Call to Worship
This morning I get the opportunity to introduce a new 5-part exhortation series. Over the next handful of Sundays, our exhortations will be explaining why our Sunday morning worship service is structured the way that it is.
First we must look at Biblical prescriptions for worship. The Bible assumes that we will regularly meet together and that we should not neglect this practice. Christians are to come and worship together and to hear and be taught from God’s infallible word. That’s why pastor must be able to teach, because they are teachers.
Ephesians says we are to “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart[s], giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Corinthians talks about the value of order in a worship service, with the goal to promote clarity rather than confusion. And, the corporate gathering is also a fitting place to obey the 2 ordinances Christ gave to His Church; Baptism and the Lord’s Table.
With help from Biblical prescriptions, the founding pastors of Cities church found it wise to structure our Corporate Gathering in 5 parts that start with the letter C. Which has also been called “New Covenant Liturgy”. These 5 pieces are:
Call to Worship
Confession
Consecration
Communion
Commission
This list is a combination of Biblical prescriptions and theological convictions. Biblical prescriptions are what the Bible prescribes for all churches, everywhere. Theological Convictions are applications of scripture that seem fitting for Corporate Worship. These are helpful, but not commanded in scripture. New Covenant liturgy is a way to structure a church service, not the way.
One of these convictions is that the whole service should revolve around, and climax at, the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. This also fits well with the churches ordinances, that explicitly display the gospel of Christ. The whole service is about Jesus. And the service is not just informative, but also formative for our hearts and minds. We don’t just hear the call of God, we respond to it.
We don’t talk about confessing sins, we do it. We don’t just hear of God’s grace, together we receive it. We aren’t observers of this service, we are participants in it. And as pastors we trust that this intentional pattern in our lives, and your lives, is helping to mature us and form us into the image of Christ. It is one thing for me to pray in my head. But, it can be helpful in a formative way for me to pray out-loud, on my knees at times. My physical posture helps form my heart and my words. It teaches me a humble posture that can help form a humble heart. In the same way, we hope that by the structure or our liturgy, and your participation in it, would help form your relationship with God.
So starting with the first C, Call, why do we have a call to worship? The Bible teaches us that God is the initiator in all thing. God spoke, and the universe was created. God willed it, and we were physically born. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and God called us out of darkness and we were spiritually reborn. So the call to worship, is God again initiating towards us. The call each Sunday comes from scripture, usually a Psalm, and is to show us the Glory and Character of the God we have come to worship.
The Call to Worship is then followed by prayer and a Call and Response. The response is the first time in the service, where we all participate. We hear a revelation of God from His Holy Scripture, and we respond and worship Him through song, together. And this sets the pace for the rest of the service.
We see a glimpse of God in the call, and we worship him, this leads us to an awareness of our own unworthiness. The exhortation then helps guide our hearts to confession. We confess our sins and through God’s revealed Word in 1 John 1, we are assured of pardon. We are consecrated and set apart for him. We hear His Word through preaching, we land at communion that experientially reminds us of Christ finished work on our behalf, and it spiritually feeds us. And we are sent out with the commission Jesus left his followers.
So the Exhortation this morning is extremely simple. Our whole service has intention and is linked together, so be here for it, for all of it. Leave a few minutes early so you aren’t rushing in, and in the very near future, come grab some coffee. Meet someone new, catch up with a friend, or find a seat a few minutes early and let your soul slow down. Be here when God welcomes you to worship him.