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Song List

You Keep On Getting Better — Maverick City Music

Water and the Blood — Sojourn Music

Solid Rock — Edward Mote arr. Sojourn Midtown

Raise Our Song — Sojourn Music

The Midtown Hymnal

Liturgy & Sermon

Call to Worship

Who is like our God?

Who else would send a nation to cross a sea on foot?

Who else would send a boy with a stone to defeat a giant?

Who else would send his only Son to be mocked and humiliated

in order to save humanity?

Our God works through the humble; He does the unexpected.

He goes before us and He will never leave us or forsake us!

–inspired by Ex. 14, Deut. 31:8, 1 Sam. 17, Isa. 53

Confession

God, we confess we are often paralyzed by fear.

What if the next season is not as fruitful as the last?

How will we make it through more challenging days?

What if building a unified church demands more than we expected?

What if growth costs more than we feel like we can pay?

Father, it is easy to trust You when the rain falls and the flowers grow.

But we fear the unknown. We fear losing our comfort, our stability, and our identity.

Jesus, help us to name and grieve what we leave behind.

In your kindness, may Your healing mud cover our blind eyes.

Spirit, change us, so that we may finally see what is true and good.

–inspired by John 9

Assurance

While Joshua’s army defended God’s people from the Amalekites,

Moses raised up the staff of God, giving them the advantage in battle.

For the body holds together and flourishes because of the gifts God has given to each member.

When Moses grew tired and could no longer hold up the staff,

Aaron and Hur stood beside him, holding his arms high and steady.

For the members of the body fulfill Christ’s work when they carry one another’s burdens.

And the Lord told Moses to write and repeat aloud a reminder of God’s victory to Joshua.

For when one member stumbles, they are restored by remembering this gospel:

Our sins would have kept us separated from God and at war with one another;

But God in Christ has removed our sins and gathered us as one family under His banner.

We are the redeemed of the Lord.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We are the body of Christ in a lonely world.

We belong to one another, and we grow stronger together, by God’s grace and design.

–Based on Exodus 17, Colossians 2, Ephesians 4

Prayer, Giving, Peace (Stand Sunday)

Father, today we stand with your global Church to remember vulnerable children and families.

Scripture shows us Your heart for these children:
You are a Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
You set the lonely in families, You lead out the prisoners with singing.

Lord, give us boldness to draw near to the hurting;
When we were in need, You drew close to us.
We love because you first loved us.

Lord, we lament with the children in our own city who have been separated from family:
More than one thousand children live in foster care in Jefferson County.
You know each one of them by name.
We lift up these children, their families of origin, and their foster families to You.
Lord, give them consistency, nurture, and comfort as only You can.

Lord, we lament with the adults in our city who have been separated from family:
The widows, the single parents, the elderly without family to care for them.
You know each one of them by name.
Lord, give us Your heart for those in need.
Humble us to lay down our comfort and to live out Your gospel of justice.

In a world that ignores the needy,
You saw us, You moved toward us, and You purchased us with the price of Your life.
Apart from Your kindness, we would all be without hope.
May our lives laid down be testimony of Your kindness,
Leading the weary and the watching world to find their hope in You. Amen.

Sermon

Built Together: We Belong to One Another

Jamaal Williams

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.
4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function,
5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.
6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith;
7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching;
8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.
10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.
11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.
13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Romans 12:1-16 (CSB)

WE NEED ONE ANOTHER | ROMANS 12:3–8
- if God distributes gifts throughout his people, then none of us has everything we need all by ourselves. Every believer has something to give, and every believer has something to receive.
WE PRACTICE GENUINE LOVE | ROMANS 12:9–16
- Friendliness says, “I’m glad you’re here.” Hospitality says, “There is room for you in my life.”
- Church family, you cannot share life with people you refuse to know.
RESPONSE | ONE FAITHFUL STEP
- Just take one step. Ask the Spirit, “Who have you put in front of me? What does love require of me?”