WONDER AND GIFT
COME THOU LONG-EXPECTED JESUS
ADVENT HYMN/COME BEHOLD THE WONDROUS MYSTERY
Readings: Ruth 4:13-17, Matthew 1:1-6a
Sermon: Ruth 1-4
God is not, and cannot be cruel. God is and does good. And my hope and prayer for you and me is that regardless of the past, regardless of the present, regardless of the future - we will be able to say with the Psalmist:
Psalm 40:16-17
But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
LIGHT OF THE WORLD (SING HALLELUJAH)
Benediction
Corporate Gathering
Children In The Gathering
On the fifth Sunday of every month, first through fifth graders join the adults of our church in the auditorium for gathered worship. This has been a learning process for our staff team, and for me. I believe that the primary purpose of the corporate gathering is the spiritual formation of God’s people, and this includes not just adults, but children as well. This is not a time simply to give our children’s ministry volunteers a break, but a chance for discipleship to go both ways, for our children to disciple the adults of our church, and for the adults of our church to disciple the children.
The presence of children in our gathering should remind adults of the way that we are to approach our Heavenly Father. With the faith of a child, full of wonder, joy, curiosity, and without reserve. Children should remind adults that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children should remind adults that we are a part of the family of God, that we care for, serve, love, and are inconvenienced for one another - that we gather not to consume but to serve.
When children are in the gathering adults have the opportunity to model what it looks like to engage in the body of Christ. To sing, respond, listen, and wrestle with God’s Word preached. To give ourselves away in service, and to give our finances through tithes and offerings. To be reminded of the broken body, and shed blood that makes us a family. To confess our sin and receive God’s forgiveness once more.
One of the things we speak about regularly as a staff team is not wanting a Family Worship Weekend to feel like a Vacation Bible School Sunday, where the entirety of our gathering is oriented around our children. But at the same time, we do not want to have a Sunday that is ‘business as usual’ without acknowledging there are younger people in the gathering.
Here are a few ways that I am working to grow my awareness of the presence of children in our gathering on these weekends:
Through song choice. I know that there are a handful of songs we sing in the auditorium that our children sing regularly. When I am able, I like to lead those songs which overlap so that kids can see that grownups gather and sing just like they do.
Teach them a new song the week before. This past year, I have been going over to our children’s ministry the week before and teaching the kids a song that we will be singing the following week. I talk to them about what it means, and why we sing and play through the song with them so that they have something else that is familiar when they come to Family Worship Weekend.
Use accessible language. I want to be clear in what I say always, but when kids are in the room, it forces me to consider how I would articulate truths to my own children in a way that helps them to understand. Using accessible language helps cut through some of the jargon that many in our gathering may not understand.
Repetition. I want our children to be able to engage and respond with us, not just be passive observers. So I try and consider songs that are highly repetitive so that even if a child can’t read (or read quickly) they can still sing along. We have done this when reading confessions as well. Having a statement the leader reads, the corporate response being ‘Forgive us, Lord.’ Enables us to teach our children, rather than having - or adults for that matter - spend the mental energy to read aloud a changing line of response.
Scripture tells us that children are a blessing from the Lord. Certainly, this is true for the parents of the children, but it is also true for Spiritual parents and the community of faith. Children are a blessing to us, let’s welcome, engage, and serve them as we gather and as we are sent.
10 April: Liturgy + Set List
GOD SO LOVED
Call To Worship: Zechariah 9:9
Welcome to the 6th and final Sunday in the season of Lent, Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is a day full of contradictions: It is a celebration of Christ’s arrival, while sorrow knowing that He is on His way to the cross, shouts of celebration at Christ’s arrival which days later become shouts of ‘Crucify Him!’ It is the God of the universe riding humbly on a donkey, it is the God of the universe taking the punishment for the sin that we deserve so that we can have the life Christ deserved. Every person in this room is a person of contradictions. And as we continue in worship we to be honest with God, ourselves, and one another. Would you take a moment to read the prayer on the screen before we confess this prayer together? Let’s confess our sins to God and one another:
Corporate Confession:
Jesus, our Lord, we shout hosannas to praise You.
With eager hands, we place our cloaks and palms on the path before You.
Yet, Lord, we confess that the mouths that seek to praise You often deny or defy You.
And we confess that the hands that seek to serve you often become fists. Lord, hear us as we confess.
Assurance of Pardon - Hear the Good News:
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
For Christ came into the world not to condemn the world,
But that the world through Him should be saved.
Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us,
A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Hosanna! Amen!
From the Worship Sourcebook based on Matthew 21:8-9, John 3:17, Ephesians 5:1-2
GRACE ALONE
THIS IS AMAZING GRACE
Sermon: Joshua 23-24
Choose this day whom you will serve is not a choice for one moment of one day, it is a choice made every moment of every day. But Scripture tells us that no one chooses God. Our choosing this day whom we will serve this day whom you will serve is only a response to how God in Christ has first served us. Let’s respond to our God together:
GOD WITH US
RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)
Benediction
Plural Pronouns
We live in a pronoun-obsessed culture.
