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Opening with Praise in Word and Song:

Our ToGather worship today focuses on the blessings of having God as our faithful Shepherd and Father who loves and will bring us home to him with great joy! We express our trust in our Lord's unshakable faithfulness as we sing "My Firm Foundation" with Nashville Life Music:

Our first prayer is adapted by Eldon Degge from Romans 8:38-39 and reminds us of God's abiding and ever-present love for us:

Dear Father, faithful God,

Fill my heart with the deep conviction that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love which you have for me in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Let it be so for me! Please fill me with the joy and peace of so believing! I praise your holy name and the name of Jesus through the Spirit for your precious empowering promises! Thank you, Father; thank you.

In the name of Jesus and by his authority, I come, asking for the confirmation of the faith I have expressed here. Please fill me with that faith and let me walk according to your purposes. Amen.

Focusing on the Scriptures:

To prepare us to hear God's word, let's ask him to open our hearts to his message for us today as we sing "Speak, O Lord" with the Zoe Group:

Our message is from our Verse of the Day, found in Psalm 23:6, the conclusion of David's famous "Shepherd Psalm":

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Phil's message comes from the close of Psalm 23 and centers on the two powerful points of hope and assurance for us because the LORD is our Shepherd:

Let's sing "Psalm 23" with Shane and Shane:

Sharing The Supper:

We sing the wonderful old hymn "I Stand Amazed" with Reawaken Hymns:

We will be welcomed as the Lord's honored guests and invited to stay forever as his beloved children.
Phil and Donna Ware lead us in our Communion reflection that focuses on how we, Jesus' disciples scattered throughout the world, are made into the Lord's bodily presence in the world as we minister to others in Jesus' name:

Closing with Praise:

Until we come fully into the presence of God when we go to meet him or he calls us home when Jesus returns for us, we ask God to "Surround Us, Lord" with the Zoe Group:

Our concluding blessing-prayer comes from Hebrews 13:20-21 NLT. Please say it out loud and bless all those who are part of our ToGather, Heartlight.org, and VerseoftheDay.com family as we each strive to live for Jesus this week:

Now may the God of peace —
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood —
may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

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