Hope Church Prayer Book seeks to promote a worship culture from Monday to Saturday by conveying worship resources from Sundays. Worship is not a thought, but an action; not a concept, but a practice. And the more we practice, the more in shape we get - in the shape of Jesus. So sing out loud or read a responsive prayer before dinner. Each month’s prayer book will now be available on Hope’s website under the resources tab!
If you look on many church calendars, you will find beautiful labels such as, “Second, Third…Seventh Sunday of Easter.” Church fathers knew that celebrating the resurrection could no more fit into a single Sunday than Jesus could fit inside an Easter egg. He is still risen! The celebration and effects of Easter continue, and still send us out into our world. You’ll see that reflected in the prayers leading up to and out of Easter weekend.
Holy Saturday
The Young Adults hosted a Holy Saturday sunrise service where we worshiped and pondered what it must have been like to wake up as a disciple of Jesus on the day after his crucifixion. We still wake up like this sometimes, and it feels like the resurrection was just something we heard of when we were younger.
Psalm 77:1–9
I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;
I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
Selah
You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
“Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?
We have questions like these that we’d like to bring to you, Lord.
Was the sunrise a welcome sight to them, Jesus?
Those men whose sight you healed.
The question is sincere.
They realized the light looked cold.
What do their eyes tell them this morning?
Or was the ground repulsive to him, Jesus?
The man who was lowered through the roof.
He walked home after the last nail.
He questioned every step.
Do his legs testify this morning?
Does her wellness confound her, Lord?
The woman who bled.
She couldn’t help but notice how much you bled.
She bleeds no more, but she weeps
and wonders her part in putting you there.
Had you bled for her?
Does her life scare him, Jesus?
The father of the girl you raised up.
He saw you raised up.
She wakes from sleep to his sigh of relief.
She asks if they can play.
And he wondered yesterday if that answer would be yes today.
Does he question tomorrow also?
Does her laughter bring guilt this day?
Those you taught, Jesus, are they haunted?
Their hearts burned within them when you spoke.
Their hearts trembled within them when you cried out,
“My God My God.”
What does the truth imparted say to them this morning?
Do they have a pit in their stomach, Jesus?
Those men and women and children that you fed.
Will they long for bread today?
Is Peter’s heart shattered?
Does Mary long to hear your voice again?
Do James and John miss their brothers?
We ask these questions, God, lest we forget our own frequent uncertainty.
We know now that we need only wait on you,
But let us remember this day for the days when we don’t know.
When waiting feels impossible or even cruel.
When we’re trying to figure out if we’ve indeed been forsaken.
On those days let us remember this day,
And understand that those too are redeemed.
Lord,
Give us humble hearts this morning.
Amen.
Easter Sunday
The celebration began like most do: with music! Take a moment to worship to these live recordings from the morning!
Baptisms
Baptisms are not merely a tradition of the church but a command of Jesus to strengthen the faith of believers by giving them a ritual by which they declare their official beginning as disciples. Witnessing these declarations reminds us all that our journey had a beginning and it takes us back to it. Like it says in Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Take a moment to watch this baptism video from Easter Sunday. Pray for these new believers by name: that even as they grow, they would remain right where they started.
Second Sunday of Easter
Easter continues as we see by this call to worship and the prayers for, and progress towards, our Spanish-speaking church plant.
The Sunday after
Happy Easter. He’s still risen!
You ever sleep somewhere you don’t normally sleep and when you wake up, you have this “re-aha” moment, a re-knowing of what you already knew. Maybe you moved houses, went to sleep, and then woke up and said, “O yeah, I live here now.”
That’s what we want our times of worship to be.
O yeah, He’s still risen!
O yeah, that thing I’ve been worried about all week is precisely nothing in light of this!
O yeah, there is a wonderful and beautiful and glorious and holy King that’s calling the shots and that’s a good thing!
It says in 2 Cor 6:1-2
As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain, for it says, “In the time of my favor, I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you”. I tell you, know is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation
Let’s worship like that, let’s come awake to that again as we worship.
Iglesia Esperanza Prayer
Join pastor Felipe as he prays and thanks God for our new Spanish-Speaking church plant
Holy Father, Creator of heaven and earth, we give You thanks because You hold the entire universe under Your control. We praise You for who You are, and for Your goodness and mercy toward us. Thank You for dying for our sins, for the grace that has made it possible for our sins to be forgiven, and for granting us the assurance of eternal life.
Thank You for allowing us to be part of Your redemptive work as we carry Your Gospel to those who do not yet know You. Grant us boldness to share the wonders You have performed within us—courage so that the very stones do not have to cry out while we proclaim that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose again according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by many.
Thank You for all the people You have allowed us to meet thus far, and with whom we have shared the Gospel. Thank You for the three Bible study groups that have been established to date; we give You thanks for every individual currently attending—for those who have already grasped Your grace and are saved, and for those who are attending but are still in the process of making a genuine decision to follow You.
Grant us fresh opportunities to present Your message; we pray that You would open new doors and prepare the hearts of the people with whom we come into contact, so that we may share Your Word with them in the right way.
Help us to bring Your Hope to those who do not know how to resolve the problems they face in life—to those suffering from depression, consumed by worries, or struggling with addictions. Bring Hope to those who do not know how to live or have lost the will to live; bring Hope to the discouraged, the sick, and those facing relational difficulties within their families.
Thank You for all the people You have used to ensure that this work bears fruit. Thank You for all those who have prayed for Esperanza Church; thank You for those who have given generously toward this new Spanish-speaking congregation; and thank You for everyone who has offered their support in various ways. Thank you for the partnership that Hope Church and Piedras Vivas have formed to share Your Word with the Hispanic community. Thank you for the vision and leadership of Hope Church in supporting the planting of this new congregation.
May Your name be glorified in Albuquerque through those new believers who now praise Your name—those to whom You have granted new and eternal life. Use us to help them mature; bring them to maturity in Your likeness and enable them to multiply. May all of Albuquerque be filled with the Word of the Lord.
