Home Church How-To:

If possible, we encourage you to please gather with those in your home community to read, pray, and sing aloud to one another, following the exhortation of Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

• Before 10:15am, please prepare the elements for communion to eat and drink.
• At 10:15am, begin by reading the Call To Worship, followed by a prayer of thanksgiving.
• Sing the songs and read the readings below. Feel free to take turns reading if you're gathered with multiple people.
• Although we are not all under one roof, your financial support towards gospel-work is critical. Please consider giving online. You may do so by clicking HERE.
• Listen to Pastor Israel's sermon, followed by a song of praise.
• Feel free to discuss and pray together.
• If you have not done so, please sign up for Branch Groups (virtual Branch Groups for now) by clicking HERE.
• For Twigs curriculum (children), you can click HERE for a step-by-step lesson plan along with the materials to download. 

Call To Worship

People of God, be gathered together! Like a hen with her brood beneath her wings, God has brought us together! People of God, await Christ’s coming! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord of heaven!

Luke 13:34; 19:38

Song

Lenten Reading

Triumph and Tears

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

- Luke 19:28–44

Prayer Reading

“The Broken Heart,” – Valley of Vision

O Lord,

No day of my life has passed that has not proved me guilty in thy sight.

Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart;

Praise has been often praise sound;

My best services are filthy rags.

Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing wounds.

Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits sour above them;

Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell,

thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.

All things in me call for my rejection,

All things in thee plead for my acceptance.

I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to thy throne of boundless grace.

Grant me to hear thy voice assuring me:

that by thy stripes I am healed,

that thou wast bruised for my iniquities,

that thou hast been made sin for me that I might be righteous in thee,

that my grievous sins, my manifold sins,

are all forgiven,

buried in the ocean of thy concealing blood.

I am guilty, but pardoned,

lost, but saved, wandering, but found, sinning, but cleansed.

Give me perpetual broken-heartedness,

Keep me always clinging to thy cross,

Flood me every moment with descending grace,

Open to me the springs of divine knowledge,

sparkling like crystal,

flowing clear and unsullied through my wilderness of life.

Song

Confession

Like the people who greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem and then later pronounced “Crucify him,” we are fickle people who often deny Christ in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Remembering the events of Jesus’ last week helps us see ourselves for what we are: sinners in need of a Savior, a Savior—praise God—we have in Christ. In honesty and hope, we confess now our sins to God.

Prayer

O King of glory, we confess that our praise of your majesty has often been faint, our performance as citizens of your kingdom treasonous. For we have surrendered to the enemy by our secret and our known sins. For our treason you died, Lord Jesus. For our restoration, you rose again. Draw us closer to you in this holy week, that our eyes may catch the vision of your tears, and our hearts, the wonder of your grace. By the Holy Spirit’s continuing discipline, let us be loyal and loving servants of the King. Praise be to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen

Assurance

Hear the Word of the Lord from Psalm 118

Scripture:

Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. In Christ, God answers us and sets us free! In Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God.

- Psalm 118:4-5, 14, 17

Communion

Brothers and sisters, this table is for you who have been forgiven of your sins through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave this sacred tradition to us, his church. Do not think that you can only come forward if you are perfect. You cannot come perfect. Jesus alone is your perfection. So you are invited to come broken, but hopeful, believing and repenting.

If you are not a Christian, the bread and the cup is not something you should receive. Only those who have received Jesus should receive communion. We encourage you to use this as a time to consider the offer of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus holds out to all who are willing to receive Him. Place your hope in Him. You might not come forward for communion today, but you can come to Jesus today and find eternal life, which is what all of this is about.

“23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” 

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Online Giving

During this time we worship with our tithes and offerings to the Lord. We give regularly. We give sacrificially. We give cheerfully. We give and it reminds us that The Lord has given us all that we have. He gives us our very breath today. We look forward and trust that The Lord will do good things for His people and through His people to His Glory. We give and it supports our local mission and the missions we support through our church networks. Click Here to give now. 

Sermon

Song

Benediction