Worship Update 9/10

From Jay

Doom and gloom vs life and hope

It gets old doesn’t it? Doom and gloom. We hear enough of it in the news and experience enough of it in our own lives. At church we desire to be real and so to not address pain and suffering would be weird. But, where is the hope? How can we have the right balance between the reality of doom and gloom in our world and lives, and the hope and life and love and joy of Jesus Christ, who is alive and well, and lives in us?

One of the things our church does pretty regularly is a time of prayer and healing. People come to the front and pour out their requests in prayer to God usually with someone else praying with them. I have come to cherish these moments and have been humbled more times than I can count listening to people’s prayers and situations.
If Jesus was attending our church during one of these, would He come up and pray? What would He pray about? Even though the Bible reveals some of Jesus’s prayers, I usually don’t think about Him in those terms, that He prayed to God, that He had desires and requests. I tend to just think about my requests of Him.
What if we could be the answer to Jesus’s prayers and desires for someone else? What if the light, and the hope, and the love that balances the doom and gloom is supposed to come from us? Here is a little of one of Jesus’s prayers to His father God from John 17.

15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 18 Just as you sent me into the world; I am sending them into the world. I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. (That is you and I.) I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 25 O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do: and these disciples know you sent me. 26 I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.


Choir Announcement from Eric Stearns
Choir has moved to Tuesdays! In an effort to move our people along in the discipleship process, we are moving our rehearsal nights to Tuesday evenings at 7pm, starting immediately. The reason we're making the switch is so that we can allow current and future members of the choir to participate in our Wednesday night offerings here at Sunset. Honestly, I felt like since the church was pushing our new Wed study, the choir had a responsibility to make sure we supported it as much as we could. This meant not letting our rehearsals get in the way of people learning God's Word. Now all choir members can join in with the body they serve in dissecting Nehemiah. Praise God with us!


Upcoming Events
September 22, Alpha starts
September 26, Pathways & Connections class 1 of 2
October 3, Pathways & Connections class 2 of 2
October 24, Annual Meetings & Vision Casting
October 29, Family Unity Night (FUN)
November 6, Marriage Simulcast – Love & War