But rarely do we make conscious decisions about pronouns in our corporate gathering when it comes to songs, readings, and prayers.
In the West, we have often emphasized having a personal relationship with Jesus, at the expense of understanding that we are not just saved to be an individual, but saved to be a people, a part of the family, the body of Christ, His Church. As a result, we see lots of language in our corporate worship songs that emphasize the individual: I, me, my, mine.
But when we gather as the people of God we are once again reminded of the corporate nature of our identity as followers of Jesus. We are the Body of Christ.
When we intentionally choose songs, prayers, and readings that use plural pronouns we are simultaneously reinforcing our truer identity as a people. And countering the dominant narrative and understanding that our Christian faith is merely an individual pursuit.
We need individual pronouns as well. We want to make space for individual praise, confession, repentance, and response. But we need plural pronouns to rightly form what the culture has deformed in the life of every follower of Jesus.
Words matter. So let us think intentionally about how language shapes our understanding of who we are and who we are becoming.
January 23: Liturgy + Set List
HOLY HOLY HOLY
Call to Worship: Psalm 8
We have just sung about the holiness of God. How He is other than us, He is great, glorious, and set apart. And we have just read about how this same God is mindful of humanity - made from the dust humanity. When we face up to the glory of God, we will always find ourselves facedown as we see our own sin. Let’s remember who God is and who we are as we confess our sins to God and one another as we read this together:
Corporate Confession:
Merciful God, We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, By what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In Your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, And direct what we shall be, So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. (from the Book of Common Prayer)
Brothers and sisters, hear the good news from Psalm 103:
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.Psalm 103:10-14
WHO YOU SAY I AM
Sermon: Joshua 2
I SHALL NOT WANT
Communion
STAND IN YOUR LOVE
Benediction
Responding To Current Events
We know that part of living in a fallen world is experiencing pain and suffering. We feel the weight, and taste the bitterness of sin every day. But what about the days when we are deeply aware of the brokenness of the world, and we are more conscious of our own fragility? Natural disasters, national tragedies, global crises, and local upheaval - every one of those are the results of the fall. Even in the past several years, we have seen outcries against police brutality, racism, sexism, sexual abuse, political unrest, and COVID-19. What role does the corporate worship gathering play in speaking to, and addressing current events in the world?
If we acknowledge that the corporate worship gathering is formative, we must see the chance to engage with current events as an opportunity to form, and counter-form our people to look at the world biblically. The rate at which we consume information about current events from social media, the news, our relationships, and are filtered through our own experience can feel dizzying. And if sin has distorted, warped and broken everyone and everything - that would also include our minds - which may lead us to feel anxiety and fear, anger and rage, apathy and indifference, or chaos and disconnection. Like a loving parent, like a Good Shepherd with a non-anxious presence, I believe that the corporate gathering should be a place where we acknowledge the reality of the world, while inviting people to lift their eyes to the Maker of heaven and earth who does not slumber or sleep. And in this way, point to the peace that passes all understanding, the Prince of Peace - Jesus Christ.
When it comes to responding to current events in the corporate gathering, the first step is to respond. Because when we do not respond to the obvious pain, brokenness, and suffering in our world, our nation, our states, our cities, or in our congregation we are subtly communicating that the corporate worship gathering is disconnected from the rest of life. We are saying that what we do in this room, has no bearing on who we are meant to be when we are sent out.
Give people language. When I think about having ‘the talk’ with my children, I do not want them to learn about sex from the internet, their friends, or their school. I want my wife and me to give them language, shape their framework, and form their understanding. I believe the same is true with current events in the gathering: we want to shape our people more than they are being shaped by the world. By giving them an understanding which helps them make sense of a senseless world, through the Gospel, and through Scripture.
Prepare in advance. This could mean conversations ahead of time about how you will respond in the service - what are the tipping points for you body? At what point do you acknowledge, at what point do you change songs, at what point does the entire service look different than you had planned? But being prepared also means forming people before tragedy. It means connecting the corporate gathering to everyday life, so that when it is time to engage a specific tragedy in the gathering, there is a language for pain, familiarity with lament, prayer, trusting in the sovereignty of God, and seeing the world biblically.
Give space. Maybe there needs to be a time of quiet personal prayer, or guided reflection in the service. Perhaps you should make volunteers available to pray and process with people after the gathering. What kind of communication, training, and equipping do you need to provide for community group leaders to lovingly shepherd and care for those they serve? There can be many questions that accompany grief and loss, and processing those realities does not have a neat timeline, or endpoint. We have a responsibility to loving lead, not hurry people through pain, and tragedy.
Ultimately, we cannot prepare for everything. We are as sinful and broken as the world, and we will pass over opportunities to speak to current events that may hurt and wound some of our people. And we may choose to engage some current events that anger and frustrate others. But in all things, let us be aware of the formative power of the corporate gathering, and the formative power of engaging with - or not - current events of the world.
