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.
Photo courtesy Chuck Heeke from Sojourn Midtown.
Song: Holy
Introduce this as a new song – sing the first verse twice. Keep the drums out til the end of the first chorus. Then ROCK IT.
Call to Worship
When we gather, we’re taking part in a conversation. God has spoken through his Word and through his Son, and he invites us to respond together with our lives, our words, and our worship. Hear the word of the Lord:
O Give thanks to the Lord!
Call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples!
Sing to him, sing praises to him,
tell all of his wonderful works!
Glory in his holy name!
-Psalm 105:1-3
Let’s pray together:
O Lord Most High,
who dwells beyond the heavens,
You can’t be compared with anything,
you’re far beyond our loftiest thoughts.
Gather us together in the name of Jesus,
whom the angels adore,
whose name is above every name.
Lead us in our worship,
that all we do might be
filled with your grace,
directed by your wisdom,
informed by the truth,
and accomplished to your glory.
We ask all this through Christ, our Lord,
whom with you, our Father, and the Holy Spirit,
we constantly seek to glorify.
Amen!
- Adapted from “Leading in Prayer” by Hughes Oliphant Old
Song: With Every Breath
Prayer of confession:
Hear the word of the Lord:
“The Lord longs to be gracious to you,
he rises to show you compassion.”
- Isaiah 30:18
God welcomes us to come as we are, to acknowledge our weakness, and to experience is grace and compassion. With that in mind, let’s confess our sins together.
Almighty and everlasting God,
You are always more ready to hear us,
than we are to pray,
and you’re ready to give
more than we desire or deserve.
Pour down on us an abundance of your mercy;
forgive us of all that weighs on our hearts.
Give us the grace
that we are unworthy to ask for,
but which you promise to us,
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.
- adapted from the Book of Common Prayer
Song: The Water and the Blood written by Neil Degrade and David LaChance, based on hymn 111 by Isaac Watts.
Words of Assurance:
When we gather each week, we remember the story of the gospel. We remember that God has called us together, that we’re sinners in desperate need of his grace, and that his mercy is more boundless than we’d ever dreamt. Hear the word of the Lord:
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!
—Romans 5:8-9, NIV
It’s good news, friends – our sins are forgiven! Let’s sing with faith and confidence in what Jesus has done!
Song: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go
minor arrangement for the first three verses, major on the final verse.
Passing the Peace:
As people who’ve been forgiven, we have every reason to reach out to one another with joy and grace in our hearts. Let’s do that now – looking especially to welcome new faces around you.
Giving
Then our preacher taught from Titus 2:1-8. You can hear Sojourn sermons in theSojourn Church iTunes podcast or in the Sermon Resource library at sojournchurch.com.
Song: The Love of God, our communion hymn this week (we take communion every week at Sojourn Gathered).
Reading: (drone E major under the reading)
We live in an age that is harshly divided. There is conflict between generations, genders, political parties, races, and cultures. It’s all around us.
But as we gather together, as we remember the gospel and remember what it means to be the church, we join our voices, we throw down our conflicts, and remember what holds us together as a family. Hear the word of the Lord:
Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.)
Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive…
We are Christ’s body—that’s who we are!
(1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27, The Message)
Let’s join our voices and sing it together.
Song: Solid Rock
Song: You
Announcements
Benediction
We leave from here to bear witness to Christ
in faithfulness to the Scriptures,
in harmony with the church of the ages,
and in unity with all Christ’s people.
Go in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
And also with you
—adapted from Our Song of Hope, st. 7
