Description
John 5:1-9
For thirty-eight years a man was disabled and suffered. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, the man responded with the difficulty of his current circumstances. Jesus healed him immediately, and the man got up and walked. No circumstance is too difficult for the Lord to change, even if it’s been years. Never stop trusting the Lord because it’s never too late.
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include video countdowns, worship song videos, welcomes), CDs, or live music.]
Welcome & Time of Greeting
Time of Praise and Worship
Open Up the Heavens
Andi Rozier, James McDonald, Jason Ingram, Meredith Andrews, & Stuart Garrard, ©2012 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.) HBC Worship Music (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing) Open Hands Music (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing) Sony/ATV Timber Publishing (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing) Stugio Music Publishing (Admin. by Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
I Will Rise
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Louie Giglio, & Matt Maher, ©2008 Vamos Publishing, worshiptogether.com songs, sixsteps Music, Thankyou Music, and spiritandsong.com (All admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
How Great Is Our God
Chris Tomlin, Ed Cash, & Jesse Reeves ©2004 worshiiptogether.com songs/Sixsteps Music/ASCAP
[Traditional Options]
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
BH 75 69; BH 91 216; CH 21; CHH 5; EH 493; ELW 886; HWC 76; HPW 7; HFG 349; HLC 90; HGP 32; HSP 19; LBW 559; LSB 528; LW 276; NCH 42; PH 466; RH 51; STTL 147; WC 130; UMH 57; WAR 96; WHM 46; WIS 12
Lord, Open Now My Heart To Hear
LSB 908; LW 197
Let All Together Praise Our God
ELW 287; LBW 47; LSB 389; LW 44
Invocation
Pastor / Worship Leader
Welcome to this house of worship. We are so glad you are here! We worship a gracious and kind God who brings healing to our bodies and healing to our souls. Let us worship Him today with glad and sincere hearts.
Worshipers
Lord, we worship You alone. Open up our hearts to You today.
Opening Prayer / Theme Introduction
Pastor / Worship Leader
Heavenly Lord, You meet us in our brokenness and bind up our hearts. You reach to the places in our lives that are unreachable, and You accomplish a transforming work in us. We give You praise and glory for all that You have done, all that You will do, and all the things You are going to do! Lord, we confess that we love You so.
Worshipers
We love You, Jesus, and we belong to You. We receive all that You have, and we give You all that we have. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor / Worship Leader
The Lord is kind and compassionate and draws us near to Him. Even now, He asks us to come closer.
Worshipers
But we are guilty and ashamed!
Pastor / Worship Leader
The Lord knows. He sees what is hidden and calls us to repentance and confession.
Worshipers
We are not afraid to go to the Lord, for He is good and kind and loving. He has died for our sins and paid for our ransom. We admit that we need Him for everything and in every way, especially to forgive us.
Pastor / Worship Leader
We are forgiven through Jesus Christ. Now, let us continue in worshiping our loving Lord!
Worshipers
Amen!
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading Acts 16:9-15
Lydia was a woman merchant who met Paul, Silas, and Timothy by a riverbank. After she and her household were baptized, she invited the men to her home to stay there.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
