Read:  

As you prepare to gather with the church family to listen to God’s word, read the passage for our final message from the Signs of Life series.

John 11:1-57

Focus:

After our worship gatherings, we will transition to our new sermon series: Reconstructing Faith, a study in the Letter to the Ephesians. Along with this new study, theFormed.life will consider the discipline of celebration.

As we explore what it means to celebrate God as a church family, this series will be somewhat contemplative in nature. The goal is to slow down and soak in God’s word, leading us to form a deep, lasting celebratory habit rather than fostering only momentary praise. We want our whole life to be a praise to our God.

We trust that the gatherings on Sunday that focus on the faith-building message of Ephesians will knit each of us closer to one another, and weave our individual celebrations into a tapestry for Christ’s glory. The mystery of the gospel that Paul portrays so clearly in his letter to the church in Ephesus requires or even produces a response, like a well-tended tree inevitably produces fruit. In line with this, each week (except for this “gap” week of orientation) will flow out from the Sunday message as a response instead of leading into Sunday, as it was for the last series.

Our hope in leaning into the discipline of celebration is that it will help us seamlessly wed these two faces of the gospel: message and response. As we receive the good news that Christ is Lord of his church, may this news produce in us a response of celebration for all Christ has accomplished for us, his Bride (Ephesians 5:25). Together our lives will become celebrations of God’s faithfulness.

Pray:

Pray that the reality of resurrection would become an undeniable fact in your heart and mind. This unshakeable fact, that Jesus is alive and makes us alive with him (Ephesians 2:4-6) is the surest foundation upon which to build our lives as we learn what it means to celebrate God together. 

Prepare:

After you’ve spent some time in prayer, check out the video below for a preview of what to expect this week in theFormed.life.