Home Worship Guide (March 29, 2020)
Overview: This is a guide. It has been designed to help you and can be modified by you however you see fit. Especially for those with younger kids, it might be best to read through this in advance and use elements that will fit the attention span of your kids.
Main Point: Because of what God has done for us, we are to live to point to his excellencies in Christ.
Read: Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. (NLT)
Encouragement: Friends, through faith in Christ we have direct access to God! We have been united with Christ, our great High Priest, and with that union we have the same standing before our God that He does. That means that we can pray and search him out in the scriptures and meditate and listen for Him and He will answer. You are part of His royal priesthood if you are trusting in Christ. Go to Him today.
Prayer:
Spend some time praying for the following
Pray that God would bless your time with him
Pray that God would open your heart and enlarge your love for him
Pray that God would show you how he is calling you to respond
Devotion: 1 Peter 2:9-12 (NOTE FOR PARENTS: Read the text and then watch the video with your kids located below)
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”
11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.
12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Discussion Questions:
How does our identity in this text make us distinct from the world? How are we different from the people discussed in 1 Peter 2:7-8?
How does this truth about who we are in Christ help us weather difficulty? How does it encourage us when we are struggling?
What does the fact that all believers have access to God personally mean for you as we are temporarily separated? How does the fact that each believer can interpret Scripture and know God individually without depending upon a priest encourage you during this temporary season of separation?
What are some steps you can take during this season to increase your fellowship with God? What keeps you from going to him personally, trusting him with struggles, opening his word to know him more? How does the truth of this text address those barriers?
How does this temporary season of not being able to gather and the cultural situation we find ourselves in give us a unique opportunity to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light” to other believers? What role can you play in strengthening the faith of other believers at Arbor Drive? Consider 1 Thess 5:14.
How does this temporary season of not being able to gather and the cultural situation we find ourselves in give us an unique opportunity to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light” to unbelievers in your life? How does the way you talk and act witness to the glory of Christ in this moment? Does anything need to change?
What is the relationship between identity (v.9, 10) and response (v.9, 11-12)? How is God calling you to respond to being reminded of who you are? What are some practical ways you can minister to other believers? What are some practical ways you can minister to unbelievers?
Application:
God has saved us through faith. He also uses difficulty to grow our faith. Are you turning to him in trust in the uncertainty we are facing now? Are you taking advantage of the access you have to him in prayer? Are you looking to know him more and hear from him in his word? (Additional texts for reference: James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7)
Our identity means that we have access to God personally. Yet, we still rely upon the Spirit. Are you coming to him depending upon the Spirit and with confidence that the Spirit will meet your needs? (Additional texts for reference: Romans 8:26-27; Eph 6:18; 1 Cor 2:14)
Every adversity we face and every situation that doesn’t go as we planned is an opportunity for ministry to proclaim the excellencies of God. What are you doing with this situation for the glory of Christ? (Additional texts for reference: Phil 1:12-14; 1 Cor 16:8-9; 2 Cor 1:5-6)
The way we live matters. It speaks about what we value. What we value comes out in our speech and actions. Are you valuing and treasuring Christ above all else? That is the source of not only comfort in adversity, but usefulness in ministry. (Additional texts for reference: Phil 1:18c-26; Gal 2:20; Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Respond in Song: My Worth Is Not In What I Own
Respond in Prayer