Worship Notes for Sunday, February 17, 2013
This morning is the first Sunday in the season of Lent. As part of marking different parts of the year, we have made some adjustments to the flow of the liturgy to bring greater attention to the themes of the sermon, the penitential nature of this season, and to stir our hearts and affections to take notice of the Gospel as it weekly washes over us in the service.The Introit is Behold the Glories of the Lamb as a sung preparation over these next weeks for us to consider the glories of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. The Call to Worship from Psalm 146 highlights the theme of God’s care for His people—in justice, provision, freedom and salvation. We continue by singing the words of this Psalm, Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah.
For Lent we will be using the Nicene Creed as our Profession of Faith. The Nicene Creed was written in A.D. 325 by the Council of Nicaea to clarify and to boldly declare the nature of Christ against the heresies of the day.
One of the more significant shifts in the service for this season is moving the Prayer of Confession to after the sermon. You will also notice that the form of the prayer emphasizes the call of the Gospel from the sermon and allows us to use various Scripture passages to pray and weave those truths in our hearts through the means of confession and petition. The following hymn, Awake My Zeal, Awake My Love, is a continued prayer that God would enliven us in our faith in the consistency of the Gospel to serve, feed, clothe, and share the Gospel.
The Hymns of Communion, Holy Father, Hear My Cry and Deck Yourself, My Soul, continue to reinforce our desire and need for the true Bread of Heaven. We conclude with the Psalm for February—Psalm 117: From All That Dwell which is our heart’s cry that every land and every tongue would sing the praise of the Redeemer.
