Midweek Podcast | Jesus, Our Comforter

Have a holly jolly Christmas!

We’re joined by Midtown Lexington pastor Michael Bailey as we share our love for our city, the Advent season, the Star Wars franchise (?!), and what Jesus is teaching us through the Advent guide.

We love hearing from you too. Email us your questions, feedback, and what Jesus has been teaching you through this Advent season.

If you have a copy of the guide, our suggested donation price is $6. You can donate here.

Recommended:

Griffin Chophouse - (griffinchophouse.com | instagram.com/griffinchophouse)

Hazelwood Brewing - (hazelwoodbeerco.com | instagram.com/hazelwoodbeer)

Midweek Podcast | Jesus, Our Shepherd King

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We’re joined by Midtown Lexington pastor Brandon Clements as we discuss Columbia, the Advent season, and what Jesus is teaching us through this year's Advent guides.

We love hearing from you too. Email us your questions, feedback, and what Jesus has been teaching you through this Advent season.

If you have a copy of the guide, our suggested donation price is $6. You can donate here.

Recommended: Hollow Creek Christmas Tree Farm

Midweek Podcast | Following Jesus Together | Advent in the Pandemic

Subscribe to Following Jesus Together (iTunes ISpotify I Google Play)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

We welcome OUR VERY FIRST GUEST on the show, author of this year’s Advent Guide, Courtney Gibson. In this episode, she shares how we might use this season of Advent and the pandemic to help us be more like Jesus. Plus, we put Courtney in the hot seat for our lightning round.

We love hearing from you too. Email us your questions, feedback, and what Jesus has been teaching you through this Advent season.

If you have a copy of the guide, our suggested donation price is $6. You can donate here.

As always, special thanks to our audio engineer Stephen Simmons. Intro music courtesy of Jared Wise.

Resources:

How to Make an Advent Wreath (for under $5)

Hope (week 1) playlist

Peace (week 2) playlist

Joy (week 3) playlist

Love (week 4) playlist

And of course, check out The CHRISTmas Experience playlist

Greetings From 2020 | Following Jesus in Pain and Chaos | August 9

Sermon by Jon Ludovina for August 9, 2020.

Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Worship Guide

August 9, 2020

Use this guide as a script, and, if possible, ask for a volunteer, roommate, or virtual participant to read the parts aloud. There are links to the songs to play and sing along with or, sing them a cappella. We want this to be a helpful guide for you and your community to participate together in worshipping the Lord. 

Pray

Have someone pray for your time together, or read this prayer aloud:

Jesus, help us focus our hearts and minds on You during our time together.  Help us to remember that You are with us by Your Spirit.  Help us to sing, remembering the truth about who You are and who You’ve called us to be.

Call to Worship - Scripture

Have someone read this scripture aloud:

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Song

Song

Pray: Have someone pray this aloud

Jesus, Your words are truth.  Help us to hear the truth and respond in love and obedience.  Amen.

Sermon

Song

Benediction

Have someone pray this aloud to close:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen.

Kidtown and Students Guides

Greetings From 2020 | Following Jesus in a Cancel Culture | August 2

Sermon by Adam Gibson for August 2, 2020.

Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Worship Guide

August 2nd, 2020

Use this guide as a script, and, if possible, ask for a volunteer, roommate, or virtual participant to read the parts aloud. There are links to the songs to play and sing along with or, sing them a cappella. We want this to be a helpful guide for you and your community to participate together in worshipping the Lord. 

Pray

Have someone pray for your time together, or read this prayer aloud:

Dear Lord, focus our attention and our hearts. Let our time be a blessing to You and to us. Help us grow in unity and understanding together.

Call to Worship

Have someone read this scripture aloud:

The call to worship for today is from Psalm 103

Psalm 103:8, 13-14, 17-18

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

Song

Song

Pray

Read this aloud:

Philippians 4:6 says do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Lord, thank you that we can bring all our anxiety and frustrations to you. Remind us that we are made family and friends with you. Open our ears and our hearts today as we hear your word. Calm our restless hearts with your Spirit. Help us focus and rest in these next moments, amen.

Sermon

Song

Benediction

Everyone read this prayer aloud:

Father God, 
Be with us this week, 
As we seek Your kingdom here in Columbia

Jesus Christ, 
Be glorified in our lives, 
As we remember, we are secure in You

Let your Holy Spirit, 
Remind us of Your truth often, 
and move us to love our neighbors, as Christ has loved us

Amen.

Kidtown and Students Guides

Greetings From 2020 | Following Jesus in the Midst of Injustice | July 26

Sermon by Michael Bailey for July 26, 2020.

Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Worship Guide

July 26, 2020

Use this guide as a script, and, if possible, ask for a volunteer, roommate, or virtual participant to read the parts aloud. There are links to the songs to play and sing along with or, sing them a cappella. We want this to be a helpful guide for you and your community to participate together in worshipping the Lord. 

