Sharing Sunday services

[FerminRomeroDeTorres]

Thought I’d start a new thread where we can share what we’ve been impacted by in our Sunday services each week. Whether it’s something from the preach, a particular song sung, a word from God or a kind word from a fellow Jesus follower.

I know that for some getting out on a Sunday morning is tricky, for all sorts of reasons, and for others Sundays are anything but a day of rest, either because they are serving in the church, or because they are constantly wrangling little ones and struggle to engage, so thought this might be a nice place to share encouragement with one another, and might be a particular help to those for whom Sunday mornings aren’t always a blessing - a way to share the faith of others as it were, when our own is struggling.

I’ll be leaving shortly to get down to church - I’m preaching this morning on the beauty of God.

Hi everyone, today was Exodus 2:1-10 and John 19: 25-27.
Today was about caring for others as well. I find it interesting in John that Jesus seemed to call Mary Magdalene his disciple.

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@Justmerach I thought John was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” in that passage, and Jesus asked him to take care of his mother as if she were John’s own mother.

Thank you, that makes sense. I am glad that I understand this now. Thank you for explaining this InMySpareTime.

Hi everyone, today’s readings was (Ezekiel 37 1-14), (Psalm 130),(John 11, 1-45).

Today we had mostly Psalm 40:1-3, worship
as breakthrough.
Reminding us to keep praying and praising even through struggles, and to let go of pride and self-reliance because God works wonders when we let go and let Him do it His way.

Hi everyone, today focused on a walk with Jesus Christ. Today’s readings was Isaiah 50: 4-9a, Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-end,Matthew 21: 1-11.
I will quote a bit from the teaching-

“This week is holy, special, intense, a rollercoaster and that’s just for us who believe and trust in the ending. For the disciples and crowds it must have been something else – bewildering, grief-stricken and more.

Today is full of praise and next Sunday is full of praise. In between, as many stand aside, we seek to walk with Jesus through so much which sustains us on different parts of our own lives and journeys in faith.”

We had Matthew 21:1-11, no surprise there as it’s a standard Palm Sunday reading.
Topic was “Worship the king”, and we were urged to think about our place in the Palm Sunday story. Are we disciples, listening to Jesus’ words and obeying His commands? Are we the followers in the crowd, clearing the way and shouting Hosanna to the king? Or are we the Jerusalem residents, intrigued by this new figure that is attracting attention and asking “who is he?”?
Everyone has some kind of response to the message of Jesus, is it obedience, is it praise, is it surprise/wonder, or is it (looking to Good Friday) rejection?
We were asked to think about how we respond, and why we respond that way.

Absolute glorious chaos this morning! So many people we were fetching extra chairs from all round the church building (and probably breaching fire regs).
Sermon was about the facts of Jesus’ death and resurrection, with illustrations using a punctured beach ball (definitely dead), a Jenga tower (disciples weren’t lying or they’d have cracked eventually) and a jigsaw puzzle (lots of eyewitnesses make a more complete witness testimony than just one).
There was also a gospel choir and communion, and loads of tiny plastic Jesuses hidden round the church building. It was full on today.
Happy Easter everyone.

Hi everyone, today I attended two services, a dawn dusk service where fire was burnt to mark Jesus rescurrection. I have seen it four years running now. I filmed it here. I also attended the 8am service as well and listened online at 10am. The readings this week was - (Acts 10. 34-43) and (John 20. 1-18).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ExmjIh_NB3o

Hi everyone, today’s readings was Acts 2.14 22-34, Psalm 16, John 20: 19-end.

Today the sermon focused on how and why the Gospels were written which I found interesting. I will include a bit below-

“Do remember the gospels were written at least a generation after the crucifixion and the readership they were written for. What was happening was that the people who knew Jesus, not only the apostles but people who had known him other ways, people like Martha and Mary and so on were all dying out. And the important thing to do was to get a record of his life while there were people alive who remembered.”

Hi everyone, today’s readings was (Zephaniah 3: 14-end), (Acts: 2: 14a, 36-41) and (Luke 24: 13-35).

Today was about and the Road to Emmaus and how Jesus was on a pilgrimage/retreat as well. I found this interesting and read the sermon yesterday and asked a question which my minister responded to today and included it in their sermon today. I am going to Lourdes myself for a day pilgrimage/retreat in May. I often just use the word retreat for what some see as a pilgrimage. I have been to Aylesford priory too and it helped give me a sense of renewal. The subject of pilgrims is topical now in the BBC and the Church of England. I also liked learning about the daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem who were real litreal women I believe the Daughter of Jerusalem and not symbolic? I like finding inspirational women in the Bible.

“Yesterday someone asked me to explain the difference between pilgrimage and retreat in Christian life and I found that an interesting question to ponder.
Often pilgrimage and retreats can go together. Pilgrimage is about making a journey with a spiritual intention often a physical journey involving travel and often with companions. Whereas retreat is about intentionally setting aside.”

“The road to Emmaus seems to combine elements of pilgrimage and retreat, although probably the disciples didn't realize either before they set out from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It's interesting that Jesus joins them on a walking journey out of the holy city, going away from the centre. Jesus gently inquires what they're discussing.”

We had Matthew 28, about the women’s response to the risen Jesus.
The message was challenging us to nurture a spirit of awe and respect, to stop and really ponder on the impact of the risen Christ in our lives.

InMySpareTime that is good to reflect on and thank you for posting your post.

I left out a bit in the paragraph what about today about the differences between a pilgraim and a retreat. This is about a retreat-

"Whereas retreat is about intentionally setting aside
time with God, often making space in the usual pattern of our lives, perhaps about being in a particular place, perhaps about silence".