Sojourn’s Liturgy Recap, Nov 10-11, 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 by Chuck Heeke, from Sojourn Midtown at St. Vincent’s.

Song: 10,000 Reasons

Call to Worship

This week, our nation went to the polls and elected a new president. Virtually everywhere we’ve been for the last year, we’ve been bombarded with promises, slogans, smears, and hope-filled rhetoric. Now that the decision is made, we have a different responsibility – to pray for the leaders that God has sovereignly put in place, and to remember that our hope is not found in any politician or any political party. Our hope is found in Jesus, who gathers us together for worship in the midst of the world’s political, social, and economic crises. Let’s begin our time of worship remembering this reality, seeking hope and confidence in Jesus alone.

Let us worship God, who has done great things.

We rejoice in our God, who made a way

through the desert of this world.

Let us worship God, who has caused streams of mercy

to flow in the wasteland.

We are the people God has formed through Christ;

we worship him, and we rejoice!

Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.

We praise God for the grace that has saved us.

Alleluia! We rejoice!

—based on Isaiah 43:19-21

Song: O, Great is Our God

Song: Our God

Intercessory Prayer/Prayer of Confession

Lord Jesus, the world suffers and the church struggles.
We are eager for your return, King Jesus.
Save us from putting our faith in politicians and political parties.
Your word tells us that you appoint these leaders, and that they are your servants.

We pray for these servants, and ask that you would give them wisdom
and that they would rule with justice.

But even as we pray for them, we ask you to guard our hearts and point us to you.
Point our minds and hearts to the cross, where you’ve wiped away our sins,
Lord, we confess that it was our sin that put you there.

Remind us that your sacrifice on the cross was enough,
and that new life is ours now in Jesus Christ.
Point us now to the resurrection, where we find new life and hope that never fades. Amen.

Song: Thy Mercy

Passing of Peace

Giving

Then our preacher taught from 1 Timothy 4, on the importance of gospel clarity. You can hear Sojourn sermons in theSojourn Church iTunes podcast or in the Sermon Resource library at sojournchurch.com.

Song: Abide with Me

The world offers us many promises, many heroes, and many options for hope, and yet they reject the one true hope for the world in Jesus Christ. May we, as God’s people, always hold fast to this hope. Declare it with me:

We are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

And we are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, we are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, we offer spiritual sacrifices that please God

—based on 1 Peter 2:4-5, NRSV
It’s an amazing gift of grace: because of Jesus, we can please God! And His joy becomes ours. Let’s celebrate that as we sing.

Song: Fellowship So Deep

Song: In The Shadow of the Glorious Cross written by Sojourn’s own Brooks Ritter and Rebecca Elliott, from our Before The Throne album.

Benediction