Worship Service for April 3, 2022
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Today, we have the high privilege of celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion. All who strive to live with faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross are welcome to receive this sacrament. If you are reading or listening to this presentation, please pause and prepare your communion elements so they will be ready when the time comes.
In my e-mail Wednesday, I asked you who arrive first to fill in the back parking first. And then how many of you caught the spelling error? This will leave more readily visible and available species for guests. I don’t how many caught that but Annie Dean not only caught it at the right time. She e-mailed me back: “So I’m watching an episode of Star Trek Discovery when I read your reminder to park so as to make the “SPECIES” visible out front to our guest! I agree Randy! If the species are anything like the ones I’m seeing on Star Trek they should be put out front for all to see!”
Our community Easter Egg Hunt will be on the Saturday before Easter. We noticed that last three years we were able to have one, the majority of the families came as a result of being invited by a CrossPointer or a friend of CrossPointe in the community. So your mission if you wish to accept it is to spread the word. The event will begin at 11 am and conclude at 12:30 pm. We will be encouraging people to pre-register online. We would love for you to get involved. We will need both candy and helpers. There are sign-up sheets on the table in the back.
Did you catch that there will be an Easter breakfast of pancakes and sausage served at 9 am? Please make your reservation. There is a sheet for that purpose on the new information table in the back.
A woman who is 3 months pregnant falls into a deep coma. 6 months later, she awakes and asks the doctor about her baby.
Her doctor informs her she had twins, a boy, and a girl, and lucky for you, your brother named them.
She says, “Oh no, not my brother! He’s an idiot! What did he name the girl?”
The doc says, “De-nise.”
She says, “Well this isn’t too bad, what did he name the boy?”
“De-nephew.”
CALL TO WORSHIP
For the Lord your God is living among you.
Zephaniah 3:17
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With His love, He will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
OPENING WORSHIP SONGS
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Chisholm, Thomas O./Runyan, William M.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
©Public Domain
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
CCLI License No. 1843349
How Great is Our God
Tomlin, Chris
The splendor of the King,
Clothed in majesty
Let all the world rejoice,
All the world rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide,
It trembles at His voice,
Trembles at His voice.How great is our God,
Sing with us
How great is our God,
And all will see,
How great, how great is our God.Age to age He stands,
And time in His hands,
Beginning and the end,
Beginning and the end.
The God head three in one,
Father, Spirit, Son,
The lion and the lamb,
Lion and the lamb.How great is our God,
Sing with us
How great is our God,
And all will see,
How great, how great is our God.Name above all names,
Worthy of our praise;
My heart will sing,
‘How great is our God’.
How great is our God,
Sing with us
How great is our God,
And all will see,
How great, how great is our God.How great is our God,
©2004 worshiptogether.com Songs
Sing with us
How great is our God,
And all will see,
How great, how great is our God.
CCLI License No. 1843349
Jesus Your Name
Chapman, Morris/Cloninger, Claire
Jesus, Your name is power.
Jesus, Your name is might.
Jesus, Your name will break ev’ry stronghold.
Jesus, Your name is life.Jesus, Your name is healing.
Jesus, Your name gives sight.
Jesus, Your name will free ev’ry captive.
Jesus, Your name is life.Jesus, Your name is holy.
©1990 Maranatha Praise, Inc./Word Music,Inc. (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)
Jesus, Your name brings light.
Jesus, Your name above ev’ry other.
Jesus, Your name is life.
Jesus, Your name is life.
Jesus, Your name is life.
CCLI License No. 1843349
OPENING PRAYER
O Lord, our God, we rejoice that You indeed are our mighty Savior; that in Jesus, our Lord, there is life and light, healing and grace. Great is Your name and greatly to be praised. And so we gather to worship and celebrate Your great love for us in Your Son Jesus, who gave Himself for us; providing both a pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Help us this day to draw ever closer to You through Jesus, amen.
OFFERING
If you would like to send your offering through the mail, our mailing address is:
CrossPointe Community Church
P O Box 126
Chippewa Lake, OH 44215
MORNING PRAYER
Almighty God, we thank You that You are our protector and our deliverer. You are our strength, our strong tower, and deliverer. We thank You that we can call on Your Name and be saved. We thank You for the blood of Jesus that covers us with Your amazing grace.
Dear Lord, we thank You that You are a loving Father and that You hear our prayers. Lord, we cry out to You today and ask that if it be Your will, that You will deliver us from all of our troubles. And if it is not Your will, help us to face whatever lies in our future in the sure confidence that You are always with us. If You are for us, who could ever be against us? So help us to stand firm at all times and not to be burdened by the plans of the enemy.
