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, but also the readings and prayers from our liturgy. You can find links to the 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.
Photos by Tom Branch, from Sojourn Midtown.
Song: Blest Be the Lamb by Sojourn’s Jamie Barnes and Rebecca Dennison, based on Hymn 29 by Isaac Watts. We recorded this on our latest full length worship album, The Water And The Blood.
Call to Worship:
When we gather, we recall God’s faithfulness. In a world marked by sin and suffering, it’s easy for us to see our present circumstances as the final word. The truth is that God has already declared the end from the beginning. The Scriptures tell us God gets the final word. Hear this from Psalm 89:
I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
-Psalm 89:1-2, 8
Song: Praise to the Lord the Almighty
Confession: God has promised an eternal inheritance for those who place their hope and faith in Jesus. But we often believe the lie that this broken life is all there is for us. When we do this, we call God a liar and cast his promises aside. Pray this prayer with me:
Father, you have called us to live in light of our eternal resting place with you.
But we trust our worries more than your word and believe there is no rest for our souls.
Father, forgive us, and help our unbelief.
Lord Jesus, you have gone to prepare a place for us in your Father’s house, but we live as if there is no place for us but this world.
Christ, forgive us, and help our unbelief.
Holy Spirit, you are the proof of our eternal inheritance, yet we refuse the hope you offer us of life with God.
Spirit of God, have mercy on us, help us in our unbelief and fill us with faith in God’s promises and the peace of Christ. Amen.
Song: Merciful God
Song: O Help My Unbelief
Assurance/Peace:
God knows that we are quick to forget. This is why we see reminders throughout Scripture of God’s past, present, and future faithfulness. Hear this reminder from God’s Word:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
-Lamentations 3:22-24
God has demonstrated to us his compassion, faithfulness, and great love to us—especially in sending Christ. Because of this, we can hope patiently and expectantly for God’s faithfulness in the future. As the church, we are called to encourage and speak this truth to one another as we wait for Christ’s return. So let’s take this opportunity to share this hope by greeting each other.
Giving
Then our preacher taught from Genesis 46:26-46 — the reuniting of Jacob and Joseph. This was the final sermon of our Genesis sermon series. You can hear Sojourn sermons in theSojourn Church iTunes podcast or in the Sermon Resource library at sojournchurch.com.
Song: Oh God Our Help in Ages Past by Brooks Ritter and Isaac Watts, recorded on The Water And The Blood.
Song: How Great Thou Art
Reading:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
-2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Song: Absent From Flesh by Jamie Barnes, based on Hymn 23 by Isaac Watts. This is another “re:tuned hymn” you’ll find on our The Water And The Blood project. And you can get another version of it on our double-EP project The Mercy Seat/The War.
Benediction:
Go now, and may you hold unswervingly to the hope you hold in Christ Jesus, knowing that God is faithful and will one day bring his children home to himself. Go in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you.
