Welcome to sojournmusic.com’s weekly worship music set list review & service recap. This set list is from Sunday’s worship service here in Louisville’s Sojourn Church. You’ll not only read a list of the songs we led following the Call To Worship, but also the readings and prayers from our liturgy.
You can find links to the set lists of this church and many other churches each week in the Worship Blog Carnival at theworshipcommunity.com. And you can learn about some of the songs we sing at Sojourn Gathered each week in advance of the Sunday service by reading my “Getting Ready For Sunday” post each Thursday at Sojourn’s online journal, TravelBlog.
Call to Worship
We start each week with a call to worship God together. This isn’t about us approaching God with our best foot forward, but about responding to God’s invitation to approach Him by faith in what His Son Jesus alone has accomplished for us.
Hear the Word of the Lord:
“And so dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s House, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him.
For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
-Hebrews 10:19-21
Song – Invitation Fountain written by Michael Pritzl of the Violet Burning. This is one of the longest-running songs in the Sojourn repertoire. It’s particularly good as a call-and-response featuring male and female parts, and as a response to God’s call to worship.
Confession
God alone is worthy of everything we have, and because of His grace we are able to join in praising Him together. But God demands more than just our praise. He demands our hearts. We join in confessing our sin together because so often we hide the secrets of our hearts, believing they are kept far from God’s sight.
Let’s pray this together:
Most gracious and merciful God,
We have come before you time after time
With countless prayers and praises,
Yet with hearts that are far from You.
We have tried to hide our sins
from You and from each other.
But You search us and know us inside and out.
Forgive us, Lord for how we have wronged you and wronged each other.
Strengthen our hearts to trust in Your ways.
Guide our feet toward Your throne of grace.
Open our mouths to seek and share forgiveness with one another.
We ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen.
Song – Be Merciful To Me written by Randall Goodgame.
Be merciful to me, be merciful to me
In shadow dark and valley deep, be merciful to me
Celebration of Assurance
God’s Word reminds us of the Good News that we are forgiven by always pointing us to Jesus! Let’s share this Good News with each other by reading this together:
“So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”
-Ephesians 1:6-8
Song – Only Your Blood Is Enough written by Neil and Kate Robins, recorded on Volume One of our Isaac Watts project, entitled Over The Grave. You can hear “Only Your Blood Is Enough” in its entirety from the Over The Grave Bandcamp page.
Passing Of The Peace
God showed us his great love by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners, making peace between us and Himself. Let’s greet each other now in His love and peace.
Giving
Hear God’s word to us:
“What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”
-Romans 8:31-32
Whether we have much or little, God calls us to treasure and trust Him above all. Let us give sacrificially of the gifts that God has given to us and continue the gospel mission we as God’s people are called to, knowing that He who met our most dire need through Christ will continue to provide for every need we have. Let’s pray:
All good things come from you, O God,
and with gratitude we return to you what is yours.
You created all that is, and with love formed us in your image.
When our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
You gave your only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior.
All that we are, and all that we have, is from you.
And so, in gratitude for all your gifts,
we offer you ourselves, and all that we have,
in union with Christ’s offering for us.
By your Holy Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,
and one in ministry to all the world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Song – Great Is Thy Faithfulness the classic hymn written by Thomas O. Chisholm and William M. Runyan.
Thou changest not; thy compassions, they fail not
As thou hast been, and forever will be
Then our pastor preached the second sermon in our series on The Gospel of John 13-17, The Last Meal. This sermon focused on John 13:18-30, where Jesus predicts that He will be betrayed. You can hear Sojourn sermons from our Sojourn Church iTunes podcast or in the sermon library at sojournchurch.com.
Song – Beautiful, Scandalous Night our communion song of the week, written by Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty. Like “Invitation Fountain,” mentioned above, this is one of the longest running songs in our Sunday set list.
On the hillside you will be delivered,
At the foot of the cross, justified
And your spirit restored by the river that pours
From our blessed Savior’s side
Song – O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing one of the most famous hymns of Charles Wesley. This is a song of praise, dedication, and petition for God’s help in enabled us to praise and dedicate our lives to hymn:
My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Your name
Reading
When we gather like this on Sundays, its a unique opportunity to remember the covenant that our God has made to us, His people. Though we often neglect our promise to follow Him, He always delivers on His promises. Let’s say this together:
The LORD is faithful in all his words,
and gracious in all his deeds.
The LORD upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down. - Psalm 145:13-14
Song – Our God written by Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger,
God you are higher than any other
Benediction
May the grace of Christ renew you daily,
The love of God enable you to love all,
and the Holy Spirit unite us as one body under our Savior Jesus Christ.
Peace be with you.
