Welcome to this episode in a series on the liturgy of Lake Wylie Baptist Church.
In this series I am reading, as we would on a Sunday morning, the various movements of our service—as a model for the men who lead among us, and for any minister who wants to hear how a Christ-centered liturgy actually sounds.
Worship, as we order it, moves: God, then man, then Christ, then response. Today you will hear the first of those movements.
First, a Scriptural Call to Worship. The congregation does not begin by speaking. God does. His Word calls his people into his presence.
Second, a Prayer of Adoration. Having been summoned, we answer—not first with our needs, but with praise. We ascribe to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, the glory that is already his.
Third, the Apostles’ Creed. We do not invent the faith we confess. We receive it, speak it together, and teach it to our children.
What follows is the Call, the Prayer, and the Creed from this past Sunday, along with the rubrics connecting all three.
Minister: Let’s stand as we worship the Triune God!
Call to Worship: Rev 12:10, 12:12 (ESV)
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Prayer of Adoration
O Lord, you alone are the Most High over all the earth! (Ps 83:18)
Your dominion is an everlasting dominion, and your kingdom endures from generation to generation. (Dan 4:34) All authority is yours, both in heaven and in earth. (Mat 28:18) And you have given that authority to your Son, Jesus Christ!
He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16) and you have given him an everlasting kingdom that shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:14)
The government is upon his shoulders, and his name is called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. (Isa 9:6-7)
And he shall reign until his has put down all opposing rule, principality, and power. (1 Cor 15:24-25), until all his enemies are made a footstool under his feet. (Heb 10:13)
Father, we see the nations raging—but when we look toward heaven, we see Christ reigning, seated on the throne, and our hearts are at rest, our strength is renewed, our joy is restored, and our hope is reborn.
We worship you Father, through Christ the Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. One God, forever and ever. Amen.
Confession of Faith
Minister: Christian, what do you believe?
All:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hades.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy universal church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
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Immediately after the Creed, with no other words of transition, the first of our songs of praise would begin. This keeps a clean seam between the prayer, which directed our thoughts toward God, and the music which continues that praise.