House Church Worship Guide
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,
so it is with Christ.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
(from 1 Corinthians 12)
Welcome to worship this week! We set aside this special time for God, to give Him honour and praise, and to encourage each other be connected to and nourished by Jesus.
Remember to encourage anyone who is feeling unwell to stay home. Think about how you can be caring for one another over these weeks.
Find a simple version of the guide you can print here
You can find song lyrics for the songs here:
Use this Worship Guide flexibly, encourage others to participate, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit leading you.
1. CALL TO WORSHIP
It doesn’t get much better than Psalm 150. In the history of Israel, the travelling worshippers used to sing this as they ascended up to Jerusalem. Let it stir your soul:
Psalm 150:
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.
2. SING
Let’s do Psalm 150 and make a joyful noise to the Lord. Think about your breath, in and out, it’s a gift from God to be used to praise Him!
3. SHARE A TESTIMONY
A week can be a long time, with its joys and hurts, its challenges and blessings. Last weekend was Easter (including our Teapot Valley service), this week has been School Holidays.
Ask if anyone has anything they’d like to give praise to God from this past week.
4. FAMILY CONNECTION
Watch the video : (Length: 2 mins)
Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches, remain in me.
Watch this video, and do the following activity.
Activity: Be prepared with a branch that you have cut from a tree.
(1) What does a branch to a tree teach us about our relationship with Jesus?
(2) What does it mean for us to remain in Jesus?
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:
Families, please note that you will need to prepare these colouring and Right Now Media resources ahead of time if you plan to use them.
5. CHURCH UPDATE AND PRAYER
Stream the following church update (Length: 6 mins)
The update gives you a few things to pray about. Ask your group to share any needs that they have.
Take some time to pray for the church of the week and missionary:
Hills Community Church, Mapua, John Sherlock
Far East Broadcasting, Matt Perry
6. SCRIPTURE READING: COLOSSIANS 2:8-15
Colossians 2 gives us a few warnings, about how we think, who we listen to, and the danger of swapping Jesus for religion. Have a read:
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
7. BIBLE MESSAGE
Stream this message on Colossians 2:16-23
(Length: 15 mins)
8. SHARE AND RESPOND
Every message will have a piece of gold for you to take away. What truth was it for you today?
Here’s a few of John’s powerful lines that you could get folks response to:
“When God sees us, he doesn’t see the miserable performance of a tryer; he sees the perfect performance of Jesus.”
“There is no secret sauce – Jesus is sufficient in every way.”
“We don’t need to earn God’s approval! Relax!”
“The path through life may have its ups and downs. We may fail. But the issue is the set of your sail and your direction.”
9. COMMUNION
This week, you could ask someone in the group, ahead of time, to lead communion. Communion is a tangible, concrete way to remember Jesus, and to renew our relationship with Him. He ministers His grace to us as we think about the good news.
A great verse to read and pray through is 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
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.
10. BENEDICTION
Ask someone to read this benediction to finish, based on John 15 that was referenced in the talk:
Jesus said: I am the vine, you are the branches.
This week, make your home in me, as I make my home in you.
That way your life will produce fruit.
Apart from me you can do nothing.
This week, make your home in my love. As the Father loves me, I love you.
Now go, show others what my love is like – free from performing, free to have true joy.
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.