Sing praise …

Emphasize the phrase “sing praise” in this responsive reading: Pastor:            Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. – 1 Chronicles 16:8-10 All:  O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. – Psalm 59:17 Pastor:            All the earth bows down to [...]

The LORD Reigns

Psalms 93, 97 and 99 all begin with the acclamation ”the LORD reigns.”   The following responsive reading draws attention to this Old Testament proclamation of praise.   P: The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength.  The world is firmly established; it cannot be [...]

A Thanksgiving Litany

A Thanksgiving Litany   Instructions: The following is a responsive reading for a Thanksgiving service which starts out being thankful for the ‘big picture items’ but  progresses down into some close and personal items that we need to be thankful (to God) for.  I wrote this for use at our local church, but it could [...]

Parallel Poetry

Here’s a responsive reading that teaches your people about Hebrew poetry while worshipping at the same time.   Pastor:           In synonymous parallelism the second line of a verse expresses similar thoughts and sentiments as the first.   Pastor:           The heavens declare the glory of God; All:                the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  (Ps 19:1) [...]

Welcome to Worship! This morning’s music will be sung…

…With stringed instruments (Ps 4, 6, 54, 55, 61, 67, 76) …For flutes (Ps 5) To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” (Ps 9) To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning” (Ps 22) A song for the dedication of the Temple (Ps 30) To the tune of “Lilies” – A Wedding [...]

Psalm Benediction

Here’s a Benediction based entirely on the Psalms:   Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.  (Ps 4:6) The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Ps 121:7,8) The LORD gives strength [...]

From the lips of children…

Different Religions – Physical Expressiveness   I came across this list of physical expressiveness for various Christian denominations.  I suppose that its comical.  As a Lutheran, especially a WELS Lutheran, I can vouch for the fact that we are very stoic and reserved in our worship expressiveness.  But this past Sunday; something happened.  See what [...]

A Responsive Reading using the Breadth of Emotions Conveyed in thePsalms

Pastor’s Introduction: Psalms are songs or poems. That’s what the word “psalm” means. They are meant to be read or sung as poetry or songs. The point is that poetry or singing is intended to stir up and carry the affections of the heart. If you read the Psalms only for doctrine, you’re not reading [...]