Worship Notes for Sunday, November 25, 2012
Because of the start of Advent next week, I wanted to take a short break from the on-going series about the elements of worship in order to discuss this season of the church year. As mentioned before, we follow the liturgical calendar as a means of walking through the redemptive work of Christ on an annual basis. Just as the weekly service moves us through the Gospel in a micro fashion, the church calendar causes us to cycle through the Gospel on a macro level tracing the need for a Savior in Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, fulfilled prophecies, death, resurrection, ascension and birth of the Church at Pentecost.As such, our observance of the liturgical calendar is to provide a guide to our hearts and minds and to purposefully remind ourselves of the Gospel throughout the year. Advent is the start of the church year and moves from the Garden of Eden, the need for a Savior, the prophecies of the coming Messiah, and the Incarnation on Christmas Day. Since it is primarily a time of preparation, this season is traditionally one of repentance and anticipation. The color purple is used to denote contrition and repentance.
Our service this morning begins looking at Christ in His role as mediator—a necessary bridge between God and man. We being with the Call to Worship from Psalm 9 for he has maintained our cause and our trust is in the Lord. We continue by singing Give Thanks to God the Lord for we should make known what He has done.
Our New Testament Reading from I Timothy 2 states that the only mediator between God and man is Christ Jesus. Our failure to “grow up into our Head, into Christ” and our misguided attentions form the basis of our Prayer of Confession from Ephesians 4.
In our Communion Hymns, we sing of the sufficiency of the life and death of Christ in There is No Sin and of the mediating work of Christ in My Faith Has Found a Resting Place. Christ as our only foundation and hope is the subject of the final hymn, My Hope is Built on Nothing Else.
