WS Online – 10 May 2020
Interactive service outline for Church at Home
Welcome
Welcome to Online Church. Wherever you are, a warm WS welcome! In this service, there will be opportunities for us to sing, to pray, hear God’s Word read and explained.
And Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mums! We have a special item at the end of our online service, with our children’s ministry putting together a video of children from our church family singing a song for all the mums on Mother’s Day.
If you’re new here today, welcome! We’d love to connect with you and get to know you more. There is a link below to fill in your contact detail if you’d like to connect with us and find out more.
What is church? It’s not a building. It’s not a club. It’s a gathering, a group, a community of people experiencing the life-giving, life transforming power of God in Jesus Chris, discovering the purpose, joy and meaning of life in Jesus’ call to follow Him!
And this is not a solo race, it’s a call to live life to the full: a life of loving God and loving others, and it’s a call to making disciples; helping others on the journey of following Jesus.
Our church vision is: to be a people of God, growing in Christ, reaching out with the Gospel, until He returns. We can keep fulfilling these central purposes even though we’re not meeting physically as a group because of the Covid-19 lockdown.
We’re continuing our Ephesians series: God’s Masterplan. So far we’ve looked at:
1. The gift of life in Christ (1:1-2)
2. Every Spiritual Blessing in Christ (1:3-14)
3. The Power of God in Christ (1:15-23)
And today Timothy Chan is going to preach for us on The Grace of God in Christ (2:1-10)
This service is designed in such a way to accommodate for both families and groups worshipping together but also for those who wish to follow along by themselves. Our online Sunday School materials are available here: https://wsccc.org.au/children-strathfield/
Service Video
Interactive Service Outline
Our call to worship
As we begin today’s service please read with us from Psalm 92:12-14.
“12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,“
Opening prayer
Lord God,
Thank you that you are good, that you give us life and you cause us to flourish.
Wherever we’re at now, we look to you to speak to us, we look to you as the source of all good and life.
We worship you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Opening songs
Let’s sing our opening song that celebrates God’s grace for us.
To God be the Glory
Our second song focuses on the sufficency of Jesus. O Praise the Name.
Announcements
While we currently exist in part as an online community, we remain a local community that desires to meet together, serve each other, and carry out Christ’s Great Commission. Here are some items of news for us as a church family.
- Online Giving – We give thanks for the continued generosity of our members in supporting the work of the church and our missionaries. If you would like to find out more about how you can give online during this time, please visit our website: https://wsccc.org.au/giving/
- We encourage everyone to continue to take the COVID-19 virus situation seriously and to take necessary precautions to limit the spread of the virus. As a church, we continue to follow the guidelines set by our government. The latest updates from the Diaconate are available here: https://wsccc.org.au/news/
Congregational Prayer
Lord God,
Thank you for your amazing grace in Jesus: that you have brought us from death to life!
Thank you that while we fail in many ways and we face judgement, you forgive us and restore us through Jesus’ death on the cross in our place, and give us every spiritual blessing of life, forgiveness, freedom and peace as a free gift in Jesus.
We thank you for Mothers. Please bless them and keep them. Protect them and provide for them. We pray that they will know that they are so valuable and loved. And even if their child cannot tell them – that they will know that they serve a very special role and they are worthy of a lifetime of love, respect and value.
Lord thank you that in a mothers’ love, we get one of the best pictures of your love – caring, unconditional, tender love that is there no matter what. You tell us that you care for us like a mother hen sheltering her chicks under her wings. We look to you for your care and protection.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Bible reading
The reading for today comes from Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Sermon
Today we’ll hear from Timothy Chan as he speaks on the topic of “The Grace of God in Christ.” Please listen here to the recording:
Please listen here to the recording: https://wsccc.org.au/s9/sermons/
Offering Song
We come to a time in the service when we have the opportunity to worship God through offering, in giving back to the Lord a portion of what he has given to us. Even though we cannot all meet together in one building, we have still made our commitment to financially support our pastors, missionaries, and ongoing church expenses.
Because an offering bag cannot be passed around, please make your electronic offerings to church via these accounts.
- General fund: BSB 082 080. Acc 48 243 6244. Name: WSCCC.
- Mission fund: BSB 082 080. Acc 52 856 0495. Name: WSCCC.
- Building fund: BSB 082 451. Acc 73 932 0475. Name: WSCCC.
You can also give online through this link: https://tithe.ly/give?c=1291374
Our offering song is – O Come to the Altar
Offering Prayer
Lord, thank you that you continue to sustain us financially as a church through electronic means. We pray that the money collected will be used wisely by our leaders for the work of the church, for the community around us and for the growth and glory of your kingdom. In Jesus name,
Amen.
Closing prayer and benediction
Please continue to contemplate all you have heard from Scripture today, and please take the opportunity this week to share with your family and friends.
As we approach the coming week, let’s finish with Paul’s blessing from 2 Corinthians 13
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all evermore.
Connect with us! If you’d like to get in touch with us, join a small group online, or find out more about Christianity, fill out a response card here: Response Form.