The Way We Worship
(Courtesy of St. John's Lutheran
Church - NE Minneapolis)
The reasons for liturgical worship
One of the first things you’ll notice when you worship with us at Trinity is that we are a “liturgical” church. In other words, we follow a
regular pattern of worship in which the congregation responds to the worship leader in jointly spoken phrases or songs that vary little from week
to week in each season of the church year.
This is different from many churches that pride themselves in being spontaneous in their worship. In such churches, the content of the service depends entirely on the pastor’s efforts in creating a new worship pattern each week.
Which is better? Or which is right and which is wrong? First of all, we need to realize that the Lord prescribes no particular order of worship or style of worship. This is part of our freedom as New Testament Christians.
God does want us to hear and learn his Word and to share in the Sacraments. Therefore, Christian worship revolves around these things.
While it may seem ideal to have spontaneous worship in church, in reality there are more benefits to using the set patterns of liturgical worship. When you come to God individually in prayer and worship, you can be spontaneous and free, but when a group worships, spontaneity can end up in confusion.
And what often happens in non-liturgical worship is that worship wanders aimlessly through the random contributions of the worshippers, or the pastor falls into using the same pattern of worship week in and week out anyway, rather than putting in the hours it would take each week to develop worship forms that are both new and meaningful.
The benefits of liturgical worship
The regular Sunday worship, based on the historic liturgical worship services that developed out of the earliest Christian worship, not only connects us in spirit to fellow believers who have used those same worship patterns throughout the centuries, but also gives the congregation opportunity to sing and say meaningful thoughts through the whole service.
Once you’ve worshipped with it a few times, it has the advantage of familiarity. And with changes in the church year, we use different orders of worship that focus on the theme of that part of the church year and remind us of how our unchanging God leads us through the changes in our lives.
And liturgical worship offers something out of the ordinary—a sense of mystery as we join with each other in worship forms whose structure date back hundreds, and even thousands, of years. It reminds us of those who have paved the way for us and of those for whom we will pave the way for in the future.
And it focuses us on the mystery of a God who has done the unimaginable for us, sending his Son to suffer our punishment so that we can call a perfect and holy God our Father.
The parts of the liturgical worship service
Although liturgical worship services may vary somewhat from season to season in the church year, they have the same structure at their core.
We prepare to meet our God
We prepare ourselves with song, or with responsive singing that focuses on the season of the church year. The pastor calls on God by invoking the name of “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and leads us in confessing our unworthiness to approach God as we confess our sins.
Then the pastor reminds us that God has forgiven us our sins through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, and declared us worthy to
approach him.
We enter into God’s presence
With responsive readings and songs of praise, we enter into God’s presence and prepare to hear him speak to us through his Word.
God speaks to us
We hear God speak to us in the reading of lessons from Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels and join in responsive reading or singing of one of the Psalms. Then, in the sermon, the pastor expounds on a short section of Scripture help us understand more fully what God has done for us and how that affects our lives.
We respond to God’s grace
After the sermon, we offer ourselves to God. We reaffirm our faith in God by joining in one of the Creeds that has long reflected the beliefs of God’s children. We offer of the blessings that God has given us by returning some of those blessings in our offerings to God. And we come to God in prayer, placing our needs, our fears, and our lives in his hands.
Our Lord gives himself to us
Earlier, our Lord spoke to us in his Word, strengthening our understanding. Now Christ gives himself to us in a very personal way, giving us his body and blood, which he willingly sacrificed to save us. In Holy Communion, there is no mistaking the personal nature of what Christ did for us. As we eat and drink the bread and the wine, we also personally receive Christ’s body and blood.
We receive the forgiveness that comes from Christ’s sacrifice—personally and individually. Where God earlier spoke to our minds, he now speaks to our hearts, saying, “Yes, I really did do all this for you.”
We thank God and go out to serve him in the world
Having tasted of God’s blessings, we offer him thanks, and express our willingness to serve him in our daily lives. And with God’s final blessing through the pastor, God sends us out to do just that.
