Consecration

Throughout the month of August, we’ve been utilizing these exhortations to explain our liturgy (our order of service for our Sunday morning worship gatherings). Our liturgy each Sunday morning is crafted around the five C’s:

• Call to Worship

• Confession

• Consecration

• Communion

• Commission

Two weeks ago Pastor Mike kicked us off by talking about the first “C”… Call to worship. And then last Sunday, one week ago, Pastor Ryan discussed the next one, Confession. Today, we come to the third “C”… Consecration.

The word “consecration” is used in a few different ways by various types of people. When we use the word “Consecration” (in our context), we are typically talking about separating ourselves from the sinful things of this world that might contaminate our lives. Simply put, when we’re talking about consecration, we’re talking about living holy lives.

Here at Cities Church, we have a strong desire to be holy, to be like Jesus, and the consecration section of our liturgy is informed by this desire. This section of our service, consecration, consists of four components:

• Singing

• Prayer

• Scripture Reading

• Preaching

First, let’s talk about the singing. Now, it’s important to note, there’s also singing in other parts of the liturgy. But the songs that are a part of the consecration section (that’s the songs that we typically sing after the confession and the assurance of pardon, but before the sermon, those songs, usually two songs) those songs are selected with a specific goal in mind.

Of course, there are some songs out there that could fit into any portion of the service, but when we select songs for the consecration section of the liturgy, we tend to select songs that emphasize what God has accomplished for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The reason for this is because these types of songs tend to cultivate in us a spirit of humility and awe. And when we are humble before the Lord and when we are in awe of him, that is when we are most likely to be receptive to the instruction and correction from the Lord that we need to be able to live holy lives.

And sometimes those songs are intermingled with corporate readings from Scripture or readings from historic creeds and confessions. These are also focused on cultivating humility and inspiring us to be in awe of God.

After the singing, we have the prayer of praise. This is a prayer that expresses gratitude to God and it includes specific petitions to God for our congregation and community. And then, of course, we have the reading of Scripture and the preaching from Scripture.

Each week we have someone read the passage, and the person reading the passage is usually different than the person preaching. That’s intentional. When a specific person is designated for the reading of Scripture, it subtly sends the message that the reading of Scripture is not just a “throw-in” component of the service, it’s not ancillary. No. The reading of God’s word is valuable and sacred, so much so that it warrants its own designated reader.

And then that leads to the sermon. Here at Cities Church, we preach expository sermons, generally through entire books of the Bible. We do not believe that this is the only way to handle preaching, various churches do it differently.

However, the Bible commands us, the pastors, to preach the whole counsel of God, and the best way to do that, by far, is to preach expository sermons, book by book. Also, expository sermons are the best way to ensure that you, the congregation, are properly understanding God’s Word, because you are hearing it preached week by week within its appropriate context.

Reading Scripture and preaching are essential components in consecration. The reading and preaching of God’s Word helps to unearth our unbelief, and it exposes our wrong beliefs.

When we gather to hear God’s Word, we expect to be changed; we expect for the Spirit of God to expose the areas of our lives that are not pleasing to God.

By nature, we don’t love the things that God loves. And we don’t think about the world the way God thinks about the world. But through a weekly rhythm of hearing God’s word read and faithfully preached, we can develop a love for the things that God loves, and we can learn to think about the world the way God thinks about the world.

The reading and preaching of the Word of God is transformative for us, and we need that! Even though we are followers of Jesus, forgiven of our sins, and indwelled with the Holy Spirit, we all still have the propensity for sin. We still need that ongoing transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Church, my exhortation to you this morning is simple, engage with these components: the singing, the prayer of praise, the reading of Scripture, and the preaching. As we do that, we’ll see God use these components to mold us, to make us holy, to make us more like Jesus.

Would you pray with me?

Prayer: Father in heaven, we are sinners, by nature and by choice. We need to be transformed. This morning we acknowledge that we still need to be brought into greater conformity with your own heart and mind. We have often neglected consecration. We’ve been flippant or apathetic. Please forgive us. We have sung songs with our lips, but our hearts have been far from you. Please forgive us. Many of us have so often prayed prayers of petition; but we have often lacked gratitude. Please forgive us. And now, O Lord, we pause in this service for a moment, to acknowledge our own sins. We take this moment of silence to confess our own individual sins to you now.

[Pause for Private Confession]

Prayer: Lord, thank you for our founding pastors, who crafted our liturgy with such intentionality. I am grateful. And I ask that you would continue to use this liturgy, week in and week out, to continually mold us to be the people you want us to be. God, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to rescue us, to atone for our sins, to even make it possible for us to be consecrated. Thank you! Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you for your mercy and grace and kindness. Lord, we love you, but our love for you so often feels so small. Would you please help us to love you more? I ask that in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen!

Assurance of Pardon

Please stand, if you’re able, for the assurance of pardon. Church, you have confessed your sins, now hear the good news, the greatest news ever. When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Therefore, to all who humbly seek the mercy of God, I say to you, in Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven!