Worship Devotional LXXI
Originally posted to the Facebook group on 5/1/2021.
Worship Devotional for 5/2/21
This Sunday marks the fifth week of our resurrection focused songs. It is also Orthodox Easter, which is when the Orthodox church celebrates Easter according to an alternate calendar. Last week we sang about the forgiveness we have through Jesus' death on the cross and the life we have through His resurrection. Since Easter, we have been singing about Jesus' resurrection and praising God for what He has done and for what it all means for us: that the work of our salvation is complete, the victory for our souls has been won, the suffering and death of the cross now means life for the believer through Christ's sacrifice, and how we are forgiven and made alive through Him. This week as we continue to celebrate and rejoice in the hope and life that we have in Christ, we are focusing on how the event of Jesus' resurrection applies to our daily living, in both good and difficult times. In the darkest times and the hardest struggles, our hope remains true and alive because Jesus is alive. When things appear grim and hopeless, we can still rejoice even through the pain and suffering, because we know that it will not last forever. Pain, suffering, and death are no longer our ultimate destiny, because death and hell have been forever defeated for those who believe in the triumphant work of Jesus Christ! Death is the consequence of sin, and hell is the eternal place of punishment. But through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross we are forgiven, and through His resurrection, we now have new and eternal life in Him! Therefore no matter what comes our way, we have hope and peace in God. Even if things are painful and hard right now, lift up your eyes and look to the cross and remember that Jesus is alive both now and forevermore. Let us proclaim — both to remind ourselves and to announce to all who will hear — the good news of Jesus death and resurrection! It is by God's grace through faith in Christ alone that we have hope and life both now and forever.
- 1 Peter 1:3-9:
"Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith — more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Here are the songs:
When we feel overwhelmed by the struggles of this life, by the deserts and valleys that we must go through at times, when waters rise and storms rage around us, and when we feel weak and broken, we still have an unwavering hope through faith when we remember that there is an empty grave. No matter what we go through, death is not the end for us! Instead, we have life because Jesus is alive, even when we lose our lives in this world. The reign of death is done and all of hell is overcome because Jesus is alive. Hallelujah! In remembering this in the hard times, we find the strength, peace, and hope that we need to endure.
2) Christ Is Risen He Is Risen Indeed by Keith & Kristyn Getty
When things are unsure in this life and the world is shaken, there is one thing that we can put unshakeable confidence in: the fact that Jesus is alive. We have reliable eyewitness accounts from the disciples, to whom Jesus appeared and spoke after He had risen from the grave. And it is not just their testimony that is proclaimed, but also the testimony of every single person who has believed in Him, because His resurrection power is alive and at work within us as well! Therefore, even in whatever pain or persecution may come our way, we can confidently and joyfully declare the truth as we sing praise to God that Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!
3) Glorious Day by Casting Crowns
How glorious the day when Jesus rose from the grave! The Son of God could not stay in the grave. Death could not hold Him, nor could the grave keep Him. In His living, He loved us. In His dying, He saved us. In His burial, He carried our sins away. In His rising again, we are justified freely and forever. The glory of the resurrection day points us toward another glorious day: the day of His return. One day, He will come back to take us home to eternal glory. This is the promise that is given to us by His resurrection. This is the promise that we must hold onto through the temporary struggles of this life. Let us therefore remember and hold fast to what is true and eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
"Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Romans 5:1-5:
"Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
4) Christ Is Risen by Matt Maher
1 Corinthians 15:50-58:
"Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption. Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Christ is risen from the dead. Therefore, let us fix our eyes on Him and rise up as His people who are made alive and glorified with Him. May God wake us up from our slumber and complacency, that we may stand in the light of the truth of Jesus Christ and proclaim this good news to all the nations.
5) In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
This everlasting hope and life that we claim is found only in Jesus, who was raised from the dead so that all who put their trust in Him might be raised with Him into new life. He is our refuge in the storms of this life, our comfort in the trials, our strength in our weaknesses, the One who secures a destiny of eternal life and freedom for us. This is what we have in Him alone through His resurrection. Hallelujah!
Theme(s): Resurrection, Life, Faith and Endurance
Scripture references:
Psalms 16, 17, 22, 110
Matthew 28
Mark 16
Luke 24
John 1:11:25-26, 20
Acts 1-4
Romans 4-8
1 Corinthians 15
2 Corinthians 4-5
Ephesians 1-2
Philippians 3-4
Colossians 3
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
2 Timothy 1:8-10, 2:8
Hebrews 2, 10:19-25, 12:1-2
1 Peter 1-2
2 Peter 1:16-21