Call to Worship

For unto us a child is born

Unto us a son is given

And the government shall be on his shoulders

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

Jesus has come

And we are watching, waiting, and preparing

Jesus is here

And we are watching, waiting, and preparing

Jesus will come again

And we are watching, waiting, and preparing

Lord Jeus, as we prepare our hearts to worship You, we pause to remember Your coming—then, now, and yet to come. You are the Light that breaks through our darkness, the Hope that sustains us, and the Peace we long for. Draw near to us as we lift our voices in praise and adoration. May our worship glorify You and prepare a way for Your presence in our lives and in this place.

    This was the call to worship that Elijah wrote that we implemented into our service. This was basically the beginning of the service. Before this, we briefly welcomed people as well as gave them expectations for different practices we were going to do during the service as well as communicating the story of the Gospel as our overarching theme. But, this was the first theological element of our service.

    In our call to worship, we begin with references to Isaiah 9:6, which is often used during advent season. This was done to incorporate not only Scripture, but to honor the season we are in as part of the Church Calendar. We have learned that it is significant to follow this calendar, because when we live by the calendar of another person, we begin to structure our lives just like them. So, we wanted to join in with the generations of Chrisitans before, as well as the global church now that is also in this season. A way to live unified as the Body of Christ. The universal cry and posture of the church during advent is one of longing, hope, and joy. This side of Jesus’ life, we not only get to remember his first coming, but look forward to his second. So, we wanted to communicate that beautiful tension we get to hold during this season of advent in a congregational way. 

    The call to worship ends with a prayer over the congregation for the service. But, more than that, it gives us reminders on who Jesus is and what he has done for us. That it is because of his coming that we can draw close to him now in worship. This is a way we are forming people’s theology through the prepared prayers we pray. We took the intentional time in preparation to form the words that we want to shape people’s hearts and minds, not only for this service but for their lives after this.

 

Worship in Song

King of Kings

Lead Me to the Cross

     In our choice of songs, we wanted to reflect the story of Jesus, while also setting the stage for where we are going. We wanted to pick songs that would be corporate as well as individual, since that is something we want to focus on in this service. That is what led us to these two songs for our first time of worship through music.

With “King of Kings,” this focuses our minds on the story of Jesus. From his birth to the hope of a new creation, this causes us to look right at God, in the fullness of who he is. Emphasizing the Trinitarian nature of God, this song is a great way to continue what the call to worship started. It also is a well known song, making it fitting in our context, in a room with no sound or visual technology. Then, we go to, “Lead Me to the Cross,” we begin to focus our attention to God’s story for us personally. That he came and died for us, so we have to respond. This song leads us beautifully into our next aspect of worship, worship through confession and communion. 

Confession

    Most 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; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. (From the Book of Common Prayer)

    We realized as a group that we do not confess often in corporate gatherings of worship. So, we wanted to make space for this. Again, focusing on the corporate and individual aspects of what confession could look like, we decided to read a prayer of confession together, then spend time on our own in prayer. 

 

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 33

    With communion, there are a couple things we were wanting to accomplish and be intentional about in how we partake in it. We wanted to emphasize its centrality to the Gospel as it is the center of the service, we wanted to communicate the beauty of taking it as a Body, and how we can be met by Jesus in communion. 

    The first thing we agreed that we wanted to emphasize was taking communion as a Body. To reflect this, we decided we will be sitting in a circle, throughout the whole service, and that we would be using language like “we, our, us,” instead of the singular. We realized that communion is a thing that is meant to unite us not only to Christ but also to each other, as we read in 1 Corinthians. We also recognize the value of taking something communal during a season that feels isolating and stressful like finals week. We are not only taking a moment to commune with God, but also commune together, because that is God’s design.

    We wanted to emphasize also how Jesus came to us. That he is Emmanuel, God with us. So, instead of doing communion in a traditional way of passing it to each other, or even lining up to receive it from a station at the front, we wanted to bring the station to each person individually. As a way to say, Christ broke his body and spilled his blood for you. He brought himself to you. In a similar way, we want them to rip the bread as we come to them. To engage their sense of touch with the reality that it was your sin, my sin, Jesus died for. But, to reflect the beautiful dichotomy of the individual and corporate work of communion, we asked people to hold their bread dipped in the juice until everyone has grabbed it, so we can take it together. It may be uncomfortable, but part of what communion represents is uncomfortable, so we will encourage them to lean in. Look for Jesus in every aspect of this communion service. 

