Our streaming services are really about home worship. Sign in alone or gather with your family and friends and join in! These services are interactive, involving sharing together, praying together, discussing God’s Word together, and – if you desire – singing together. The live stream is here to guide and support your worship in your home. Live stream worship will involve a live text chat. This is an important part of connecting with each other and sharing our input, feedback and prayer needs.
Lent Midweek
Lord, Teach us to Pray
“Deliver Us From Evil”
March 20, 2024 @ 7:00 PM
Please CLICK HERE to download the service notes.
As We Gather
Our Lent Midweek series, “Lord, Teach Us To Pray,” focuses on The Lord’s Prayer. Once, when Jesus’ disciples observed Him praying, they asked Him to teach them how to pray. In response, He gave them the prayer we know as The Lord’s Prayer. This prayer serves as both a prayer to pray and pattern for structuring our daily time in prayer. But above all, it reveals what our Lord knows we need on our Lenten journey.
The final petition is a prayer for deliverance from the evil one and all the evil things that may come into our lives. But it begs the question: What is evil? What makes it evil? Our minds may be drawn to the horrific physical evil that is carried out in our world, but the most deadly and pernicious evil is the spiritual evil that seeks to prevent the hallowing of God’s name, the coming of His Kingdom, and the accomplishment of His will.
Palm Sunday
“How Much Does It Cost?”
March 24, 2024
Please CLICK HERE to download the service notes.
As We Gather
This Sunday is Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday, two celebrations in one service. We begin with a commemoration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Then we look forward to the events of the coming week, and the Passion of our Lord, culminating with His atoning sacrifice on the cross.
Our attention has been drawn to how much things cost by the inflation in our economy. It’s a good thing that grace is free! Or is it? Free for us, but costly for the Lord. How much did it cost? The events of Holy Week culminating in the cross show us just how much it cost. And yet it was a price He willingly, lovingly gave. As we read the account of the Passion, let our minds be drawn to the cost and to the great love that paid it.
The service will begin in Faith Chapel.
We will be celebrating Holy Communion at this service.
Live-stream and in-person worship begin at 9:30 AM. Please CLICK HERE to download the link to the live-stream itself.
We will be streaming on our Facebook Page as well: CLICK HERE
CELEBRATING THE LORD’S SUPPER
For those who are streaming, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper in the same way that we have been during the days of quarantine. Please to go this page on our website for information regarding Holy Communion at St. John’s during COVID-19, as well as how to prepare. CLICK HERE Also, take a look at this video with an explanation by Pastor Mike: CLICK HERE
Please click here to download an easy unleavened bread recipe
Preparing for Live Stream Worship
Normally when we prepare for worship, we need to shower, get dressed, get in our cars and drive to the sanctuary. You don’t need to do any of that for the home-based streaming worship at St. John’s. But there is still some preparation (which won’t take as long as the items mentioned above!)
- Download the worship notes for the service. The worship notes contain the reading and other items for worship. The notes also include the reflection and discussion questions, as well as suggestions for singing. If you will be participating on your phone or pad, you should print the handout because you will not be able to switch windows and keep the YouTube live going.
- Sign up for a Google or Gmail account if you do not already have one. In order to take part in the Live Chat with YouTube, you need to have a Google or Gmail account. It doesn’t take long to set it up. For a guide to signing up, please go here: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/56256?hl=en If you don’t want to see the chat feed, or you want to turn it off for part of the service, just click the “hide chat” button at the bottom of the feed. When you want to see the feed again, click the “show chat” button at the top.
- Prepare a comfortable place to worship. Plan to be totally engaged. Remove other things that may distract you. You may want to light a candle or use some other means of recognizing that this is a time for worship.
- Pray that the Lord prepare your heart. Perhaps the most important step. This is an very different way to worship, so we should pray for the Holy Spirit’s present and guidance.
If you need help with any of these steps, please contact Pastor Mike. He or someone else will assist you.