Getting Ready For Sunday: How to Prepare for Worship at Uptown, January 3, 2015

In life we go through moments of hope and despair. Hope is always future oriented while despair is mostly absent of perspective. We can despair as we look around at our present situations. We may feel ‘stuck.’ It is at this crossroads of despair and hope where God’s story enters into ours profoundly and gives us a lasting hope which is not in vain. 

As we begin the new year this week we may be experiencing this crossroads of hope and despair. We may have much hope as we think of the new year with possibility ahead. We may realize that we are now a year older and we fear getting older. We can feel a sense of freedom and hope as we leave 2015 behind or we may feel burned out from all that 2015 has brought into our lives. 

As we begin this new series in Revelation it is important to see what God is telling us in the opening chapter. We have a king who is coming again who will make all things right. He is coming in glory and this is a certainty. It is not something that might happen or could happen. We have a hope ‘that will not put us to shame.’ Therefore since this is true we can live in this hope. As we begin to take hold of this hope our despair will begin to wash away. As we enter the new year reflect on this immovable hope that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and praise the one who is to come and make all things right. 

THE WORD

Scripture: Revelation 1:1-8
Sermon: The Goal of History: Christ’s Triump

SONGS

Rejoice the Lord is King (arr. Traditional)
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Days of Elijah (arr. Robin Mark)
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Isaiah 43
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This is My Father’s World
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Song of Preparation: The World Will Know  (arr. Sojourn Music)
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Song of Response: Sing to the King (arr. Billy Foote)
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