Family Worship Guide
Sunday August 8 2021
A Call To Worship
Read Psalm 8 together as you begin your time of worship.
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Join with the rest of your church family and listen to and sing the first three songs together.
Liturgy
Vision
Each Sunday we gather as a community, we come under the authority of God’s revealed word to his people. We read together the scriptures and proclaim the gospel through the preaching of the word.
Intro
Chapter 11 marks a turn in the Gospel that goes all the way to the end of chapter 12. Jesus and his disciples are about to enter Jerusalem for the last time. Most of the activity is around the temple in Jerusalem. The temple is much more than the setting for the confrontations between Jesus and the religious leadership throughout this section. It becomes the object of God’s judgment because it has turned into a site of oppression and exploitation.
From this point, Mark begins to portray Jesus more clearly as the new temple, the place on earth where God is encountered.
The first 11 verses of chapter 11 are commonly called “the triumphal entry,” Mark however hardly portrays it as triumphant. If anything, it is highly subversive and anticlimactic. After making preparations and then entering the city to shouts of praise and adulation, Jesus merely enters, looks around, and leaves. It’s strikingly anticlimactic, but it not only sets the tone for the rest of the gospel, but Jesus’ very life.
Read Mark 11 (ESV)
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.
And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem.
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Questions
1) What spoke to you in this passage?
2) Jesus’ entry into temple and kingship was the same as how he entered the world, unassuming, anticlimactic and unexpected. What does this reveal to you about the type of kingdom and king Jesus is?
3) Where have you seen God’s unassuming, anticlimactic and unexpected hand in your own life?
4) Where do you need God’s subversive love and presence in your own life?
Response
We believe that as God’s people gather, God reveals and we respond. We respond through singing, praying, giving and receiving communion.
Sing
Join with the rest of your church family and listen to and sing the last three songs together.
Pray
Jesus, thank you for being so much better than everyone expects you to be. You came to a people who expected a king who would conquer and claim and instead you allowed yourself to be broken. Even amidst this great triumphal entry that for most would be a crowning victory, you are quiet and humble. Despite knowing this about you, I confess that I still project my own agenda on you. I often expect you to do the things that I ask instead of resting in the knowledge that your ways are so much better. Show me how to trust in your ways, Lord. Help me to see you in the small things and the big things that you do for me. Thank you for your patience with me and for knowing what my path holds. Amen.
Give
We would encourage you to continue giving as an act of worship and generosity during the state-mandated gathering ban so that we can continue to care for the needs of our church and city.
Follow the link: http://www.albanyhubcity.com/giving
Communion
Each week our gatherings point to the Lord’s Table, where we come humbly and worshipfully to commemorate and participate in Christ’s great sacrifice for all of his beloved creation.
Read Matthew 26:26-29 (ESV)
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.”
Benediction
As we end our worship gatherings each week, we understand that we didn’t just do church, or go to church, we are the church. So as we end our times together we believe that we are commissioned and sent to join Jesus on his Restoration mission in our city.
Psalm 135:13-21
Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them.
O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
Kids
Here are two links to our at home component of our Sunday morning gathering. This link will give you access to the content for this weekend and all the weekends to come. This is a great way for your family to engage in the content throughout the week.
Preschool Age link- https://ministrygrid.lifeway.com/#/easy-link/DPLD/GKBN
School Age link- https://ministrygrid.lifeway.com/#/easy-link/DPLD/VMDL