Songs for Sunday, November 26 @ Christ Community Church

Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’m excited!

I have been thinking a lot about the Church over the past few weeks, and since this past week has been Thanksgiving, I have been thanking God for the Church.

I genuinely am thankful for the Church. I am genuinely thankful for the local church, Christ Community in Grenada, MS, God has called me and my family to join. I am not talking about a building or traditions or religious rites. I’m not even talking about worship services. No, the Church is more than all of that. You can have all of those things without Christ, but there is no Church apart from Him.

Without Christ, there is no body. The parts, the people, that make up the Church would still be dead in their trespasses and sins without Christ (Ephesians 2:1-2), but “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). The “together” there in those verses is not talking about the Church but the way that God in Christ saves people, giving them new life – the life that Jesus has to give us because of His resurrection. The unity of the Church, the togetherness if you will, comes from all believers of all of time being knit together into a body, a “spiritual house” made of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) – that is the Church. And Jesus loves the Church in such a way that He calls her His Bride (Ephesians 5:32, Revelation 21:9).

A bride is someone special, someone to be treasured. I have a picture of my wife on our wedding day on my phone and in our home. I even have one at work. I officiated a wedding ceremony this past weekend, and as the groom and I were standing in place waiting for the time when we would walk up to his place, I told him to look for the moment when his bride came out of the doors – I told him that would and should be a moment engrained in his memory for the rest of his life. I still remember the moment that the back doors of Duck Hill Baptist opened and showed me Candice adorned in her wedding dress. Now, I have a pretty vivid memory of most things, but this is different. I can smell the flowers. I can remember the feeling of my breath catching in my chest, the heavy thumping of my heart. I can hear the sound of the creaking wood of the pews as people rose. But most of all, I remember our eyes meeting across the room and being afraid to blink because I was afraid I would miss something. I am thankful for that memory – more so, I am thankful for my bride.

If that is such a powerful memory for a foolish and fallible husband, how much more powerfully does Christ feel about His Bride, the Church? How should we feel about her?

First, if we are Christ-followers, we should be thankful for the Church, too — thankful that God has made us a part of His Bride (Romans 12:3-5). Jesus saving us is no little thing. This is why religion fails to capture what it is to know Christ.

Second, if we are Christ-followers, we should be a member of a local church. This is the embassy from which we serve the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:20). When the Bible uses the term “member” like in Romans 12:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12, it is not talking about members of an organization like the Burger King Kids Club or Kiwanis or something. This ain’t that. This is member like a part of a body. It is an attachment religion or organization cannot imitate. You’ve heard folks talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus? Well, the local church is where those hands and feet are connected to the head, Jesus (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Lastly, if we are Christ-followers, we should love the Church (and our local church). Yes, there are problems that stem from sinful people. But Jesus saved all the members of His Bride. He loved us and died for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). What if we lived among our brothers and sisters in Christ – our fellow members of the body of Christ – with the love He shows to us? What about with the forgiveness and forebearance? Religion is not about that. Religion is about rules and regulations. Jesus is about grace.

Tomorrow is the Lord’s day, and as I said above, I’m excited. I’m excited to worship our resurrected King, Jesus Christ. I’m excited to gather with my brothers and sisters around the world as the Church gathers, but I’m also excited to gather with my brothers and sisters in the local church. I’m excited to sit under the preaching of our pastor, John Goldwater. I’m excited to hear the voices of my brothers and sisters in the praise team and congregation teaching and admonishing me with psalms hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19).

Won’t you join us?

Here are our Scriptures & songs:

  • Scripture | Isaiah 53:1-6 —

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;    and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

  • Song | There Was Jesus —
    Scripture Inspiration: Colossians 1:15-21, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 51:7-8, Hebrews 13:8, John 14:6, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-5, Hebrews 11:9-14, Colossians 3:16, Psalm 23, Isaiah 43:2, Revelation 1:8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9w8yfOkUMM
  • Scripture | Isaiah 53:7-12 —

7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8  By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9  And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10  Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12  Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

"Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 3:7–13We’re back!After a few months off, The King is Coming returns in 2026 with one of the most encouraging letters in Revelation — Jesus’s message to the faithful church in Philadelphia. In a world filled with opposition and weakness, Jesus opens a door no one can shut.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison explore:✔️ Jesus’s identity as the Holy One, the True One — God Himself✔️ What the “key of David” means and how Jesus alone opens and shuts✔️ The debated phrase “I will keep you from the hour of trial” — and how to read it biblically✔️ Why “little power” doesn’t disqualify faithfulness✔️ How being kept through the trial glorifies Christ’s strength in us✔️ What it means to be a pillar in God’s presence foreverThis church had no rebuke — only encouragement. And Jesus’s call still stands today: “Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11, ESV)🔗 Missed earlier episodes in the series? You can click here to catch up and listen from the beginning.✍️ If you’d like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.
  1. "Kept Through the Trial: Jesus's Letter to the Church at Philadelphia" (The KING is Coming)
  2. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love" (Advent 2025)
  3. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Peace (Advent 2025)
  4. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of PEACE (Advent 2025)
  5. Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of HOPE (Advent 2025)
Unknown's avatar

Published by justkeithharris

Leave a Comment