3/21 Worship Service

*Entire service available on video HERE

Call To Worship

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

This is what the Lord says:
Preserve justice and do what is right,
for my salvation is coming soon,
and my righteousness will be revealed.
Happy is the person who does this,
the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil
No foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord
should say,
“The Lord will exclude me from his people,”
For the Lord says this:
I will give them, in my house and within my walls,
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters.
I will give each of them an everlasting name
that will never be cut off.
As for the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to become his servants—
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold firmly to my covenant—
I will bring them to my holy mountain
and let them rejoice in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be acceptable on my altar,
for my house will be called a house of prayer
for all nations.”
This is the declaration of the Lord God,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered.”
-Isaiah 56:1-3;5-8

Worship In Song

Glorious Day

He Will Hold Me Fast

Updates & Announcements

1. COMMUNION: is open to any committed follower of Jesus Christ each Sunday. If you are not yet sure where you stand in relation to your faith with Jesus, we ask that you refrain from communion until you’re sure.
2. SERVE: As we gear up for warmer months and outside services we’ll need more hands on deck. Email engagealbany@gmail.com if you’re interested
   
   Needs:
   12 8 Childcare Volunteers (will train)
   8 4 Early AM Setup (will train)
   Musicians (singers especially)
   
3. REGISTER for our next “Engaging with Engage” meeting on 3/28 to hear more about who we are and what makes us tick (lunch provided)
4. HOLY WEEK @ Engage Albany: we will host a Good Friday service @ 6pm on April 2nd (live-streamed and in person) and a Resurrection Sunday service @ 11am on April 4th (outside and live-streamed, easter egg hunt for children fifth grade and under to follow). Refreshments (coffee, donuts) also provided. We’ll have lots of neat gifts for kids.

The Reading Of God’s Word

Esther 9:20-10:3 (Sarah Hoffman)

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all of King Ahasuerus’s provinces, both near and far. ²¹ He ordered them to celebrate the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar every year ²² because during those days the Jews gained relief from their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday. They were to be days of feasting, rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

²³ So the Jews agreed to continue the practice they had begun, as Mordecai had written them to do. ²⁴ For Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. He cast the pur—that is, the lot—to crush and destroy them. ²⁵ But when the matter was brought before the king, he commanded by letter that the evil plan Haman had devised against the Jews return on his own head and that he should be hanged with his sons on the gallows. ²⁶ For this reason these days are called Purim, from the word pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter as well as what they had witnessed and what had happened to them, ²⁷ the Jews bound themselves, their descendants, and all who joined with them to a commitment that they would not fail to celebrate these two days each and every year according to the written instructions and according to the time appointed. ²⁸ These days are remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance in Jewish life and their memory will not fade from their descendants.

²⁹ Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter with full authority to confirm the letter about Purim. ³⁰ He sent letters with assurances of peace and security to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, ³¹ in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting and lamentation. ³² So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record.

10 
King Ahasuerus imposed a tax throughout the land even to the farthest shores. ² All of his powerful and magnificent accomplishments and the detailed account of Mordecai’s great rank with which the king had honored him, have they not been written in the Book of the Historical Events of the Kings of Media and Persia? ³ Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was famous among the Jews and highly esteemed by many of his relatives. He continued to pursue prosperity for his people and to speak for the well-being of all his descendants.

The Proclamation Of God’s Word

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants (Sean Nolan)

Songs Of Response

Nothing But The Blood

We Will Feast In The House Of Zion

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)

Benediction

(Closing words from Scripture)

The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
-Deuteronomy 29:29