In the previous post I reviewed Perspectives on Christian Worship, and in that post I said that I found the “blended worship” position to be the most convincing. In this post, I want to post an example of an order of service that I put together last semester for a class. I’m not saying this is the only way to order a worship service. This is just one example of how to perform the elements of worship. I tried to order the service in a way that is God-focused, Scripture-saturated, and limited to the elements of worship revealed in Scripture. I also tried to order the service in a way that flows well, stays vertically focused, and communicates a grand vision of God. Pastors are responsible for overseeing worship. A pastor is shirking his duty if worship services are planned in a slapdash manner.
Also, this order of service is highly influenced by my own experience of worship at the church I attend. The brothers and sisters there have provided a great example of God-centered and gospel-saturated worship. I have been shaped by worship there in an indelible way.
A SUNDAY MORNING ORDER OF WORSHIP
CALL TO WORSHIP
How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You.
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
Behold our shield, O God,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!
Psalm 84:1-4, 8-10a, 11-12
Transition: Let us bind our hearts together in one voice and consider the greatness of the God whom we worship this morning. Rise together and sing “Be Still and Know.”
“Be Still and Know” #457 in the Baptist Hymnal
Transition: In the presence of our Creator, Redeemer and Judge, let us take a few moments to analyze our thoughts, words, and deeds in the light of God’s holy demands. Let us reverently sing and meditate on these warnings from Psalm 50.
CALL TO CONFESSION
Psalm 50 (sung to “The Risen Christ” #268 in The Baptist Hymnal)
Lyrics by Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, Public Domain
The Lord, the Judge, his churches warns,
Let hypocrites attend and fear,
Who place their hope in rites and forms,
But make not faith nor love their care.
To heav’n they lift their hands unclean,
Defil’d with lust, defil’d with blood;
By night they practice every sin,
By day their mouths draw near to God.
O dreadful hour! When God draws near,
And sets their crimes before their eyes!
His wrath their guilty souls shall tear,
And no deliverer dare to rise.
Transition: Let us read what Scripture says concerning confession.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8-9
Transition: Let’s take a few moments to silently confess our sins to the Lord.
Transition: Beloved, let us read together the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.
THE PROMISE OF SALVATION
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7
Transition: Thanks be to God for His mercy. Let us rise and sing praises to Him. Let us declare His lovingkindness and the greatness of His works among us.
“All Heaven Declares” #140 in the Baptist Hymnal
Transition Statement: We have a new believer who is joining the body of Christ this morning through baptism. We have read the promises of the gospel this morning; let us now prepare to see the Word of God in the symbol of baptism. Let us sing together hymn #398.
“Baptized in Water” #398 in the Baptist Hymnal (Verses 1 and 2)
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT BAPTISM
Q. What is baptism?
A. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament
instituted by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, burial, and resurrection; of his being ingrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of his giving up himself unto God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.
Q. To whom is baptism to be administered?
A. Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God, faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.
Q. What is the duty of such who are rightly baptized?
A. It is the duty of such who are rightly baptized to give up themselves to some particular and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
The Baptist Catechism: Questions 97, 98 and 101
Public Domain
BAPTISM
“Baptized in Water” #398 in the Baptist Hymnal (Verse 3)
MINISTRY OF PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 5:1-12
MINISTRY OF GOD’S WORD
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:1-12
THE LORD’S SUPPER
Transition Statement: Let us prepare our hearts for this holy meal by singing together hymn
#404.
“The Communion Hymn” #404 in The Baptist Hymnal (Verses 1 & 2)
Breaking of the Bread
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you,
that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
“This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
1 Cor. 11:23-24
“The Communion Hymn” #404 (Verse 3)
Drinking of the Cup
In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood;
do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
You proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
1 Cor. 11:25-26
“The Communion Hymn” #404 (Verse 4)
Transition Statement: We have eaten and drunk deeply from the great mercy of our God signified in Lord’s Supper. Now let us respond to God’s grace in an offering of thanksgiving.
THANKSGIVING THROUGH OFFERING
“Give Thanks” #576 in the Baptist Hymnal
Transition Statement: Receive this benediction from the book of Jude.
BENEDICTION
Now to Him who is able to keep you from strumbling,
And to make you stand in the presence of His glory
Blameless with great joy,
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Be glory, majesty, dominion and authority,
Before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24-25
