Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The worship service

TEN YEARS OF WORSHIP
Dr. Paul Manuel—2008

Pastor Manuel served the German Seventh Day Baptist Church in Salemville. Pennsylvania.  In 2008 he published this summary for the congregation of their worship experience over that time. The appendices (available on this pdf) contain many resources for worship.

Over the past ten years, we have held more than 500 services in obedience to the oft-repeated command in scripture to worship God.1 Most of those services have been thematic, focusing on the many divine attributes and actions that call forth our praise. Through those various themes, I hope that you have come to know better the One we serve2 and that you have been able to draw closer to Him. Because any increase in your understanding of God should also increase your devotion to God, I hope you have seen growth in your relationship with Him as well, growth that is manifest by a greater desire to please Him in what you say and do. Moreover, worshiping God now prepares you to meet God later, when you will see Him face to face.3 Hence, in addition to focusing what we do on Sabbath morning, these services have been part of your orientation for that heavenly appointment.

What follows is a summary, reviewing some of the manifold reasons we have employed to worship God. They are certainly not exhaustive, but they are illustrative of why He is worthy of our constant devotion. There are many reasons the LORD deserves our worship, far more than we could list.4 Some of these service themes we have used more than once, which is appropriate of course, given the greatness of the God we serve. Ultimately, however, the fact that He is God is sufficient reason to worship Him.

Each service begins with a meditation passage and a meditation hymn (which is also the closing hymn) that introduces the theme and allows people to prepare for their time of adoration before God. What follows is a biblical passage that calls the congregation to worship, an invocation in prayer, and three more sections of scripture and hymns that explicate the theme. In most cases, this constitutes the worship service before the sermon. Depending on the time for preliminary matters (e.g., announcements, offering, children’s message, prayer concerns) and the length of the sermon itself (average 20-30 minutes), the whole session together should be about one hour. Although it is certainly possible to abbreviate the service by shortening the biblical passages or singing fewer verses of the hymns, most often the pressures of time constraints arise because we give more attention to our interests than we give to God’s interests, more attention to what we have to say than to listening for what God has said, more attention to satisfying us than to seeking God. Of all that we do on Sabbath morning, however important those other activities may be, by far the most important activity is what prepares us for what we will be doing for all eternity: worshiping God.

The Appendices contain a selection (50+) of the thematic services we have used at the German Seventh Day Baptist Church. The NIV is the Bible translation throughout, unless noted otherwise. The congregation has two hymnals: Favorite Hymns of Praise (FHP) and The Worshiping Church (WCh).5 The verse portion in italics below the hymn selection is what connects the hymn to the preceding scripture. All service themes begin with, “We worship God because He….”

Appendix A: A Partial List of Abridged Services

"We worship God because..."
He Accepts Us.
He expresses His acceptance to us.
He extends His acceptance to us.
He expects us to accept one another.		 He Is Committed to His People.
…because He stands with us.
…because He fights for us.
…because He gives to us.
He Amazes Us.
… with His holiness.
… with His power.
… with His love.		 No Suffering Is Out of His Control.
No one inflicts suffering on Him.
No one inflicts suffering…apart from Him.
No one eases suffering like Him.
He Answers Our Prayers.
… for guidance.
… for sustenance.
… for assurance.		 He Is Eternal.
He exists in eternity.
He plans for eternity.
He includes us in eternity.
He Attends to Our Needs.
… our emotional needs.
… our physical needs.
… our spiritual needs.
… our every need.		 He Is Our Father.
… He guides His children.
… He disciplines His children.
… He rewards His children.
He Blesses Us.
… with His peace.
… with His preference.
… with His protection.
… with His provision.		 He Forgives Us.
He knows we need forgiveness.
He provides the means of forgiveness.
He expects us to practice forgiveness.
He Brings Us Good News.
… of joy.
… of grace.
… of peace
… of salvation.		 He Frees Us.
… from depravity.
… from disease.
… from distress.
… from drifting.
He Brings Us into His Family.
He redeems us from slavery to sin.
He adopts us as His children.
He grants us an eternal inheritance.		 He Gave Us the Church.
He established the church.
He equips the church.
He encourages the church.
He Changes Us.
… our character.
… our minds.
… our bodies.		 He Is Generous.
… with His grace.
… with His wisdom.
… with His Spirit.
He Chose Us.
… to be saved.
… to be holy.
… to be productive.		 He Gives Us Encouragement.
… with His presence.
… with His power.
… with His plan.
He Comforts Us.
…with the certainty of His promise.
…with the assurance of His presence.
…with the support of His power.		 He Gives Us His Spirit.
…to renew us.
…to indwell us.
…to guide us.
He Gives Us His Word.
He informs us….
He directs us….
He preserves us….

