Worship Notes for Sunday, November 11, 2012

As we walk through the various elements of the Service of Worship, we move from praise of God to a Scripture reading and then the Corporate Prayer of Confession. The Old or New Testament Reading is chosen as a passage that thematically connects with the sermon and its Scriptural basis and seeks to prepare our hearts for the proclamation of the Word. As such, when confronted by the praise of who God is and His very Word, we quickly and humbly recognize that we fall short because of things done and left undone. We therefore approach the mercy seat in the Prayer of Confession.We pray before the Prayer of Confession that God would search us and know us and reveal to us our sins. As a corporate body we recognize that other’s sins reflect upon us all—that is one aspect of why we confess corporately. In addition, corporate confession acknowledges that but for the grace of God we are capable of any and all vileness. The words of assurance from Scripture also remind us of God’s redemptive goodness. It is with a cleansed heart that we are now prepared to truly hear what God is saying to His people.

As we move into Luke 9, Jesus invests power in His disciples and send them forth to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed. Our Call to Worship from Psalm 67 longs for the “saving power” of the Lord to be “known on earth” and that “all the ends of the earth” would fear Him. We continue by singing Come, Christians Join to Sing and Come Ye That Love the Savior’s Name.  Our New Testament Reading is from Romans 15 which emphasizes the grace of God in ministering to the unbelieving in word and deed.

Our Prayer of Confession from Romans 12 confronts us with our love of self and safety that inhibits our boldness in loving those around us instead of disregarding them. We conclude the service in singing Mighty Lord, Extend Your Kingdom as a prayer for the expansion of the Gospel into all lands and the desire for the power of the Spirit to manifest itself in the reign of Christ.