Closing Worship
Opening Illustration: Worship as breathing
A strong exhale is needed for a deeper inhale
If we want to make space for a deeper inhale of the Breath of Life, we need to start with a deep exhale
Exhale for three reasons
Get out what is bad for us (Confession)
Make more room for what is good (Praise & Thanksgiving)
Give to others what they need (Testimonies)
EXHALING
Psalm 150: Responsive Reading
Leader: Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary,
All: Praise Him in his mighty heavens.
Leader: Praise Him for his acts of power,
All: Praise Him for his surpassing greatness.
Leader: Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet,
All: Praise Him with the harp and the lyre.
Leader: Praise Him with timbrel and dancing,
All: Praise Him with the strings and pipe.
Leader: Praise Him with the clash of cymbals,
All: Praise Him with Resounding cymbals.
Leader: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
All: Praise the Lord.
Testimonies
What has God carried you through since the last retreat?
How did you experience His invitation to come away with Him on this retreat?
How have you experienced Him here?
How have you experienced community here?
Confession
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out in me anything that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” - Psalm 139:23-24
INHALING
Scripture: John 20:19-23
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
Special Music: “Breath of Heaven”
Message: “Receive the Breath of Heaven”
The Holy Spirit is the Breath of Heaven
“I am a hole in the flute that the Christ’s breath moves through—listen to this music.” —Hafiz (Sufi mystic)
John, the disciple Jesus loved (or probably the disciple who knew he was loved), was reclining on Jesus’s chest at the Last Supper
Jesus’s heart beating in his ear, Jesus’s breath breathed on his head
Only disciple to remain with Jesus at the cross, offering him the ministry of presence at great personal risk
Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the disciples (John 20)
Turns their dry bones into a vast army, who go on to boldly proclaim the Gospel to the world
Example of Peter: Goes from fear (denying Jesus in Luke 22:54-62) to courage (Acts 4)
Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on us as His disciples
He no longer dwells in a temple, but inside of His followers
He is closer to us than the mouth of God which breathed in Adam
He is closer to us than to John reclining on Jesus’s chest at the Last Supper
He is IN us
“Just as the Father sent me, I am sending you.”
We are God’s vast army
We carry Jesus into the world in order to advance the Kingdom of God (Flourishing community of Eden)
Go first to our neighbor, the people nearest to us
Do for them what God prompts us to do in love
If we all simply did that, imagine what our world would be.
And we don’t go alone - Jesus goes with us
Alpha & Omega, Beginning & End, First & Last
Present at our first breath, present at our last, & present at every breath in between