We pray that you are blessed as we join God's people from all over the world in our ToGather.church worship. (Find out more about ToGather.)

Opening with Praise in Word and Song:

Let's pray, taking our lead from John 17:3:

Dearest Father,

We know that we find eternal life by knowing you and experiencing your presence in us as Immanuel, our God with us. O Father, we want to know you and experience your nearness. We ask that you reveal yourself to us and make your presence known to us as we live for you. Please accept our worship today as our thankful praise for your abiding presence.

We pray in the authority of Jesus and his mighty name. Amen.

In our ToGather worship, we are asking Jesus to make God's presence real in our lives. We need to know that we are not alone. People in the world need to see the love of God at work in our lives so they can be drawn to know him, too! Through our songs, praise, prayers, scriptures, and Communion, we will lean into God's promise to be present in our lives.

Jesus stated that promise clearly:

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them" (John 14:18-23).

Because of Jesus' promise, we can trust that God will be "Faithful to the End"! Let's sing this song with Bethel Music as we help each other open our hearts to God's faithful nearness:

Focusing on the Scriptures:

As we open the Scriptures, we prepare our hearts by singing the song "Spirit of the Living God" with Meredith Andrews. This song is both a pledge to listen to the Holy Spirit and a prayer for the Spirit to speak to us and live through us as we obey God's will for us:

Our Verse of the Day comes from John 17:26. Jesus spoke the following words in the presence of his disciples on the eve of his death as he prayed to the Father for them:

"[Father,] I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Phil's message helps us dig deeper into our verse and its context as Jesus offers us a message of comfort, encouragement, reassurance, and mission:

God promised his presence to us, and he has blessed us so that we will share his blessing with others (Genesis 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 9:8-11). As we sing the song "For the One" with Brian and Jenn Johnson of Bethel Music, we choose to both receive and share the grace and presence of God that Jesus assures for us:

Sharing The Supper:

The Zoe Group leads us in the song "Jesus Messiah" as we prepare our hearts to receive the Lord's Supper:

Doug Peters' Communion reflection is to help us focus our thoughts as we share in the Supper of our Lord:

Closing with Praise:

We close our ToGather Worship with "The Blessing" led by Elevation Worship, featuring Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes. This song was a spontaneous composition that came out of a devotional time together as people sang different blessings from the Scriptures. These promised blessings are a fitting way to close our ToGather worship:

May you be able to discern the presence of God in you this week as you seek to obey the will of Jesus and share his grace with others. Amen.

Special thanks to The Lumo Project and Free Bible Images for images related to the ministry of Jesus.