Opening Song:
Press On by Ben Shive and Kristyn Getty
Lyrics:
Where two or three are gathered
In the name of the Lord
He is here He is here in our midst
And we will sing together
Be renewed by the Word
When we part may we go in His peace
Press on all you saints
Press on till the end
Christ with us ever with us
Until He comes again
Press on all you saints
Run and run to win
Christ with us ever with us
Until He comes again
Now let the Word be scattered
Llike the seed on the soil
Day by day
Watch it grow in His care
And may you be a shelter
As you reach to the lost
Glad in hope calm in pain true in prayer
And may He find us waiting
With our lamps burning still
Keeping watch through the night
Til He comes
For soon it will be morning
And the sun will appear
Christ who brought us this far
Brings us home
Oh until He comes again
Passage:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Musical Reflection:
I Need Thee Every Hour (NEED) by Robert Lowry
Reflection Notes:
Each stanza of this familiar hymn was written by Annie Hawks as part of a poem. When she showed the composition to her pastor, Robert Lowry, he added the refrain and set the text to music for their congregation to enjoy. The musical lines always tend upward before falling back down, an apt parallel to the textual pleas reaching up to God.
Prayer:
Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for
all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all
our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless
fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life
may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal,
and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ
our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
