11/22 Worship Service

*Entire service available on video HERE (except for that little bit at the end when the phone died)

Call To Worship

(Scripture to set a tone for worshipping the Lord):

For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”  The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children”
-Romans 8:14-16

Worship In Song

O Come To The Altar

Are you hurting and broken within?
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin?
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself?
Do you thirst for a drink from the well?
Jesus is calling

(CHORUS)
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ

Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today, there’s no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes, a new life is born
Jesus is calling

Oh what a Savior
Isn’t He wonderful?
Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen
Bow down before Him
For He is Lord of all
Sing hallelujah, Christ is risen (repeat)

Before The Throne Of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

(CHORUS)
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Praise the one risen son of God

Behold Him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless Righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

Gloria

I sought for the king, and he heard me
And delivered me, from my lonely fears
They looked unto him, and they would attend
And all their faces, were made unashamed

Gloria (x4)

(CHORUS)
O taste and see, that the Lord is good
All you people, all you saints, all you children of the King (Repeat)

I sought for the king, and he heard me
And delivered me, from my lonely fears
They looked unto him, and they would attend
And all their faces, were made unashamed

Gloria (x4)

(CHORUS)

Gloria (x4)

(CHORUS)

The Reading Of God’s Word

John 16:16-33 (Sarah Hoffman)

“In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.”
¹⁷ Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”
¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²² So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.
²³ “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
²⁵ “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
²⁹ His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”
³¹ Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? ³² Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

The Proclamation Of God’s Word

Temporary Sorrow; Eternal Joy (Now & Not Yet) (Sean Nolan)

Songs Of Response

Poison Tree

This tree bears strange fruit
There’s blood on the leaves, it’s dead at the root
The cracked, gray branches are decaying within
Just like the black poison that hangs from it’s limbs

Come and dig me up, reach down to the root
Rip the deadness out and plant something new

I am alive, I will abide
In the life-giving blood of Christ

I tried to tie good fruit
To a tree that had poison all the way through
It rotted and fell off
It was dead to the core
It even killed the ground, I was worse than before

Come and dig me up, reach down to the root
Rip the deadness out and plant something new

I am alive, I will abide
In the life-giving blood of Christ
I’m grafted in, you’ve killed my sin
Now I will live, live in Him

Come and dig me up, reach down to the root
Rip the deadness out

I am alive, I will abide
In the life-giving blood of Christ
I’m grafted in, you’ve killed my sin
Now I will live, I’ll live in Him

Rejoice

Come and stand before your Maker
Full of wonder, full of fear
Come behold His power and glory
Yet with confidence draw near

For the one who holds the heavens
And commands the stars above
Is the God who bends to bless us
With an unrelenting love

(CHORUS)
Rejoice, come and lift your hands and
Raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise
Rejoice, sing of mercies of your King
And with trembling, rejoice

We are children of the promise
The beloved of the Lord
Won with everlasting kindness
Bought with sacrificial blood

Bringing reconciliation
To a world that longs to know
The affections of a Father
Who will never let them go

(BRIDGE)
All our sickness, all our sorrows
Jesus carried up the hill
He has walked this path before us
He is walking with us still

Turning tragedy to triumph
Turning agony to praise
There is blessing in the battle
So take heart and stand amazed

Rejoice, when you cry to Him He hears
Your voice, He will wipe away your tears
Rejoice, in the midst of suffering
He will help you sing…

Worship Through Giving:

Those who call Engage home are encouraged to worship through giving. In order to ensure minimal contact, those giving by cash or check are encouraged to drop in the bucket on the back table (not the garbage bucket) discreetly as they depart. To read more about what we believe about giving or to submit an offering online click HERE.
(also available on Venmo: @EngageAlbany)

Updates & Announcements

As COVID concerns are on the rise, please revisit our updated protocols on our social media channels and website.

1. November 29^th Community Meal: CANCELED
We’ll host a digital member’s meeting @ 10am that day and post a short devotional video on our social media channels.

2. Serve: As we strive to limit our attendance in accordance with NYS guidelines, we’ll need people to help serve. Email engagealbany@gmail.com if you’re interested. Also:

If you want to be a part of a living nativity on December 19^th, email the above address as well

The box in the back covered in wrapping paper is for Christmas gifts to be sold in the Koinonia Christmas store if you want to bless an underserved family this season with toys for their children

3. Save the date: We’re planning a Christmas party for December 11^th (Friday) in the evening. Stay tuned as to whether it will be in-person or digital.

4. Stay informed: As we continue to make plans to navigate the cold months, please follow us on FaceBook, Instagram, and Youtube (@EngageAlbany on each) as well as signing up for our mailing list (in hallway or by emailing engagealbany@gmail.com)

Benediction

We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
-2 Corinthians 3:18

Additional Resource

For those interested, you can read an article from a few years back that goes into a bit more detail about the story I (Sean) shared in the beginning: When God Gives You ‘X’ But You Asked For ‘Y’