A Call to Worship based on Psalm 66

P:         Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
C:        Sing to the glory of His name; offer Him glory and praise!

P:         Come and see what God has done,
C:        How awesome his works in man’s behalf!

P:         Praise our God, O Peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard.
C:        He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.

– (based on Ps 66:1-2, 5& 8-9)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

A Call to Worship based on Psalm 95

P:         Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
C:        Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

P:         Let us come before Him with Thanksgiving
C:        And extol Him with music and song.

P:         Come let us bow down in worship,
C:        Let us kneel before the LORD our maker;

P:         for He is our God
C:        and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
–         (based on Ps 95:1-2 & 6-7)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

Divine Bookends

With a new Pastor, comes some new ideas & new practices.

 

One of the things that our new Pastor has instructed me to do is to consider beginning each service with a song that has a message that helps to prepare us for worship.   He does this with hymns and my task is to do it with contemporary music as well.  Unfortunately our songbook’s thematic index does not have this as a category, so I paged though the songs and found the following song choices to be appropriate as opening music:

 

“All Over Again” by Michael Zehnder

“Because of Your Love” by Paul Baloche

“Celebrate the Lord of Love” by Paul Baloche and Ed Kerr

“Come and Behold Him” by John Chisum

“Come and See” by Lenny Leblanc

“Enter In” by Billy Christopher

“Here in This Place” by Bobbly L. Schroeder

“I Want to be Where You Are” by Don Moen

“Let it Rise” by Holland Davis

“Lift Him Up” by Billy Funk

“Only by Grace” by Gerrit Gustafson

 

While I’m at it, here are some contemporary songs that have closing or benediction-like messages:

 

“Everyday a Celebration of His Love” by DeGarmo & Key

“May the Peace” by Keith Getty

“Peace be Yours” by Blaire A’Hearn

“the Hope of Your Call” by Don Chapman

“the Lord Bless You” by Don Chapman

 

These songs are “divine bookends” for our worship.

God is !!! – A Dramatic Call to Worship

Call to Worship:

Instructional Note: This is a dramatic reading involving four readers.  Each reader is to place a special emphasis on the words “is” and “will” when underlined.  The scripture references are not to be recited and are for reference only.

 

PASTOR: God is!

 

READER 1: (Deut. 4:24)

the Lord your God is a consuming fire

 

READER 2: (Deut. 4:31)

the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

 

READER 3: (Deut. 7:9)

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

 

READER 1: God is!

 

PASTOR: For the Lord your God is “God of gods” and “Lord of lords,” the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. (Deut. 10:17)

 

READER 2: my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.  He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior–(2 Samuel 22:3)

 

READER 3: “God is exalted in his power.  Who is a teacher like him? (Job 36:22)

 

READER 2: God is!

 

READER 1: The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

 

READER 3: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)

 

PASTOR: For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. (Psalm 47:7)

 

READER 3: God is!

 

READER 1: Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8 )  

 

PASTOR: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Psalm 84:11)

 

READER 2: The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)

 

PASTOR: God is!

 

READER 1: And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor. 9:8 )

 

READER 2: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

 

READER 3: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

 

All Four together: God is!

 

Congregational Response to the “God Is” – Call to Worship

 

Leader:            God is present!

All:                  God is present among us.

Leader: God’s presence is with us whether or not we are aware of it, whether or not we feel it, whether or not we believe it.  God was here before we arrived, so we do not have to ask for God to be present.  We simply have to awaken to the one who was, who is, and who will always be.

 

(Moment of Silence)

 

Leader:            God seeks us!

All:                  God seeks us and loves us.

Leader:  God seeks us and loves us whether or not we are aware of it, whether or not we feel it, whether or not we believe it.  God sought after us and loved us before we even knew and loved Him.  So we do not have to ask God to accept us and love us.

We simply have to awaken, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the love that was, that is, and that will always be.

 

(Moment of Silence)

 

Leader:            God cares!

All:                  God cares about us.

Leader: All our problems are known to God, all our pains are known to God, all our faults are forgiven by God, and all our concerns are understood by God.  We are not alone.  So now, we awaken ourselves to the presence of God, so good, so kind, so holy, so just, so powerful, so real, so near, so here.

 

All:                  We lay all our problems at the foot of the cross.

 

(Moment of Silence)

 

Leader:            The light of Christ shines upon us!

 

All:                  Amen and Hallelujah!

 

Credit: The first portion of this post came from http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/

Other portions were inspired by the works of Brian McLaren

Note – all scripture text is from the NIV (Zondervan Publishing)