Worship at Home: May 31

We’ll be worshiping at our homes again this week. This is our order of worship for Sunday, May 31, 2020, for Calvary Community Church: (Click on the highlighted song titles to listen, or enjoy our Spotify playlist.) 

You can download and print the worship guide here to help you follow and sing along. WG 2020 05 31

PRAYER

Take a few moments and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for worship

PRAISE & ADORATION

Psalm 62:1-2, 5-8
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.

My Soul Finds Rest

GRACE & ASSURANCE 

Romans 8:38-39
 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His Forever

HEARING FROM GOD’S WORD

“Come, For Everything Is Now Ready” – Luke 14:15-24

 

Worship at Home: May 24

We’ll be worshiping at our homes again this week. This is our order of worship for Sunday, May 24, 2020, for Calvary Community Church: (Click on the highlighted song titles to listen, or enjoy our Spotify playlist.) 

You can download and print the worship guide here to help you follow and sing along.
WG 2020 05 24

PRAYER

Take a few moments and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for worship

PRAISE & ADORATION

Psalm 25:1-5
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.

Be Unto Your Name

GRACE & ASSURANCE 

Hebrews 6:19-20

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor

HEARING FROM GOD’S WORD

“Oh How The Tables Have Turned” – Luke 14:1-14

 

Worship at Home: May 17

We’ll be worshiping at our homes again this week. This is our order of worship for Sunday, May 17, 2020, for Calvary Community Church: (Click on the highlighted song titles to listen, or enjoy our Spotify playlist.) 

You can download and print the worship guide here to help you follow along.
WG 2020 05 17

PRAYER

Take a few moments and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for worship

PRAISE & ADORATION

Psalm 30:4-5, 11-12 (ESV)
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

There Is A Redeemer

GRACE & ASSURANCE 

Psalm 66:16-20
Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

I Will Sing the Wondrous Story

HEARING FROM GOD’S WORD

“What Eleven Words Will You Say When You See Jesus?” – Luke 13:31-35

 

 

Congregational Singing Dangerous? The Risks?/ 3 Articles

Today I’m sharing three more articles on COVID-19 and congregational singing. Here’s the main thing I want to say: It’s important to get this right because there are no “do-overs.” I’ve included small block quotes but I encourage you to click on the titles to read the full articles.

One church’s experience: ‘I would do anything for a do-over’: Calgary church hopes others learn from their tragic COVID-19 experience

“We don’t want another organization or faith community to go through what we’ve been through,” said Mang. “It’s really, really hard. There seems to be this huge divide between those who’ve experienced (COVID-19) and the majority who haven’t.

“If you haven’t experienced it, you are so lucky. You have no idea how fortunate you are.”

Here’s an article from The Gospel Coalition that shares many of the same articles I included in my first blog post on this subject. Is Congregational Singing Dangerous?

As we move forward, let’s ask God for wisdom. And let’s offer grace to those who make different decisions than we do. For some in areas with few cases, a rousing song of praise might be the perfect way to come together. For others who are mourning losses and protecting vulnerable members, humming or praying silently to music might be the best option.

This article is more general about our risks with different activities and the virus: The Risks – Know Them – Avoid Them

Singing, to a greater degree than talking, aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well. Deep-breathing while singing facilitated those respiratory droplets getting deep into the lungs. Two and half hours of exposure ensured that people were exposed to enough virus over a long enough period of time for infection to take place. Over a period of 4 days, 45 of the 60 choir members developed symptoms, 2 died. The youngest infected was 31, but they averaged 67 years old. (corrected link)

I ask that you pray with me for wisdom and clarity as we look ahead to what our services will look like when we first re-open.

My first post on this subject: Congregational Singing during COVID-19

 

Worship at Home: May 10

We’ll be worshiping at our homes again this week. This is our order of worship for Sunday, May 10, 2020, for Calvary Community Church: (Click on the highlighted song titles to listen, or enjoy our Spotify playlist.) 

You can download the worship guide here to help you follow along. WG 2020 05 10

PRAYER

Take a few moments and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for worship

SCRIPTURE READING

1 Samuel 12:20-24

“Do not be afraid … do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.  Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.“

PRAISE & ADORATION

How Firm A Foundation

GRACE & ASSURANCE — 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

HEARING FROM GOD’S WORD

“Lord, Will Those Who Are Saved Be Few?” – Luke 13:22-30

 

Worship at Home: May 3

Since we can’t meet in person, we’ll be worshiping at our homes again this week. This is our order of worship for Sunday, May 3, 2020, for Calvary Community Church: (Click on the highlighted song titles to listen, or enjoy our Spotify playlist.) 

You can download the worship guide here to help you follow along. WG 2020 05 03

PRAYER

Take a few moments and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for worship

SCRIPTURE READING
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
For you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Jesus said to them, “I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”
(Psalm 23:1-5, John 10:11, 14)

He Leadeth Me

10,000 Reasons

HEARING FROM GOD’S WORD

“What is the Kingdom of God Like?” – Luke 13:10-21

 

Congregational Singing during COVID-19

 

We have not met together as a congregation for over a month now. April sort of just disappeared, didn’t it? We expect the governor of our state to announce additional re-opening guidelines in a couple of weeks so that may give us some direction about when we can expect to be able to meet together again. But, what will that look like for churches? And more specifically, for our church?

First, for context, here are a couple of articles about some “super-spreader events.”

Albany, Georgia (my aunt and uncle live here)

Washington State choir

Call Center, South Korea (take a look at the floor plan graphic showing the proximity of the infections)

The implication for congregational singing is troubling to me. Here is an article explaining more about the anatomy of singing and the current information we have about COVID-19. “Singing and the Church: A Caution for Moving Forward in Our Current Pandemic”

Even as Germany loosens some restrictions, it has banned congregational singing in religious services.

I don’t know how this will affect our services going forward. Our pastor shared from Isaiah 41 today which begins, “Listen to me in silence,” and said it would be interesting to study how much the Bible has to say about listening. Will that form our worship for a time? I don’t know. For now, I’m thinking and praying through this. What I do know, is that music is good for the soul. Be singing! You can sing in your own home as much as you like! If you’d like to listen (and maybe sing along?) to the songs we sing in our services, there’s always our Spotify playlist. I’m also sharing songs each week with our worship orders.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I will add articles here if I find any others that shape my thinking.