We invite you to stand as you sing, to help position yourself to be engaged and focused as you participate in the gathering of God’s people.

Call to Worship

Have someone read this scripture aloud to begin:

Psalm 9:1-2

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
   I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
    I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

Let’s sing of the greatness of our God with thankfulness in our hearts for what He’s done.

Song

Practice: REFLECT AND REJOICE

Take a minute to sit in silence and reflect on the past week. What can you praise God for in the midst of this season? 

After a few moments, if you are participating with others, ask specific people to share what came to mind. 

After sharing, have someone pray, or read this aloud: 

Father, thank you for how you continue to provide and show up in the mess of this life. Help us always remember your provision and the depth of your love for us. Father you are all we need, you are everything.

Song

Pray: Have someone pray this aloud

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that we may hear your Word with joy. Amen.

Sermon

Song

Benediction

Have someone pray this aloud to close:

Help us, Lord, that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Kidtown and Students Guides

Greetings From 2020 | Following Jesus in a Polarizing Political Climate | July 19

Sermon by Jake Blair for July 19, 2020.

Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Worship Guide

July 19, 2020

Use this guide as a script, and, if possible, ask for a volunteer, roommate, or virtual participant to read the parts aloud. There are links to the songs to play and sing along with or, sing them a cappella. We want this to be a helpful guide for you and your community to participate together in worshipping the Lord. 

We invite you to stand as you sing, to help position yourself to be engaged and focused as you participate in the gathering of God’s people.

Call to Worship

Have someone read this scripture aloud to begin:

Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Let us sing this morning remembering God’s grace and goodness.

Song

Practice: ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER

Read this aloud:

Hebrews 3 says: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

After this next song we’re going to take a couple of minutes to encourage those with you. How have you seen Jesus working in someone’s life recently? During this next song think of at least one way you can encourage someone in your life.

Song

Now, take some time to text them, and tell them why you’re thankful for them. If you have others in the room with you (physically or virtually), pray for specific ways you can encourage them.

Pray: Father God, you have spoken to us through your Son. Let your written Word now be spoken and heard by each of us. Give us ears to hear and hearts to understand. Amen.

Sermon

Song

Benediction

Father God, help us to remember that You are alive today and active wherever we find ourselves. Remind us of the good news and reality of the Gospel. Amen.

Kidtown and Students Guides

Greetings From 2020 | Hardship & Glory | July 12

Sermon by Brandon Clements for July 12, 2020.

Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Worship Guide

July 12th, 2020

Use this guide as a script, and, if possible, ask for a volunteer, roommate, or virtual participant to read the parts aloud. There are links to the songs to play and sing along with or, sing them a cappella. We want this to be a helpful guide for you and your community to participate together in worshipping the Lord.

We invite you to stand as you sing, to help position yourself to be engaged and focused as you participate in the gathering of God’s people.

Call to Worship

Have someone read this scripture aloud to begin:

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Song

Practice: Lament

Have someone read this aloud:

Psalm 13:1-4

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?

Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

The world is broken. Things are not the way they should be, and we can talk to God about that.  In Psalm 13, David is reckoning with how things are broken in his life, and he brings those things honestly to God.  Following in David’s form, let’s take a couple minutes to lament in prayer to God the things that we’re sad, angry, or confused about.

(Take 2 minutes to pray silently)

Have someone pray this to close: Lord, have mercy on us.  Lead us through Your word and Spirit to trust you.
Amen

Read Scripture and Pray for the Sermon:

Have someone read this scripture aloud and pray

1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that we may hear your Word with joy. Amen.

Sermon

Reflection: Trust & Follow

Psalm 13:5-6

But I have trusted in your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
I will sing to the Lord
because he has treated me generously.

Just as David recognized the brokenness in his life and the world around him, he turned in the Psalm to trust God and sing.  As we reflect on God’s word and sing, let’s remember that in the midst of all the brokenness, we can trust in God’s faithful love and believe that He will one day make everything right.

Song

Benediction

Help us, Lord, that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Kidtown and Students Guides

April 5 | Plagues & Idolatry

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Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Sermon by Jon Ludovina for April 5, 2020.

SERMONS FROM CHURCH IN A PLAGUE

Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 4: Plagues & Idolatry (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

March 29 | You are a Mist

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Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Sermon by Brandon Clements for March 29.

SERMONS FROM CHURCH IN A PLAGUE

Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

March 22 | God's People in a Pandemic

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Here is this week's sermon along with a digital worship guide that will include songs to sing, prayers, and scripture to read. Also, for those with children, please use our Kidtown guide as a resource to teach and lead your children each week.

Sermon by Adam Gibson on March 22.

SERMONS FROM CHURCH IN A PLAGUE

Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

March 15 | Churches & Plagues

Sermon by Brandon Clements on March 15.

SERMONS FROM CHURCH IN A PLAGUE

Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)