Sojourn’s Liturgy Recap, August 5, 2012

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 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 this week by Brad Weir, from Sojourn Midtown.

Prelude: What Wondrous Love is This?

Call to Worship:

Welcome! If you have traveled much out on America’s highways you are probably familiar with rest stops. Every so many miles you’ll see a road sign that boasts “rest stop up ahead.”  Often these places are dirty, the vending machines are always half empty and they just seem dangerous. God’s promise of rest is no false advertisement.

In Christ, God has proven his love and guaranteed provision for us. Hear his word:

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
He alone is our rock and our salvation;

he is our fortress, we will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;

he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

- Psalm 62:5-8

Song: Come Thou Fount

Confession:

God promises to satisfy all our needs, but we wander from him only to find ourselves more thirsty and restless. Let’s pray:

Lord Jesus,
We are blind, be our light,
We are ignorant, be our wisdom,
We are self-willed, be our mind,
Open our ears to understand Your Spirit’s voice
Melt our conscience and remove it’s hardness
Awaken us to the slightest touch of evil
When Satan tempts us, remind us of your wounds;

that your blood streamed to wash us clean.
We were strangers, outcasts, slaves, and rebels,

but Your cross has brought us near.
Help us to love You as You have loved us
Open our eyes to see Your beauty and be fully satisfied in You.
-Adapted from The Valley Of Vision

Song: Satisfied In You written by Brian Eichelberger of the Mars Hill Church worship band “The Sing Team.” See the video for “Satisfied In You” and read about it in an interview with Brian here.

Song: Only Your Blood is Enough written by Neil and Kate Robins, adapted from “Psalm 51, part 2″ by Isaac Watts. We recorded this on our Over The Grave record.

Assurance/Peace:

Hear the good news:

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes us who were once far away from God. We were his enemies, separated from him by our evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled us to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought us into his own presence, and we are holy and blameless as we stand before him without a single fault. – Col. 1:17-22
As thankful people filled with God’s grace, let’s greet one another.

Giving

Then our preacher taught from Hebrews 4:1-10 – “Rest in Rethinking.” This was the final sermon in our Rest summer sermon series. You can hear Sojourn sermons in theSojourn Church iTunes podcast or in the Sermon Resource library at sojournchurch.com.

Song: Give Reviving

Affirmation of Faith:

Say this historical confession with me:

What do you believe about the work of God?

We believe that God, who is perfectly merciful and just, sent his Son to bear the punishment of our disobedience by his most bitter death.

And what do you believe about the work of Jesus Christ?

We believe that Jesus Christ presented himself in our name before his Father, to appease his wrath with full satisfaction by offering himself on the cross and pouring out his precious blood for the cleansing of our sins.

What comfort does this give you?

We find all rest and comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever.

-Based on Belgic Confession, articles 20-21

Song: The Love of God

Song: Great and Mighty

Benediction:

May the immeasurable love of God grant you comfort and assurance. Go in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Peace be with you.