WEEKLY BULLETIN
September 26, 2021
Prelude
Welcome & Announcements
Worship Through Songs
Give Thanks
Free Amen
Remember Mercy
Build My Life
Prayer
NovaKids Meet Teachers
Sermon
Restoration | Zechariah
The Lord's Supper
Closing Reminders & Benediction
Announcements
Falloween Fest
- Saturday, October 30th we will have a fun Trunk-Or-Treat for the community out on our lawn. Sign ups begin today! More detail to follow.
Children's Ministry
- NovaKids (grades K-5) will be meeting during the service. Please check in ahead of time at the NovaKids tent. Children will stay with their family until after the worship songs when they will be dismissed to meet their teachers. For more information, please visit our Children's Ministry page.
Small Groups
- Nova small groups are smaller communities of people (usually about 8-14) who meet regularly to share, pray, read God’s Word and care for each other in practical ways. Most groups meet weekly on different nights of the week.
- If you are interested in joining a group, or would like more information, please visit the Small Groups page of our site, or fill out this short form so we can be in touch. Small Group Info Request
Serving at Nova
- Interested in serving at Nova? Visit the table by the information tent to learn more or visit here on our website.
Giving
- If you would like to give tithes or offerings, please use the drop box located under the Information Tent.
- If you are in your car, please turn your hazard lights on and an usher will help you.
- Visit novachurch.org/giving for online giving.
Prayer
- At the end of the worship service, Prayer Team members (light blue vests) are available in front of the platform.
- If you are in your car and would like prayer, please turn your hazard lights on at the end of the worship service.
- You can always email prayer requests to prayer@novachurch.org and they will be sent out to the prayer team.
SONG LYRICS
GIVE THANKS
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ His Son
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given
Jesus Christ His Son
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
FREE AMEN
Verse 1
Hope falling down like rain
Love that I can't explain
Peace that stills my soul
Light in the darkest place
Life even in the pain
It feels like coming home
Chorus
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom
I am free, amen
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is freedom
I am free, amen
Verse 2
Here I'm alive again
Gone is the weight of sin
Oh, sweet liberty
Praise God, who saved my life
I'm bought with the blood of Christ
I have been redeemed
Bridge
Free at last, free at last
Thank God almighty I am free at last
All my chains are in the past
Thank God Almighty I am free at last
REMEMBER MERCY
Lord, I have heard of Your fame
I stand in awe of Your deeds
Oh Lord, I have heard of Your fame
I stand in awe of Your deeds, oh Lord
Renew them, renew them
In our day and in our time make them known
Renew them, renew them
In our day and in our time make them known
In wrath, remember mercy
In wrath, remember mercy
BUILD MY LIFE
Verse 1
Worthy of every song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
Verse 2
Jesus the name above every other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
We live for You
Chorus
Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me
Bridge
I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken
SERMON NOTES
Restoration
VOICES OF RESISTANCE AND HOPE – Part 12
September 26, 2021
Our Hope: Restoration
The first step towards restoration is repentance.
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.’”
Zechariah 1:1-6
A life of worship must always include caring for others, especially the vulnerable.
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”
8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.
Zechariah 7:1-12
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5:21-24
34 ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
Restoration ultimately comes from God alone.
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Zechariah 9:9-12
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
Zechariah 12:10-13:1
Small Group Discussion Questions for the Week of Sept. 26, 2021.
Opening
1. Have you ever restored something like an old piece of furniture or an antique? How long was the process? How did you feel when you finished?
Digging Deeper into the Scriptures
Read Zechariah 1:1-6.
1. At the end of verse 6 it says that the people repented. According to verses 2-6, of what does repentance entail?
Read Zechariah 7:1-12
2. According to verses 4-7, the fasting and mourning of the people was empty and for themselves. According to verses 8-10, why is this the case?
3. In the sermon on Sunday, it was said that worship must always coincide with caring for others. What does this tell you about the heart of God?
4. Why do you think the people “refused to pay attention,” “turned their backs and covered their ears,” and “made their hearts hard as flint?”
Applying the Scriptures
1. Does the word “repent” carry positive or negative connotations in your mind? Why or why not? Do you find it easy to repent of wrongdoing? Why or why not?
2. “A life of worship must always include caring for others, especially the vulnerable.” Is this a difficult teaching for you? Why or why not?
3. God promises throughout Zechariah (and the entire Bible for that matter) that he is going to one day fully restore creation to how he intended it to be, free from suffering and sin. How does this promise make you feel? Does it change your perspective on this current life in any way? How so?