 He Is Inscrutable.
…incomprehensible in His actions.
…incomprehensible in His attitudes.
…incomprehensible in His awareness.
…incomprehensible in His affection.

He Gives Us Hope.
… in Him.
… in what He has done.
… in what He will do.

 He Is Just.
… in His judgments.
… in His punishment.
… in His mercy.
… in His reward.
He Gives Us Joy.
… in being aware of God.
… in being redeemed by God.
… in being adopted by God.		 He Is Loving.
… enough to save us.
… enough to adopt us.
We must love Him enough to obey Him.
He Gives Us Peace.
…when we face personal difficulties.
…when we face natural difficulties.
…when we face supernatural difficulties.		 He Is Majestic.
… in His appearance.
… in His attributes.
… in His actions.
He Will Give Us Relief.
…by providing comfort from sorrow.
…by providing rest from labor.
…by providing deliverance from Satan.
…by providing separation from sin.		 He Makes Us Productive.
…as we display righteousness for Him.
…as we maintain connection to Him
…as we pursue holiness in Him.
He Gives Us Success.
… when we are prayerful.
… when we are careful.
… when we are faithful.		 He Is Merciful.
His mercy has purpose.
His mercy is eternal.
His mercy covers all.
He Gives Us Victory.
… over sin.
… over suffering.
… over Satan.
… over death.		 He Is Mighty.
…to hear us in times of distress.
…to hold us in times of dismay.
…to heal us in times of disease.
He Is a God of Expectation.
He encourages our expectation.
He fulfills our expectation.
He surpasses our expectation.		 He Is Omniscient.
…knowing everything completely.
…knowing everything eternally.
…knowing everything uniquely.
He Is Holy.
God Himself is holy.
God’s name is holy.
God’s people must be holy.		 He Prepares a Place for Us.
Heaven is where the Father is.
Heaven is where the Son has gone.
Heaven is where the saints will be.
He Honors Faith.
He has honored faith in the past.
He honors faith in the present.
He will honor faith in the future.		 He Purifies Us.
He enables us to receive purity.
He encourages us to renew purity.
He enriches us who retain purity.
He Is Infinite.
No place can contain Him.
No problem can confound Him.
No person can control Him.		 He Raises the Dead.
He has raised others.
He has raised Jesus.
He will raise us.
He Redeems Us.
…through … the Scripture.
…through … the Son
…through … the Spirit		 He Spares Us.
… from divine judgment.
… from physical calamity.
… from eternal want.
He Has Revealed Himself.
…in the creation.
…in the scriptures.
…in the Spirit.
…in the messiah.		 He Tests Us.
… to examine our obedience.
… to refine our character.
… to confirm our faith.
He Rewards Us.
…for our devotion.
…for our discretion.
…for our diligence.

 He Is Three in One.
He is the Father.
He is the Son.
He is the Spirit.
He is three in one.
He Sent Jesus.
… to be our savior.
… to be our servant.
… to be our sovereign.		 He is True.
He is the only true God.
He speaks only the truth.
We must be true as well.
He Shows Us How to Live.
…through His spoken word.
…through His written word.
…through His living word.		 He Welcomes Us.
… to know Him.
… to be with Him.
We must welcome Him.
He Is Sovereign.
…as our creator.
…as our sustainer.
…as our redeemer.		 He Works on Our Behalf.
… in creation.
… in salvation.
We must work for Him.

He Is Worthy.
… of our praise.
… of our obedience.
… of our fear.

Appendix B, which contains the expanded services, including scripture readings, responsive readings, hymns, etc. is found in this pdf along with the Endnotes and Bibliography.
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Relevant and civil comments are welcome. Whether there will be any response depends on whether Dr. Manuel notices them and has the time and inclination to respond or, if not, whether I feel competent to do so.
Jim Skaggs

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