our will to remove our imperfections. Though it is a painful, humbling and deliberate process we invite You to realign our heart’s desires and reshape our will according to Your purpose. As we go through this purifying process, help us to stand firm. Help us to walk by faith in Christ and not to depend on our own human merit. Keep us from pride. Give us a heart that is humble in spirit — and lead us in the path of godly righteousness and truth. May we be a vessel of honor that brings glory to You. 

In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.

We praise you, God!
Despite our mistakes and failures, you welcome us into your presence.
Because of your unfailing love, we can draw close to you,
and receive your forgiveness and mercy.
Help us to move forward with joy and confidence,
knowing that you go with us.
Continue to reveal yourself to us,
and lead us in your paths. Amen.

Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3 (The Message)

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more
of God and his rule.

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 with us on Instagram (@discoverycrc) (parents permitting).

Blessing

May God create in you a clean heart,
a transformed heart,
a heart that knows and seeks and loves
the justice and mercy of the Lord.

May you accept the gift of salvation –
not your personal possession to be coveted,
but His work, accomplished in the destruction of Sin
on the cross of Jesus Christ.

And may you humble yourself before the Lord,
coming before Him with a broken spirit,
a contrite heart
receiving from His hand
great compassion
and unfailing love.

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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