We're looking forward to a great morning of worshiping the Lord together, and I KNOW that no one's planning to miss just so they can watch all the pre-pre-pregame shows RIGHT??
Good ;-)
We have a special guest speaker with us this morning: Pastor Jeff Noe from Oak Hill Bible Church up in Castaic. He'll be preaching from Mark 1:1-13 on "Preparing The Way" for the kingdom of God.
Be sure to welcome Jeff and his family!
We'll call our hearts together in worship with "No Other Name," a song that reminds us that we come together as the redeemed and justified by no other name than the name of Jesus Christ, who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
We'll continue worshiping through hearing about ministry opportunities at Hope Gardens on Feb. 23rd, and beginning a new wave of Men's Relay discipleship groups.
Last weekend we affirmed Steve Stark and Darren Utley as our first elders at Crossroads, and this Sunday we'll corporately commission them to their new leadership positions among us, and commit to keeping them in our prayers, them and their families.
I'll lead us in response by reading from 1 Corinthians about the responsibility of imparting the testimony of God in Jesus Christ, and him crucified, and treasuring this "secret" wisdom of God which he decreed before the ages for our glory! Then we'll all sing "In The Secret" expressing our desire to know and touch God, and hear his voice speaking to us through his Word and the prompting of his Holy Spirit.
That leads into our next song "From The Inside Out" which the worship team introduced last week after Pastor Todd's sermon. Be sure to check it out so you can sing along with us as we ask for God to consume us, that we may bring him praise from the inside out!
We'll end the set with "Draw Me Close" acknowledging God's sovereignty in all things, especially regarding his relationship to us as Redeemer and Sanctifier.
Pastor Jeff will speak to us from the Word and instruct our hearts and minds in "Preparing The Way" as we submit to the illumination and conviction of the Spirit in each of our lives. What power the Spirit has! He lives in each of us, and applies the objective, unchanging truth of God's Word to our subjective, changing lives according to the sovereign plan of the Father! The apostle Paul would most likely insert a joyful doxology here, so I will do the same:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
"For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?"
"Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
After the sermon, we'll all share in the Lord's Supper together, remembering how...
"...he was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." -Isaiah 53:5
During this time, we'll sing "This Is Love" as our prayer of submission to the Lamb who was slain for our sins.
As we end the service, we'll echo a prayer of the Puritans with the song "O Great God." We did this one a number of weeks ago, and it's still new, so be sure to refresh your memory on this one as well (maybe even splurge on the $0.99 to download it!) so we can end the service with all our voices raised loud to our God!
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