Sojourn Church Liturgy – September 9, 2018 – Acts 3:4-8

by Bobby Gilles

in Liturgy & Sermons

Welcome to Sojourn’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. And if you’d like to see how we incorporate liturgical art and lead the responsive readings, watch the embedded video of our entire service, or check it out on the Sojourn New Albany Facebook page. Below that, you can watch a higher res video of the sermon itself.

Our liturgy is written by worship director Justin Shaffer in collaboration with worship directors at other Sojourn churches.

This Sunday Pastor Stephen Pierce preached Acts 3:4-8, looking at the Christian identity as a “servant.” To learn more about Sojourn Church, click here.

September 9, 2018 – Servants – Jonah Sage from Sojourn Collective on Vimeo.

Gotta Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan

CALL TO WORSHIP
Good morning and welcome to Sojourn… We begin our service with a call to worship, because we recognize that God is the one who called us to himself. He instigated this relationship. Jesus walked the Earth, befriending outsiders, outcasts, misfits and failures. He ate and drank with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. Hear the words of Jesus

“For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

We are not here because we were good enough to meet God. We bring nothing to the table. We were the outsiders, the outcasts, the misfits and the failures, and yet he called us to be his. As we gather together today, remember that we are only here because God loved us, wanted us, and called us to himself. Let’s respond to our wonderful Father by singing.

Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes and Mark Hayes.

CONFESSION
God created us to be his people in the world and for the world. We were made to serve him and love him, but instead we rejected him and tried to serve ourselves. Let’s pray this prayer together.

God, we confess that we have put ourselves first
We strive for prestige
We fight for preeminence
We bicker over who is the greatest.
We make ourselves busy by building up our own little kingdoms

We are constant sinners;
how can people like us be saved?
We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
(Isaiah 64:5b-6 NLT)

Let us sing our confession together.

The Water and the Blood by Neil Degraide and David LaChance.

ASSURANCE/GIVING
Hear this word from God’s matchless word.

With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—Christ entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:12-14 NLT)

It may seem odd that we sing about something like blood. But the wonderful irony of the gospel is that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from the stain of sin. We were once infected and impure with sin… enslaved to our own selfish ambitions… trapped in shame, fear and guilt. Now Christ’s blood cleanses us and sets us free! “How can people like us be saved?” – nothing but the blood. Let’s sing of the freedom given in Christ’s blood and the giving baskets are passed around and we tithe and give the firstfruits of our labor as an offering back to God 🙂

Nothing But the Blood by Robert Lowry.

PASSING OF THE PEACE
Jesus’ blood brought us peace. Peace with God. Peace with each other. We are a family brought together by Christ’s blood, and now His Spirit guides and leads us in the way of peace. Let’s greet one another as brothers and sisters, extending grace, mercy and peace to each other.

[Sermon]
[Communion]

The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power by Andrae Crouch.

Establish The Work of our Hands by Sandra McCracken, Aaron Keyes, Orlando Palmer, Madison Cunningham, Liz Vice, Paul Zack and Isaac Wardell.

Give Us Clean Hands by Charlie Hall.

BENEDICTION
Go now, knowing that God has brought you, an outsider, into his family. By grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing but a gift from God. You are Christ’s workmanship, created for good works. God designed you for this and the Holy Spirit empowers you to serve him. Peace be with you.

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