October 10: Set List + Liturgy
THIS IS AMAZING GRACE
Call To Worship: To all who are weary and need rest
To all who mourn and long for comfort
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares
To all who fail and desire strength
To all who sin and need a Savior
This church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus Christ, the Ally of
His enemies, the Defender of the guilty, the Justifier of the inexcusable, the
Friend of sinners, welcome.
[10th Presbyterian Call to Worship]
My theology tells me that you are not here by mistake, my accident, or by fate. You are here because God has purposed it to be so. The One who spoke the universe into existence is speaking now through His Word, through His Spirit among His people. And we gather to listen to His voice, and to respond. Let’s listen and respond together:
HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US
Scripture tells us that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. But confession and repentance are not always things we do well as followers of Jesus. But if you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, the starting point for confession and repentance for you is not guilt, or shame, or condemnation. The starting point is the deep love of God. Let’s since this next song as a prayer of confession, a prayer of repentance, a prayer of dependence, while remembering that the starting point is always the deep love of God.
LORD, I NEED YOU
Sermon: Ephesians 4:11-16
Martin Luther said God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does. I think the same is true with our spiritual gifts. God does not need us to accomplish what He purposes in His Church and in His world. But He gifts us to participate with Him in the work of co-laboring to build up and mature His Body. We look to Christ the One who condescended, took on flesh to ransom us. We serve in response to the way God in Christ has first served us.
COME BEHOLD THE WONDROUS MYSTERY
BE THOU MY VISION
Benediction: Ephesians 3:20-21
October 3: Liturgy + Set List
BEFORE THE THRONE
Call to worship:
To all who are weary and need rest
To all who mourn and long for comfort
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares
To all who fail and desire strength
To all who sin and need a Savior
This church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus Christ, the Ally of
His enemies, the Defender of the guilty, the Justifier of the inexcusable, the
Friend of sinners, welcome.
GRACE ALONE
I LOVE YOU LORD
Sermon: Romans 12:3-8
We love because God has first loved us. We serve because God has first served us in and through Christ. We belong to the family of God because we have been adopted by God. We belong to the Body of Christ where Christ Himself is the Head. The entirety of our lives is lived in response to God. Let’s respond together:
MY JESUS I LOVE THEE
BAPTISMS
COMMUNION
HIS MERCY IS MORE
BENEDICTION: Ephesians 3:20-21
Prayer In The Corporate Gathering
Prayer is important for the individual believer as well as in the corporate gathering of a body of believers. But I have often experienced prayer during the church gatherings in two extremes: beautifully poetic, staggeringly long pastoral prayers, and casual transitions. There may be a time and place for each of these kinds of prayers, but if we are serious about discipling our people, we need to consider how to lead and incorporate prayer more intentionally than:
Dead space? Prayer!
Transitioning between elements in the gathering? Prayer!
Changing a CAPO? Prayer!
Not sure what to do or say next? Prayer!
While there are many types of prayer, when thinking about the corporate gathering, I consider two primary categories for prayer: individual and corporate. How are we making space for both individual prayer - encouraging people to speak and listen to God personally, and directly as one member of the Body? And how are we using prayers to unite our hearts, profess our faith, and confess our sin together as the Body (corporate prayer)?
Here are some types of individual and corporate prayer that I believe every local expression of the Body of Christ would be well-served to incorporate more frequently:
Prayer of Illumination. A prayer said before the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Inviting the Holy Spirit to do what only the Holy Spirit can do, reveal Jesus to us by giving us eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to understand, hearts to love, and lives to obey.
Prayer of Confession. While taking Communion we may encourage people to examine their hearts and confess their sin (as instructed in 1 Corinthians 11), but are we leading and encouraging people to acknowledge their sin, confess their sin, repent of their sin, and turn from their sin as a regular part of our gathering? I am often personally convicted of how I assume God’s grace and forgiveness, and do not feel actually learn to regularly confess of my sin to the One who stands ready and willing to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Prayer of Lament. We know that the world is not as it should be, but we can be tempted to rush past reality of living in a broken world by saying, ‘But God is making all things new, it will be okay in the end, I should just trust Him…’ All of those things are true, but we can help our people learn to hold the tension of the already and not yet of this life of faith by acknowledging the world’s brokenness while at the same time resting and trusting in God’s good plan.
Praying Scripture. As our church has been in a sermon series on the Psalms of Ascent, each week I have read a handful of verses from a particular Psalm and prayed in response to what I have read. Taking God’s Word and praying it back to him in my own words - my hope is that this makes the connection for people that they too can read God’s Word and pray God’s Word.
Prayers of the Church. Using the Book of Common Prayer, the Valley of Vision, or resources like the Worship Sourcebook can be helpful resources to unite our voices in the room, to the voices of the Church throughout history as we pray corporately, and/or responsively to Truth handed down through the saints of old.
Written Prayers. It can be easy to slip into rhythms and patterns of prayer that say similar things again and again when you are praying extemporaneously. Maybe you could write a prayer specifically for the people you serve to pray with you, aloud, or simply by leaning in to actively participate in prayer as you read or pray.
What kinds of prayers have served your people well in the corporate gathering and beyond?