We’re so happy we can meet together again. We’ve missed you! As an act of Christian love, and in order to maintain a safe worship environment, please note the following:
• If you have cold or flu symptoms or a weakened immune system, please do not put yourself (or others) at risk. We offer live online worship on our church website so you can worship safely in your home.
• Please wear a mask while not seated.
• For your safety, our volunteers are wearing gloves and masks as they hand out bulletins and Communion. We will not be serving coffee or other treats.
• Please refrain from gathering in groups (outside of your families), and practice appropriate social distancing (no shaking hands, hugging, etc.). Please seat yourselves with 6 feet between your household and others.
• At the close of our worship gathering, please exit promptly, as the Buffalo Chip must close our entry gates as soon as possible.
If for health or other reasons, you are not able to worship with us at the Chip, we invite you to join us for our live worship broadcast each Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Simply press the green tab above called "Worship Service".
Please pray with us that the virus will be contained soon, that God would grant healing to those near and far away who are affected by it, and that God would give wisdom to medical and government personnel who are on the front lines of dealing with the crisis.
Welcome to Online Worship at Church at the Chip
If it’s your first visit, a special “Howdy” to you! You are among friends: relax and enjoy our casual cowboy setting. Grab a Bible, light a candle, and prepare your personal Lord’s Supper elements. We trust today’s service will encourage you in your relationship with God.
Our service is broadcast live on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and on this page, Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM Arizona time. To access any past services, click the Messages button in the menu at the top of this page. Below are buttons where you can 1) communicate with us, 2) give an offering, and view the live worship service on 3) YouTube 4) Facebook or 5) Vimeo.
God bless you,
The Church at the Chip family
ecclesia song
We are called to faith, gathered in love
Sent with hope to change the world
We are called to faith, gathered in love
ecclesia, ecclesia, Church at the Chip
Called to Faith, Gathered in Love,
Sent with Hope – ecclesia!
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolation on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed his precious blood
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above
Ain't No Grave
O my Lord, it's a winding road
It's all bent from a heavy load
Feel the weight beneath the ground
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
O my Lord, I can barely sing
Waiting for you and your reckoning
Angels humming, can you hear the sound
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
I will rise, I will rise, I will rise, I will rise
Troubles come for everyone
Death has no respect for love
Roll that stone I won't be found
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Lord, I'm crooked from head to toe
Got dirty hands and a dirty soul
I was lost but now I'm found
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Chorus
Woah, Woah, Woah
Feel the weight beneath the ground
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Chorus
Woah, Woah, Woah
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down
Hard Times
Is that rain falling from the sky keeping you from singin'
Is that tear falling from your eye 'cause the wind is stingin'
Don't you fret now, child, don't you worry
The rain's to help you grow
So don't try to hurry the storm along
The hard times make you strong
Don't you know a seed could never grow if there were never showers
Though the rain might bring a little pain
Just look at all the flowers
Chorus
I know how long a day can seem
When storm clouds hide his face
And if the rain dissolves your dream
Just remember his amazing grace!
Don't you know, the sun is always there, even when the rains fall
Don't you know, the Son will always care, when he hears your voice call
Chorus (2x)
Parables of the Kingdom: The Sower and the Seed
Steve Gilbertson
Matthew 13:1-23
We live in a world of competing kingdoms. So, too, did Jesus' contemporaries. Into
their conflicted context, as well as our own, Matthew presents Jesus as "The World's
True King," the one whose kingdom subverts and outlasts every human kingdom. But as
we have seen through Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7), and
through his powerful and controversial actions (chs. 8-12), the kingdom Jesus brings
is unlike any human kingdom. What are we to make of his message, and how are we to
respond to it? Jesus' famous parables of the kingdom, which we exlore today, help to
clarify -- and confuse! -- the issues for us.
Matthew 13:1-23
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds
gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood
on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to
sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured
them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and
immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they
were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among
thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and
produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him
hear."
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 And
he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will
have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they
do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled
that says:
"'"You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive."
15 For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.'
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to
you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and
to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 "Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and
does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one
who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but
endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word,
immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the
word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves
unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and
understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty,
and in another thirty."
“ecclesia song”
Words and Music by Steve Gilbertson
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
Words and music by John Wyeth, Robert Robinson
Public Domain
“Ain't No Grave”
Words and Music by David Crowder, Hank Bentley, Seth Philpott
© sixsteps Music
Used by Permission. CCLI License #11389917
“Hard Times”
Words and Music by Jamie Owens
© 1981 Bud John Songs, Inc.
Used by Permission. CCLI License #11389917