All Posts in Liturgy

April 3, 2019 - No Comments!

Single-minded

As part of our series in 1 Corinthians, we recently spent some time on chapter 7. Interestingly, most would say this passage is primarily about singleness and marriage, but zooming out we can see Paul's driving point is wholehearted devotion to the Lord. In other words, being single-minded on God's purposes and His kingdom. I wrote and read this confession in our gathering to draw our attention to this theme for the day:

For all our distractions and pursuit of other things,
Father forgive us.

For all the ways our competing cares lead us to forget you,
Father forgive us.

For our frenzied and chaotic thoughts, believing that busyness is what matters most,
Father forgive us.

For all the ways we leave no room for you, when everything we have is yours,
Father forgive us.

Whenever we confess, we always recite or hear an assurance of pardon to remind our people that our confessions are never met with silence from the Father.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:4
-7

May we be a single-minded people, attentive to the needs of those around us, and devoted to making our lives count.

October 3, 2018 - No Comments!

Older + Younger

We've been walking through the Lord's Prayer over the last several weeks at Doxa. This last week we looked at the phrase, "forgive us as we forgive others". Our teaching pastor spent time looking back at the prodigal son story, many of us are familiar with.

Preachers have often stood behind a pulpit and asked their congregations which brother they identify with. My answer has always been both. I can easily reach for self-righteousness as I can shame. I can hold others in derision and then do the same for myself. I can feel entitled and unworthy in the span of 10 minutes. To that end, I wrote this for our liturgy and read this as a call to worship in our gatherings last Sunday.

I am the younger
I want my inheritance now
I don’t like waiting
you say you’re good, but look at all this mud
I knew I couldn’t trust you

I am the older
oh, 'they' get to come back
they haven’t hit rock bottom
they don’t mean it
they’ll mess up again
and you’ll look like a fool

I am the younger
I’ve messed up big this time
now I’ve done it
this is my third strike
your doubts about me are true
I’ve burned this bridge for the last time

I am the older
sure they said sorry
but I’m not sure they mean it
they just want a hand out
they just want to walk over me again
they’ll never change

I am the younger
if I keep my distance, i won’t feel guilty
you can’t hug me if your arms are crossed
I’m running out of options
maybe I should go back
maybe I could work for him

I am the older
they doesn’t deserve this
I haven’t struggled with that for minutes
someone is going to teach them a lesson
I mean, I guess he’s home,
that’s not so bad

I am the younger
the father knows me, sees me, and forgives me

I am the older
the father knows me, sees me, and forgives me

August 24, 2018 - No Comments!

Everyday Endings

The good people over at Saturate recently posted my final installment in the Gospel Liturgy series. Many of the questions I get around this topic are addressed there so read the series for a brief but hopefully helpful explanation about how I incorporate these elements in our gatherings.

Additionally, you can view some sample Gospel Liturgy slides that are used in our gatherings here. We use these to visually cue our congregation with both the categories and content of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.

If you yourself would like help building out a Gospel Liturgy for your church, or if you'd like hands-on training for your worship leader, I offer coaching around these topics. I'd love to help you shape your gatherings with gospel intentionality. Let me know if you're interested!

July 3, 2018 - No Comments!

Voices

This last Sunday we launched our third annual "Voices" series where we invite outside speakers to come challenge our community. It's one of my favorite "traditions" we have as a church.

The series revolves around the themes of needing wisdom from others, the benefit of an outside perspectives, and being mindful of what voices we listen to in our lives.

As always, we make an effort for our liturgy to be shaped by the themes of the series we are working through. To that end, I wrote and read this in our confessional moment in the gatherings Sunday.

CONFESSION OF VOICES
We respond to God because of his grace. We need his grace because we fall short. Because we fall short we confess when we gather. To help us remember what is true, to invite humility, and recognize that we are not God. Confession is an opportunity to enjoy God and His grace.

We always have a renewed reason to respond, because God’s grace has recently responded to the recent ways in which we have not loved him and others.

So let us confess:

We have fallen more in love with the sound of our own voice than yours.

We have held others to higher standards than ourselves, and thus shut out their voices from our lives.

We have elevated our preferences and diminished others needs.

We have sought to be right more than to understand.

We have taken your presence for granted, forgetting that you sit over all creation and have no obligation to be near us, yet choose to never leave us.

God, may we experience your compassion in the way we sinfully choose to heed other voices. May we listen to your voice above all others. your voice is one of grace, truth, and empathy.

February 28, 2018 - No Comments!

The Nicene Creed

One of the many elements we employ in our liturgy are prayers and creeds from church history. The "low hanging fruit" in this area are certainly the foundational creeds that all Christians (let's be honest, all Christians can't agree on anything) hold as helpful, true, and clarifying. The top three most widely accepted and accessible would inarguably be the Nicene, Apostles', and Athanasian Creeds.

The Nicene Creed, so named because it was adopted by the Church in Nicaea (modern day Turkey) by an important meeting known as the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. The Nicene Creed's history is fascinating, particularly that it has weathered the test of time so well. Very few things have endured the combative and complicated path of church history as well as this creed. Most creeds were penned to combat specific heresies on the rise, in this case Arianism, which posited that Christ was created by the Father and as such, less than the Father in "godness".

One of my favorite effects of using creeds in our gatherings is the unifying power it brings, not just historically but even to those in the room from different backgrounds.

The version we used last Sunday is formally called the Reformed Version, and I believe it to be helpful in its choice of terms, particularly with how the word Catholic has changed over time. Consider using this in your gatherings sometime!

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.


Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.

The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.

We believe in one holy universal and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come.
Amen.

June 15, 2017 - No Comments!

Confession for Jonah

As we've walked through the book of Jonah at Doxa Church, we've clearly seen how the book is obviously about Jonah, but also about Jesus...and also about us.

Jonah is a tough book. Believing that God's grace is big enough for us and for the people we despise is where anyone that does Christianity as a hobby, a social club, or because their parents told them to, falls off and finds an easier path. To remind our people that we can be just like Jonah, and to reinforce our liturgy movement, we participated in this confession and assurance of pardon last week. I hope it serves you well.

CONFESSION
We have believed that you don’t have enough grace for us,
 that our sin is greater than you,
 forgive us Father.

We have believed that others don’t deserve your grace, 
that we know justice better than you,
 forgive us Father.

We have believed that we can run from you that somehow we could create distance between us and an omnipresent God. Forgive us Father.

We have believed that You won’t do what’s best, that we need to protect ourselves, sometimes in lieu of you, sometimes from you. Forgive us Father.

We have believed that you won’t provide for us, and assume the things that we care about are what we need, forgive us Father.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON
We say aloud that your grace is enough for us,
and for those that have wounded us.
We acknowledge that your presence is constant
and always for our good.
You provide for our needs without exception,
but in your wisdom know what we often strive
for that which can ultimately harm us.
Thank you Father for being quick to forgive,
slow to anger, 
rich in compassion, 
and eternally constant.

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