(Courtesy of St. John's Lutheran
Church - NE Minneapolis)
The reasons for liturgical worship
One of the first things you’ll notice when you worship with us at Trinity is that we are a “liturgical” church. In other words, we follow a
regular pattern of worship in which the congregation responds to the worship leader in jointly spoken phrases or songs that vary little from week
to week in each season of the church year.
This is different from many churches that pride themselves in being spontaneous in their worship. In such churches, the content of the service depends entirely on the pastor’s efforts in creating a new worship pattern each week.
Which is better? Or which is right and which is wrong? First of all, we need to realize that the Lord prescribes no particular order of worship or style of worship. This is part of our freedom as New Testament Christians.
God does want us to hear and learn his Word and to share in the Sacraments. Therefore, Christian worship revolves around these things.
While it may seem ideal to have spontaneous worship in church, in reality there are more benefits to using the set patterns of liturgical worship. When you come to God individually in prayer and worship, you can be spontaneous and free, but when a group worships, spontaneity can end up in confusion.
And what often happens in non-liturgical worship is that worship wanders aimlessly through the random contributions of the worshippers, or the pastor falls into using the same pattern of worship week in and week out anyway, rather than putting in the hours it would take each week to develop worship forms that are both new and meaningful.
The benefits of liturgical worship
The regular Sunday worship, based on the historic liturgical worship services that developed out of the earliest Christian worship, not only connects us in spirit to fellow believers who have used those same worship patterns throughout the centuries, but also gives the congregation opportunity to sing and say meaningful thoughts through the whole service.
Once you’ve worshipped with it a few times, it has the advantage of familiarity. And with changes in the church year, we use different orders of worship that focus on the theme of that part of the church year and remind us of how our unchanging God leads us through the changes in our lives.
And liturgical worship offers something out of the ordinary—a sense of mystery as we join with each other in worship forms whose structure date back hundreds, and even thousands, of years. It reminds us of those who have paved the way for us and of those for whom we will pave the way for in the future.
And it focuses us on the mystery of a God who has done the unimaginable for us, sending his Son to suffer our punishment so that we can call a perfect and holy God our Father.
The parts of the liturgical worship service
Although liturgical worship services may vary somewhat from season to season in the church year, they have the same structure at their core.
We prepare to meet our God
We prepare ourselves with song, or with responsive singing that focuses on the season of the church year. The pastor calls on God by invoking the name of “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and leads us in confessing our unworthiness to approach God as we confess our sins.
Then the pastor reminds us that God has forgiven us our sins through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, and declared us worthy to
approach him.
We enter into God’s presence
With responsive readings and songs of praise, we enter into God’s presence and prepare to hear him speak to us through his Word.
God speaks to us
We hear God speak to us in the reading of lessons from Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels and join in responsive reading or singing of one of the Psalms. Then, in the sermon, the pastor expounds on a short section of Scripture help us understand more fully what God has done for us and how that affects our lives.
We respond to God’s grace
After the sermon, we offer ourselves to God. We reaffirm our faith in God by joining in one of the Creeds that has long reflected the beliefs of God’s children. We offer of the blessings that God has given us by returning some of those blessings in our offerings to God. And we come to God in prayer, placing our needs, our fears, and our lives in his hands.
Our Lord gives himself to us
Earlier, our Lord spoke to us in his Word, strengthening our understanding. Now Christ gives himself to us in a very personal way, giving us his body and blood, which he willingly sacrificed to save us. In Holy Communion, there is no mistaking the personal nature of what Christ did for us. As we eat and drink the bread and the wine, we also personally receive Christ’s body and blood.
We receive the forgiveness that comes from Christ’s sacrifice—personally and individually. Where God earlier spoke to our minds, he now speaks to our hearts, saying, “Yes, I really did do all this for you.”
We thank God and go out to serve him in the world
Having tasted of God’s blessings, we offer him thanks, and express our willingness to serve him in our daily lives. And with God’s final blessing through the pastor, God sends us out to do just that.