Welcome to sojournmusic.com’s weekly worship music set list review & service recap. 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.
Some campuses/service times deviated slightly from this set list. Photos here by Brad Weir, from the morning services at Sojourn Midtown.
Call to Worship:
We come together to remember the promises of God. We hear His word and we sing of the love He has demonstrated by sending His Son Jesus into the world. In turn, we recommit to be His people – His church – and renew our faith. Let’s echo the prayer of the Psalmist:
We pray to you, O Lord, our rock.
Do not turn a deaf ear to us.
If you are silent, we might as well give up and die.
Listen to our prayer for mercy as we cry out to you for help,
as we lift our hands toward your holy sanctuary.
We Praise You, Lord! For You have heard our cry for mercy.
The Lord is our strength and shield. We trust him with all our hearts.
He helps us, and our hearts are filled with joy.
We burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
- Adapted from Psalm 28
We can come before God today in confidence that He hears us and pours out His love on us. As we worship Him today, let’s sing out, lift our hands and celebrate His faithfulness.
Song: Refuge written by Sojourn’s Neil Robins, adapted from Psalm 31, Part 1 by Isaac Watts. We recorded this on Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One, and you can hear “Refuge” in its entirety at our Over The Grave page.
Song: Approach My Soul, The Mercy Seat written by John Newton and Sojourn’s Jamie Barnes, who recorded it on The Mercy Seat, one of two EP’s (along with The War) that we released at the beginning of 2011. You can listen to “Approach My Soul, The Mercy Seat” in its entirety here.
Call To Confession
Merciful God,
you made us in your image, with minds to know you,
hearts to love you, and a will to serve and worship you.
Through the blood of Jesus we can boldly approach you.
But our knowledge is imperfect, our love is inconsistent,
and our praise is often wasted on lesser things that fail to satisfy.
Day by day, we fail to seek you.
In your tender love, forgive our sins.
Help us to rest our hope on your unfailing promises.
May we find overflowing joy and abounding life in the sacrifice of Jesus. Amen.
Song: Christ or Else I Die written by William Hammond and Drew Holcomb. You can find this text in the Gadsby Hymnal (#737). This is a hymn of petition and a confession of our utter dependence on Christ:
Wealth and honor I disdain,
Earthly comforts, Lord are vain;
These can never satisfy:
Give me Christ, or else I die.
Assurance/Peace
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. – Romans 5: 8-11
We are reconciled to God and also reconciled to each other. Let’s greet one another with joy.
Giving
Hear the word of the Lord…
The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it.
—Psalm 24:1,
God has given us everything, so joyfully, we respond in giving back to Him. Let’s pray:
Lord, you have blessed us with stewardship over the things You have created.
Help us to love what you love, giving responsibly in the ways You have convicted us to.
We know that everything is already Yours. We have nothing to give that is our own.
Guide us by Your Holy Spirit, to give with responsive, worshipful hearts.
Help us to be obedient to Your commands.
It’s in Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Song: instrumental version of “Christ or Else I Die” 1 or 2 verses
Then our pastor preached from John 16:16-24 on “Jesus And Joy.” You can listen to Sojourn sermons from the Sermon archive at sojournchurch.com, as well as the free Sojourn Church podcast on iTunes.
Song: Be Still My Soul written by Katherine A. vonSchliegel and Jean Sibelius. This was our Communion hymn of the week:
Be still, my soul, when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Reading
Though our lives may be marked by suffering, we do not suffer alone or without hope of a greater joy to come:
Since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
- Romans 8:17-18
Song: Mourning Into Dancing written by Sojourn’s first worship songwriter, Jeremy Quillo. We’ve been singing this one for over six years at Sojourn Gathered, and its never lost its luster. You can hear “Mourning Into Dancing” in its entirety at our These Things I Remember album page.
Song: In Christ Alone written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His, and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
Benediction:
May the overwhelming joy of the Lord—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—
be your strength. Peace be with you.
