Worship
The highlight of our week is our gathering to worship God on Sundays. This is a time for the whole body to gather together to sing, pray, take the Lord’s Supper, give, and hear the Word. Most of all, it is a time to be transformed by God and made into His image.
At Southside, we believe that God comes to our worship as we come. When this takes place, God changes us to be molded into the image of Jesus. For this reason, we have a committee that works to plan the worship gatherings so they can be unified and cohesive. Below is a schedule for the upcoming themes of our worship services.
Outlines of sermons are available at the bottom of this page. Click the link in the attachments section to download the outline.
Sunday Morning Sermons
Sermon Topics for February 2012
Feb. 5 – God’s Word Goes Forth! (Isa. 55:10-13)[1]
Synopsis: Like the cycle of nature where rain comes forth and accomplishes its intention of watering the earth, so the word of God comes. It, too, accomplishes its intentions as well. When God speaks, it is not simply for information; instead it is to cause an effect on the hearers – it is to bring transformation. God’s word is a “speech-act” – His words become an action that requires a response from those who hear them. Depending on our response, His words bring fruit or they bring judgment. They either transform us or they condemn us. They are either an aroma of life or an aroma of death.
Themes: God’s Word, Response, Decision
Feb. 12 – Reaction #1: Ignore (Ex. 9:13-21)
Synopsis: The first potential reaction that we can have is simply to ignore the word of God. This is what Pharaoh and some of his servants did. They paid no regard to the word that was spoken by Moses about a plague of hail coming. Because of this, their livestock and plants were destroyed. Likewise, there are occasions where we pay no regard to God’s word to us. We leave the Bible on the shelf not allowing ourselves to hear His word. We ignore spiritual warnings that someone may be telling us. We pay no attention to the potential blessings that could come if we listen to God’s voice.
Themes: Listening, God’s Word, Ignorance
Feb. 19 – Reaction #2: Reject (1 Sam. 15:20-26)
Synopsis: Another potential reaction is that we simply reject God’s word. We hear it, notice it, and maybe even obey part of it. This is what Saul did in 1 Sam. 15. He obeys part of the command of God given through Samuel to destroy the Amalekites. But he does not follow God’s word completely. Instead he rejects it and chooses self-wisdom over God’s wisdom. He rebels against God’s directive and trusts his own judgment which ends up causing him to lose the kingdom. Rejecting God’s word occurs when self is given a greater authority in our life than God is.
Themes: Rejection, Selfishness, God’s Word
Feb. 26 – Reaction #3: View as a Reproach (Jer. 6:10-15)
Synopsis: A third reaction is simply to view God’s word with reproach: to be ashamed of it, to be embarrassed by it, or view it critically. The people of Israel are doing this. They are ignoring the emphasis in God’s Word in taking care of others, protecting the vulnerable, and helping the needy. To them, that word seems out-of-date, backward, and impractical. Today, in our modern 21st century age, are their occasions where certain truths/doctrines of Scripture are viewed critically? Do we gravitate away from certain Scriptures because they seem unpopular in today’s time?
Themes: Not Ashamed, Bold, Confession, God’s Word
Sunday Evenings
Feb. 5 – Word and World: Living as Single
Feb. 12 - Youth
Feb. 19 – Family Fellowship Time
Feb. 26 – Freddie Anderson (Local Missions)
[1] This is the beginning of a two month series where we look at seven different kind of responses that we can give to the words of God into our life. The series is entitled Reactions.
