Gathering

Call to Worship

God, Himself, calls His people to the unique activity of public worship. He invites us to participate in the gift exchange of worship itself: hearing God’s voice through His Word, offering our combined prayers and praise, and receiving spiritual nourishment. We respond to this invitation, knowing that worship is an encounter between God and His gathered congregation.

Greeting & Words of Welcome

God always comes to us before we come to God, so it is fitting for us to begin with words that convey God’s greeting to us.

Prayers of Adoration / Prayer of Invocation / Praise

We respond to God’s invitation and greeting by offering our words of adoration and praise {spoken or sung} OR {if we start with prayer of invocation} by offering our words of humble petition that God would work powerfully through the Spirit during our service of worship

Renewal

Call to Confession

In our covenantal relationship with Christ, honesty about our sin is welcome and safe, and God graciously invites us to courageously offer our confession as part of our loving, open relationship with Him.

Prayer of Confession and / or Lament

The prayer of confession invites us to speak words that are remarkably honest about our own sin, words that don’t come naturally in our relationships with God or with our fellow human beings. A generous prayer of confession acknowledges that we are sinful people and we live in need of a Savior. Our confession also acknowledges that sin infects societies, institutions, and all of creation. Along with the confession of personal sins, we confess our participation in the structures and institutions in which evil persists.

Assurance of Pardon

The good news of the gospel is that in Christ we are forgiven! The announcement of this truth is one of the most beautiful moments in worship, for these scriptural words reinforce the truth that our assurance is based on God’s words of promise, not merely on our own hopes and desires. Just as confession acknowledges both personal and corporate sin, so also assurance of pardon declares the sure promise that God’s grace in Christ redeems not only individuals, but also the whole creation.

Thanksgiving

We respond to the good news of forgiveness with joyful acclamations of praise! {spoken or sung}

Proclaiming the Word

The movement from confession to forgiveness to thanksgiving invites the natural response of the grateful worshiper to live in a way pleasing to God, according to the commandments and ordinances God has given in Scripture. This portion of the service could be called the ‘guide for grateful living’

Prayer for Illumination

The prayer for illumination explicitly acknowledges the Spirit’s work in using Scripture to comfort, challenge, correct, inspire, and deepen the faith and life of God’s people.

Scripture Reading

Sermon

{the sermon from the first service will be recorded and shown during this time; we’ll also have ‘live’ speakers from time to time}

Responding to the Word

Prayers of the People

One of the ways we respond tin obedience to God’s sovereignty in our lives is through intercessory prayer. In the service of worship, these prayers are spoken on behalf of the entire congregation as we generously seek to intercede not just for our own congregation and for the people we know, but also for those in authority, those suffering oppression, poverty, sickness, etc.

Offering

Another vital part of our response to God and His Word is the offering, as it helps us connect our adoration for God with our life of discipleship. The gifts we give are a sign of a larger commitment to serve God in the world., tokens and symbols of our desire to freely devote our whole selves to God’s service in response to His loving faithfulness to us. Everything we have is a gift from God, and our offerings are a way of acknowledging God as the giver.

The Lord’s Supper

{we’ll celebrate this approximately every other week}

The Lord’s Supper is the family meal of Christians; a celebration that conveys several layers of meaning:

~ It’s a celebration of memory and hope as we thankfully remember the entire life and ministry of Christ. Significantly, we remember not only the actual events of His life, but especially how those events give us an identity and how they transform us and all creation.

~ It’s also a celebration and proclamation of Jesus’ real, spiritual presence with us, of the forgiveness offered to us through Christ’s work on the cross, and of the ongoing spiritual renewal He provides.

~ It’s a celebration of the unity of Christ’s body, the church, as well as a meal of hope, of anticipating the heavenly feast of Christ’s coming kingdom.

Invitation to the Lord’s Table

Profession of the Church’s Faith: The Apostle’s Creed

We corporately recite this statement of faith as an expression of the unity in the church across time and space, a witness to our individual participation in something greater than ourselves, and as an expression of the common faith of the church whose unity we affirm at communion

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We offer our prayer of thanksgiving & remembrance of God our Father who sent Jesus Christ, and we pray for the present work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the purposes of the Lord’s Supper to renew, encourage, and strengthen the church.

Breaking & Distribution of the Elements

Response of Thanksgiving

The natural response to celebrating the Lord’s Supper includes both joyful praise and prayers of thanksgiving and dedication

Sending

Call to Service or Discipleship

Worship doesn’t end when we leave a worship service. The call to discipleship reminds us that our worship continues through obedient and grateful living.

Blessing / Benediction

We end our service of worship with a blessing; Scripture gives us not only the call to obedience but also the promise of God’s presence to sustain us. Just as we began the service with God’s gracious invitation, so we end with God’s promise to always be with us; it sends worshippers on their way with a parting word of God’s grace and blessing.