We ask You Lord to bring peace to Your world, peace to eastern Europe, peace to the hearts of people who have yet to embrace You by faith, and peace to our hearts. We recognize You as the only One who can not only bring us Your peace but also set us free from those things that weigh us down spiritually. Our Father, Help us to live a better life through the power of the Holy Spirit for we ask this in the name of the One and only Son, even Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.
SCRIPTURE
As soon as Jesus heard the news [about the beheading of John, the Baptist], He left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where He was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as He stepped from the boat, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.
That evening the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”
But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.
“Bring them here,” He said. Then He told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, He gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.
About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that His disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while He sent the people home. After sending them home, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. Night fell while He was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water.”
“Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt Me?”When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped Him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
Matthew 14:13-33
MESSAGE
The Fickle Follower, Part II
Randy K’Meyer
Boker Tov, boker tov, boker tov; boker tov is Hebrew for good morning. So good morning, good morning, good morning.
It’s me again; Saint Peter. I really enjoyed my time with you a month ago. Some of you invited me to come back so here we go.
I think I’d like to re-tell the story you just heard. Yea, the one where my faith stumbled, for a moment, again. You know, when I think about it, I gave Jesus countless reasons not to love me. The wonderful thing is, none of them changed His mind.
Anyway, the twelve of us had been with Jesus pretty much all day as He provided physical healing for dozens of ill people who came to Him. Toward the end of the day, we encouraged Jesus to send the people home so that they could get something to eat. What a surprise when he told us to feed them. Thanks to Andrew, we came up with five loaves of bread and two fish. That paltry amount wasn’t about to make a dent in the hunger of this crowd.
But Jesus calmly took what we offered and He gave thanks to God for it. Then He gave it to us to distribute, and before we knew what or how it was happening, the five loaves and two fish fed over 5,000 people! It was an awesome display of God’s power at work through Jesus!
Right then and there the crowds of people tried to force Jesus into being King over Israel; hey, I was ready to cast my vote for Him too. But Jesus wouldn’t have any of it. Instead, He hurried us to the lakeshore, had us get into our boat, and told us to row to the other side of the lake and wait for Him there.
While we were making preparations for the trip back across the lake, we could hear Jesus saying goodnight and goodbye to the people. And as the sun was setting and we were pulling away from the shore, we were able to spot Jesus walking up into the hills alone. Each of us, I suppose, wondered when we would see Him again. And as badly as we wished to return to the shore and follow Him, we thought it best to do as He said, and row to the other side of the lake.
Things were going along pretty well at first, even without Jesus, but as the night wore on the wind began to blow harder and harder. That didn’t bother me and the other fisherman on board, James and John and my brother Andrew, we’d spent most of our lives on this lake at night. But the other guys were becoming nervous nellies.
I was just getting tired for by 3 o’clock in the morning the wind and the waves were battering us so hard we weren’t making any progress at all. We were tempted to stop rowing and allow the wind to blow us back to shore but Jesus told us to get to the other side of the lake, so onward. More than once, though, I heard someone say, “I wish Jesus were here.”
And suddenly there He was. But we didn’t know it was Jesus at first. We thought He had to be a ghost. And we just wanted Him to go away.
Later on, thinking about it, I realized that that was not an altogether unique experience. Many times Jesus came to us (comes to us) in such a way that we are apprehensive rather than glad at His approach. Sometimes He comes with demands for giving up certain sins that we don’t want to give up. Sometimes He comes asking for services that we do not wish to render. Sometimes He comes asking us to sacrifice something of our own so that His Kingdom might grow.
I’ll never forget the time He asked me to leave the sea, my boats, and nets, my livelihood behind in order to follow Him and become a fisher of men. He asked me to do the impossible. I would have laughed in the face of anyone else. Yet there was just something about Him that stirred my soul. And so there I was in the boat screaming with the others.
Then the ghost spoke. “Don’t be afraid, Take courage, I’m here.” At once fear was driven from our hearts as we all realized it was the Master. My discouragement immediately vanished as it always did in His presence, and in its place came faith, hope, and courage!
Suddenly, I just wanted to be out there with Him. On the one hand, I knew it was impossible. Yet on the other, I knew that Jesus could make all things possible. And so almost before I knew what I was saying, I said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
I don’t know what had come over me. Certainly, I had no desire to do such a crazy thing while Jesus was on the mountain and the boat was being battered by the waves. But the presence of Jesus inspired within me an utterly reckless faith! And what a moment before was absolutely absurd was suddenly capable of being accomplished.
Jesus always inspired (inspires) that kind of faith in the hearts of those who really know Him! There was (is) nothing that so pleases Him as the most daring, reckless, bold faith! He was (is) never so filled with joy as when His own trust Him with all they’ve got!
I said, “Lord, command me to come to You.”
You know what He didn’t say? “Why do you wish to do such a foolish thing?” “Don’t you know the wind and the waves are against you?” “Don’t you know the law of gravity is against you?” He didn’t say, “Peter, you’ve been around the sea all of your life. When was the last time you saw anyone walk on water? Why do you want to try such an impossible thing?”
