Today’s THEME:
unity
A SERVICE OF SCRIPTURE, SONG, & PRAYER
Welcome! Today is a “read, contemplate, pray, and sing at your own pace” kind of day. We’ve got 6 songs, 5 Scriptures, and 1 short audio devotion for you (in part 3, on Ephesians 4). God bless your time here today!
(published 11.15.20)
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Part 1 | united in sin
Everyone’s the same: we all sin. It’s what the Bible says, and it’s what we observe in our lives every single day. But wait for it! We’re united in more than sin, as you’ll see from the end of Romans 3.
Romans 3
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
L “There is no one righteous, not even one;
G We have failed to understand;
we have failed to seek God.
L All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
G not one of us does good,
not even one.”
Our throats are open graves;
our tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on our lips.”
Our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
Our feet are swift to shed blood;
L ruin and misery mark your ways,
and the way of peace you do not know.”
G “There is no fear of God before our eyes.”
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Words of Forgiveness | Romans 3:24-26
24 All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Song | brokenness Aside
Part 2 | united through baptism
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 | As you’re going to hear in the song “What Can Stand,” baptism is all God. It’s all him acting on us. Washing away our sins. Making us part of his family. Uniting us as one body, though we are most certainly very different people.
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
song | what can stand
Part 3 | UNITED THROUGH PEACE
Ephesians 4:1-6
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
song | though i may speak
Part 4 | UNITED by grace
Ephesians 2:1-7 | This question sounds a bit morbid, almost, but I’ll ask it nonetheless: What can a dead person do? Answer: Absolutely nothing. A sick person, even a very sick person, can fight. But a dead person…nothing at all. But we were raised from spiritual death. By the God of grace.
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
song | in christ alone
THANKSGIVING
We don’t primarily gather offerings to simply keep ministry going or even to expand ministry (though those are certainly both blessings of our offerings).
Primarily, we gather offerings to glorify God. We consider what God has given us to manage (everything we have), and we offer a portion of what he has given us back to him. Giving an offering is one of our ways of regifting what God has given to you!
You can do just that by mailing a check or clicking the button below.
Illumine Church
1262 Riverchase Blvd.
Rock Hill, SC 29732
THANK YOU!
Part 5 | united eternally
Revelation 21:3-4 | As “In Christ Alone” stated: no fear in life, no guilt in death. But there’s even more—there’s no fear even beyond death, because God unites us with himself for all eternity.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
song | heaven is my home
Prayer | If you are going through this page on your own, read this whole prayer yourself.
L Eternal God,
We live in a world that constantly shows a lack of unity.
G Guide us by your Spirit to strive to show grace and peace to those around us.
L When we inevitably fail, have mercy on us.
G Remind us of the grace and forgiveness that is ours through Jesus.
L When we grow weary from the disunity around us,
remind us that we are strangers here in this world.
G Give us strength and endurance as we look forward to the joy of heaven.
L You have promised that there you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
G We eagerly await the day when your love will be all that we know.