This is the final week of the worship series Becoming Living Stones.
Over the last six weeks, we have moved from confronting our fear, the things that cause us to trip in our walk with Jesus, and our longing to stay safely away from the world, to a recognition that God is not contained inside walls, but instead God’s house is much larger than just us. We are called to be the church in the world and to be living stones built into a spiritual house.
Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The [workers] took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:
Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.
1 Peter 2:4-6, The Message
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Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workers took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor.
We present ourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which we will serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
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Call To Worship
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight.
Let us, like living stones, be built into a spiritual temple; a holy priesthood.
We came with doubts…
but the millstone has been lifted.
We stumbled unseeing on our journey with Christ,
but now our footsteps are sure.
Like thieves we scaled a rock wall,
Seeking to find security.
God’s house has many rooms.
We are ready to encounter God in unlikely places.
God is not limited to one place or one time.
We will serve beyond the church walls to where God calls us.
You are called to be living stones, in this congregation and out in the world.
We are living stones, we are a spiritual house, we are a holy priesthood!
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Call to Confession
We confess together as a community of faith because we acknowledge the reality of sin in the church, the world, and our personal lives, and so we ask God for forgiveness and help in amending our lives. And the proof of God’s amazing love is this: while we were sinners Christ died for us. Because we have faith in him, we dare to approach God with confidence, assured of a forgiveness already given through Christ. So, in faith and penitence, let us confess our sin before God and one another, first together and then in silence.
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Prayer of Confession
God, though you call us to delight in your teachings, we can become cynical and full of doubt. Do not judge us, we pray, but heal us and restore us to you. Guard us and protect us from evil, and sanctify us in truth; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Assurance Of Forgiveness
Friends, hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Know that we are forgiven and be at peace.
Amen.
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Prayer for Illumination
May the reading of your Word sanctify us in the truth and bring us to perfect joy.
Amen.
Scripture 1 Peter 2:4-6
Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and
like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
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A Building of Living Stones is the first in a sermon series from King's Community Church in Aberdeen Scotland by Tom Seal. In this kick-off message, Seal proclaims what it means to be Living Stones.
"The residential address of the Holy Spirit is in us."
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Living Stones is a sermon By Rev. Christina Westbury at First Presbyterian Church, MI. Rev. Westbury speaks to the struggles of worshipping from home during this time of COVID-19 and the hopes of coming together again as she reflects on Psalm 31 and 1 Peter, a letter to those in exile.
This link includes the entire service, for the message fast forward to 12:45.
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Prayers of the People
God, our foundation, you hear the cries of the world and you send each of us out for one another, both steady as a rock and soft with your love. Keep before us the life and way of Jesus, who showed us the way of being in the world, unyielding in demanding justice for all, and gentle with grace and kindness for all who suffered.
When we waver, give us courage.
When we doubt, give us strength.
When we refuse, realign us.
When we forget, remind us.
When we ourselves cry out, send your tenderness in another.
When we hear the cries of others, turn us toward them.
When we want to hide, draw us out.
When we go out as living stones, nourish us for the next time.
We ask all of these things through Christ.
The Lord's Prayer
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Over these last six weeks, we have borne the weight of doubt like a millstone and have stumbled along the rocky road to Emmaus. We have built walls to protect us and insulate us, only to learn that God is building a church that does not have walls of rock and mortar, but a church on which Jesus Christ, a living stone, is the foundation.
Now then, you must be living stones as well, the church visible in the world through your demonstration of compassion, justice, and praise. In this renewed calling, remember that you are precious in God’s sight.
Let yourselves be the living stones out in the world. You are invited to take the stone you’ve been holding as part of your worship these weeks and place it prominently as a reminder of your call from God.
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The Prayer of Confession and Prayer for Illumination are
Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from
Feasting on the Word: Liturgies for Year B, Volume 1 - Worship Companion; Seventh Sunday of Easte
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