Sojourners Church Liturgy

Why do we do that?: Call to Confession

Confession of sin is foreign in this world's graceless culture. If we have no hope of mercy and grace in light of our failures, then we must hide them at all costs. The gospel culture of Christ and his church is entirely different. We are in covenant relationship with the living God not because of our steadfastness, but because of his grace and kindness towards us in Jesus. Therefore, we are free to confess our failure to live with covenant faithfulness in the safety and certainty of the promise that God will meet our confession with forgiveness and grace. So we confess—in things done and things left undone—the ways we fail to live faithfully towards God. And we confess in the peaceful assurance that God will meet us with renewed mercy and grace because of his great covenant love for us his people.

This post is part of a series of posts on the Sojourners Church Sunday morning liturgy. See the whole series here.

Why do we do that?: Prayer of Invocation

After hearing God speak through his Word and call us to worship, we respond with the Prayer of Invocation. In this prayer, we invoke or "call upon" God to work powerfully through his Spirit during the worship service. By responding to the Call to Worship with prayer, we express our longing for God and our deep and humble dependence upon him. In this prayer, we begin the dialogue with God that characterizes Christian worship—he speaks to us through his Word read and preached and we respond to him in prayer and song and sacrament.

This post is part of a series of posts on the Sojourners Church Sunday morning liturgy. See the whole series here.

Why do we do that?: Call to Worship

In Christian worship, our liturgy is gospel-shaped. We rehearse the reality of our relationship with our Creator and Redeemer. And so, we begin with a Call to Worship. Just as our story begins with God speaking, so too does our worship service. In the Call to Worship, God speaks to us through his Word and invites us to respond to him. The Call to Worship invites us to turn from the world and to focus our hearts, minds, and actions on God. It is an invitation to participate in the activity of all creation—to declare the glory of God. And it is an invitation to respond in worship to the reality of the gospel given to us by God in his Son Jesus Christ. The gospel shines forth even in the Call itself. How else could sinful people come before the Holy God and live unless He himself has made a way?

This post is part of a series of posts on the Sojourners Church Sunday morning liturgy. See the whole series here.

Why do we do that?: Sunday Morning Worship

Our Sunday morning service is the pinnacle of our week as we enter into dialogue with the Lord of the universe. On our own, we are separated from Christ, alienated from his people, and strangers to the covenants of promise—without hope and without God. And yet, our great God does not leave us in our hopelessness. He speaks light into our darkness in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we gather weekly to hear God speak the gospel of Jesus to us in his Word and in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And we gather to respond in faith as we pray, read, and sing God’s Word together.

This post is part of a series of posts on the Sojourners Church Sunday morning liturgy. See the whole series here.