House Church Worship Guide
The purpose of House Church is to get real and to get close – with the Lord and with each other. This guide is designed to be flexible – move and mold the parts as suits your House Church.
Try to make your time as interactive as possible, taking the opportunity to be personal, real, and attentive to what God is doing
How to Prepare:
1. Have a read through this Worship Guide to get the flow of it, see what parts you’ll use, and how you might do transitions. You can print a simple version of it here:
2. Get communion ready, and any kids resources you need. You can print the lyrics here:
PRAY
Ask someone to pray, acknowledging Father, Son and Holy Spirit, asking for us to be aware of God’s presence and love.
FAMILY CONNECTION
Start the time with the Family video that helps us think about Father’s Day, by focusing on the greatness of our God as Father.
PARENTS: Click on the Family Resources button to find some colouring in activities and videos for preschool and school age children that you can use at any time:
SING!
Pick one, or some, or your own to sing!
CHURCH UPDATE AND PRAYER
Stream the following church update (Length: 4 mins)
Are there any other prayer needs in your group that you can share and lift to God?
Take some time to pray for the church of the week and missionary:
Richmond Baptist Church, David Jensen
Craig and Darlene Farrow
SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 1
Today we are starting a series called Married and Single in the Family of God. This series needs compassion and understand towards each other, and courage to believe that God can use us all in his mission and to grow.
It’s back to basics today, by reading Genesis 1:26-28:
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
BIBLE MESSAGE
Stream this message on Genesis 1
(Length: 18 mins)
RESPOND
We’ve been encouraged to think about how God has made us in his image, and how we live this out as married people and single people
· What part of being made in God’s image most connects with you and why?
· What would it take for us to be a church family in which both married and single people flourish in Christ?
COMMUNION AND PRAYER
You could ask someone from your group to be ready to lead communion
The very heart of our faith is the radical act of love, Jesus’ self-sacrifice for us. We are called to live this in our marriages and in the church. We start by remembering that this is how Jesus has loved us.
1 Corinthians 11:
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
BENEDICTION
Ask someone to pronounce this benediction:
Our Heavenly Father,
Send us into our homes and lives to bear your image,
With dignity and love, with patience and peace, with joy and generosity.
Make us a church family in which all are loved,
For in this all people will know that we are followers of Jesus,
In whose name we go. Amen.
The whole service will stream live at 10am if you would prefer to watch it this way. Click on LIVE CHURCH at www.hopechurch.org.nz. Or from midday on, you can find it by clicking on PAST SERVICES.