Jesus didn’t say that. I never remember Him talking like that to anybody who ever made a faithful request for a seeming impossibility. In fact, I remember Him saying many times, “All things are possible to Him who believes.” Jesus always encourages people at the point of their impossibilities.
“Command me to come to you!” I said. And Jesus said one word: “Come.”
What would you have done? Another time and another place, I would have said, “I’d like to Lord, I wish I could, maybe I’ll try that someday.
But this wasn’t any other time or place. Jesus said, “Come.” I’ll never forget the moment. I can still feel the cold wind and the wet spray as I dropped my oar and stood up. I remember Thomas grabbed my arm and said, “Man, what are you doing, are you nuts??” I said, “What are we trusting to keep us from going to the bottom of the sea while we are in this boat? Just 2 or 3 planks of wood, that’s all. Can’t I rely on the sure word of the Son of God to hold me up?”
Jesus said, “Come,” and there was just something about Him. And when I stepped out of the boat, I did not drop into the sea, but into the arms of the One who holds every sea in the hollow of His hand. And I, Simon, son of John, renamed by Jesus Himself, Peter, the Rock walked on the water toward Jesus.
What an experience! I accomplished what was impossible except for the power of Christ!
But then something happened; it was the wind and the waves. I began to become aware of the wind and the waves, yet I kept my eye on the Lord. The wind and the waves started to scream for my attention! Something inside of me knew I had to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. But try as I might, I couldn’t control myself. The temptation to look at the wind and the waves overcame my ability to keep my eyes on my Master. I looked away and stepped right off the rock of God’s word and immediately was up to my neck in the raging sea. There I was, in the presence of the One who inspired me to get out of the boat and I was sinking.
Have you ever had that experience? Do you know what it is to feel that soul-sickening sensation that comes to one whose faith is sinking because you have taken your eyes off Jesus? Do you know what it is to be losing your grip on God, losing your ability to be persistent in prayer, losing your way on your spiritual journey? Is there something in your life that’s tempting you to take your eyes off Jesus? Are you sinking? Little by little, are you giving up your faith, are you sinking in the presence of Christ?
I was, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it; in my own strength.
Then in the midst of the swirling waters, by His grace, I was able to look at Jesus again and cried out, “Save me, Lord!” I reached my hand toward His and He took hold of my hand and lifted me up out of the raging sea.
And He will do the same for you if you are sinking. Humble yourselves and call on His name and the strong arm of the Son of God will reach down and lift you up. I know, I’ve been there.
And now friends, before I go, I must tell you, He extends to you the same invitation He gave me, “Come.”
Are you tired and burdened? He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Are you doubting whether or not you know Him? He says, “Come to Me, give Me the little faith you have and I promise it will blossom into a dynamic vibrant faith that will serve you well all the days of your life.
Are you hungry? He says, “Come to Me and eat; ‘he who comes to Me will not hunger’” (John 6:35).
Are you thirsty? He says, “Come to me and drink; ‘he who believes in Me will never thirst’” (John 6:35).
Or as I later wrote in my first letter to all the churches: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up” (I Peter 5:6).
PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO THE MESSAGE
[I encourage you to pray as you feel led by the Spirit of God].
SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Lemmel, Helen H.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
©Public Domain
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
CCLI License No. 1843349
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is My body.” And
He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many. I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, we gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ to remember the extraordinary sacrifice You made in sending Jesus, Your beloved Son to be with us. We thank You for His legacy in words, actions and obedience to suffering on the cross. In light of what He has done for us, help us, O Lord, to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles so that we may run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.
Lord, as we take this bread,
We remember that You are the bread of life.
You feed our souls, you nourish our hearts and You give us sustenance to run the race set before us.The body of Christ, broken for you. (Receive the bread).
Lord, as we drink this wine,
We remember that you are the giver of life.
You are forgiveness, You bring deep peace to our souls and Your love flows within us.The blood of Christ shed for the forgiveness of our sins. (Receive the cup).
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, amen.
Mark 14:22-26
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Lemmel, Helen H.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
©Public Domain
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
CCLI License No. 1843349
CLOSING SONG
Mighty To Save
Fielding, Ben/Morgan, Reuben
Everyone needs compassion…
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me…
Everyone needs forgiveness
Kindness of a Savior…
The hope of nations.Savior,
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave.So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrenderSavior,
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave.Shine your light and
Let the whole world see
Singing… for the glory…
Of the risen King JesusShine your light and
Let the whole world see
Singing… for the glory…
Of the risen KingSavior,
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave.Savior,
©2006 Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan/Hillsong Publishing (admin in the U.S. and
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave.
Canada by Integrity’s Hosanna! Music)
CCLI License No. 1843349
BENEDICTION
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21