 

Worship in Song

Great is Thy Faithfulness

    There are a couple reasons we picked to sing this song after communion. First, we decided to sing this song because we thought it would be valuable to sing a hymn that has been sung in the church for years. Similar to why we choose to incorporate the church calendar, or why we practice ancient church customs, we were singing this hymn to broaden our perspective of not only our faith but who God is. That God has been, and is, bigger than this present day. He has been worshipped for generations, and we get to reap what Christians before us have sown. The second reason we chose to sing this song after communion is because of the text. We saw communion as a time to remember God’s faithfulness to us. That the cross, the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection, was the greatest act of faithfulness that God performed. He demonstrated just how faithful he is in this grand way, the salvation of the world, but he also demonstrates his faithfulness to us in the personal moments of our lives. So, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” just made sense and was able to offer rich theological implications in the service.

 

Passing of Peace
Call: Peace be with you

Response: And with your spirit also

    This element of the service was the most curious to me. Honestly, this was not my idea, nor do I think I would ever think of it on my own. It felt strangely structured and uncomfortable to say and repeat, and I just thought know one would participate. But, I was planning with really courageous and pure classmates who saw the beauty of this practice. And, what ended up happening felt not only holy, but natural.

    Sitting in the circle, we invited people to pray for the people next to them. This was not simply meant to be a time of fellowship but of encouragement and a chance to build each other up. We explained how this idea, and this call and response, is a long-standing church tradition that we wanted to participate in. What I found is that it caused me to acknowledge the people around me. And, not only acknowledge, but really care and love the people around me. I may not have known my neighbor well, but I knew that we worshiped the same God and we prayed to the same God and have been saved by the same God, so we can bear each other's burdens. We invited people to say the call and response to each other after they prayed for each other, and then we did it corporately, making space to acknowledge everyone around the circle. 

    I think this moment, this practice, offers formational theology, that worship is more than just a time of you and God being authentic inwardly. This made space to practically be the Body of Christ. To have all things in common as Acts 2 says. To say that we are more than just “brains on a stick,” who come to God. But, we are people with needs, feelings, hopes, and desires that we can bring to the LORD together. We were not meant to do this alone, and this moment was practically and tangibly teaching that to us. 

 

Worship in Song

Joy to the World

    We agreed that this would be a perfect ending song for this service. While it being advent season, this song is a natural fit, but it also works as a reminder of joy that the Gospel story offers. This is not the typical song to sing at the end of a communion service, but why shouldn’t we?! It is a song of celebration, of praise, and of sending! We are hoping that by singing this song we are forming a holistic theology that sees every season as a season to not only remember Jesus’ life but rejoice in it!

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Benediction

May our LORD Jesus Christ who is Guardian and Redeemer, Comforter and warrior, King of Kings and servant; may He teach you and guide you and fill you with all strength so that you may go out into a world of darkness and bring light, hope, and peace. Amen.
   In our benediction, we wanted to make sure there was emphasis on sending. Similar to the way Cherry would organize a service, we acknowledge not only the importance of a benediction of sending but also how it is formative. This benediction is meant to re-emphasize the things we hoped to focus on in the service: who Jesus is, his story, and how we know him. This benediction mimics passages of Scripture, like Isaiah 9, where names of Jesus are listed. These are not just announcements of names but reminders of who God is and how he wants to relate to us. That is why we can be sent, is because we have a God who goes by these names. 

    This also reflects the benediction of the Great Commission. With the Great Commission, Jesus charges his disciples to go into the world as his imitators. This is still a call we have in our lives today. So, even after this short service, after encountering Jesus through music, art, confession, communion, and passing of peace, we get the same imperative: we must go! Also echoing the language Paul uses in Ephesians, we must go into a dark world offering them the hope and light of Christ. This sending is exciting, joyful, and good! So, it only makes sense to bless people with this benediction after singing, “Joy to the World” together.

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Bibliography

Dyrness, William A. (2009). A Primer on Christian Worship: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We Can Go. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.

 

Taylor, W. David O. (2023). A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 

Taylor, W. David O. (2019). Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts.  Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

 

Van Dyk, Leanne. (2011). A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans.