1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
A communion worship service originally held at the Calvin Symposium on Worship, planned around Hebrews 13. The last of a six-part series on the book of Hebrews from the 2008 Symposium on Worship. These services are designed to rejuvenate the vigor of the faithful by returning us to our first love: our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ.
* “Uyai Mose / Come, All You People”
Text: St. 1, Alexander Gondo (20th c., Zimbabwe), tr. I-to Loh (b. 1936); st. 2-3, With One Voice (1995)
Music: Uyai mose; Alexander Gondo; arr. John L. Bell (b. 1949)
St. 1 and tune copyright © 1986, World Council of Churches
St. 2-3 copyright © 1995, from With One Voice/Augsburg Fortress
Arr. copyright © 1994, WGRG the Iona Community (Scotland), admin. GIA Publications, Inc.
* Greeting / Welcome
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
* Call to Worship
God makes the sun rise and set.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God makes summer and winter come and go.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God helps plants grow and flowers bloom.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God gives us food to eat, places to live, and people to love us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God is always with us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God keeps his promises to us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
Let us praise our faithful God.
* “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Text: Psalm 90:1-2; vers. Isaac Watts (1674-1748), 1719, alt.
Music: St. Anne; William Croft (1678-1727), 1708
* “One Generation Will Call to the Next”
Text and music: from Ps. 145:1-7; Greg Scheer
Text and music copyright © 2006, Faith Alive Christian Resources
Call to Confession: Hebrews 12:1-2
Prayer of Confession
“My Jesus, I Love Thee”
Text: William R. Featherstone (1846-1873), c. 1862
Music: Gordon; Adoniram J. Gordon (1836-1895), 1876
Words of Assurance: 1 Peter 2:24a
* “Be Thou My Vision”
Text: Irish 8th-10th c.; tr. Mary Byrne (1880-1931), 1905; vers. Eleanor Hull (1860-1935), 1912, alt.
Music: Slane; Irish folk melody
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:1-13
Sermon: “Morning Devotions”
• Listen (10 MB)
“Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer (May This Journey)”
St. 1-2 and refrain, soloist; st. 3 and refrain, congregation
Text and music: Margaret Becker and Keith Getty
Text and music copyright © 2001 Thankyou Music / Modern M Music, admin. worldwide by worshiptogether.com songs
Scripture: Hebrews 10:23-25
Remembering with Gratitude
A time of naming in gratitude the saints that have gone before us.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
God of the ages, we praise you for all your servants,
who have done justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly with their God.
For apostles and martyrs and saints of every time and place,
who in life and death have witnessed to your truth,
we praise you, O God.
For all your servants who have faithfully served you,
witnessed bravely and died in faith,
who are still shining lights in the world,
we praise you, O God.
For those we have known and loved,
for teachers and students, colleagues and friends,
for parents and grandparents, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters,
for all who by their faithful obedience and steadfast hope
have shown the same mind that was in Christ Jesus,
we praise you, O God.
Keep us grateful for their witness, and, like them, eager to follow in the way of Christ.
Then at last, bring us together to share in the inheritance of the saints in light;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
* Scripture: Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God
who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
* “Hallelujah, Salvation, and Glory / Revelation 19:1”
Text: Rev. 19:1
Music: A. Jeffrey LaValley
Text and music copyright © Jeffrey LaValley
* Blessing
* “Grace Be with You All,” Michael Card, soloist
Text and music: Michael Card, Phil Naish, Rob Mathes
Text and music © 2000 River Oaks Music Company (a div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing).
L.O.F.T. (Living Our Faith Together) is a God-centered, Christ-led, Spirit-driven weekly worship service at Calvin College bringing together the best of Christian worship through a variety of music, scripture, prayer, art, and dance. Participation in praying, singing, and listening to God’s Word are essential components to every L.O.F.T. service as students express the broad range of human experience.
Various student worship teams directed by Paul Ryan and the Worship Apprentices assist in leading L.O.F.T. services. Calvin College faculty/staff and local Grand Rapids-area pastors are regular guest speakers. The public is welcome to join us Sundays at 8:00 p.m. in the chapel.
Credits
Call to worship and prayer of thanksgiving are reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004, CRC Publications (TWS B.1.2.3; TWS T.4.4.4, alt.)
