Published on
June 1, 2005
An order of worship planned around Hebrews 10, originally held at the Calvin Symposium on Worship. The third 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.

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.

Theme of the Service

Gathering to Worship

Prelude: “Hear, King of Angels,” from the Christmas Oratorio, J. S. Bach, arr. Layton James

Call to Worship:

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before our God with thanksgiving,
and extol him with music and song.

Let us worship our Lord Jesus Christ,
who offered himself for us and for our salvation.
We gather to worship our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the way, the truth and the life.

* Hymn: “We Come, O Christ, to You”
St. 1, 3, and 5 in unison; st. 2 and 4 in harmony

Text: Margaret Clarkson (b. 1915), 1946, rev. 1984
Text copyright © 1957, 1985, InterVarsity Press. Assigned 1987 to Hope Publishing Co.
Music: Darwall's 148th; John Darwall (1731-1789), 1770; desc. Sydney H. Nicholson (1875-1947)
Descant copyright © 1947, Hymns Ancient and Modern, Ltd.

*Greeting (from Isaiah 41:9-10)

* Hymn: “Here, O Lord, Your Servants Gather / Sekai no tomo to te o tsunagi”
St. 1 sung by the choir, st. 2-4 by all

Text: Tokuo Yamaguchi (1900-1995), 1958; tr. Everett M. Stowe (b. 1897), 1958, 1972
Text tr. copyright © 1958, The United Methodist Publishing House, admin. The Copyright Company.
Music: Tokyo, Japanese Gagaku mode; arr. Isao Koizumi (1907-1992)
Music copyright © 1958 Isao Koizumi.

Confession and Assurance

Call to Confession (from Romans 5:8, Hebrews 4:16)

Prayer of Confession

Most gracious and most merciful God,
we confess to you and to one another that time after time
we have entered your presence with countless prayers,
but with hearts that have been closed to your grace.
We have lifted our hands to you in praise,
but our feet have still walked in the ways of evil.
We have rehearsed your commandments
but have refused to see your face in the needs of our neighbor.
We pray, Lord, that you forgive our lack of faith
and pardon our acts of injustice.
Grant us the healing that comes from your presence
and the cleansing of your all-powerful Word,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon (from 1 Timothy 1:15, 17)

I declare to you in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.

* Hymn: “Praise the Savior, Now and Ever”
St. 1 all, st. 2 women, st. 3 men, st. 4 all in unison

Text: Venantius Honorius Fortunatus (c. 530-609), 569; tr. Augustus Nelson (1863-1949), alt.
Music: Upp, min tunga; Then Swenska Psalm-Boken, Stockholm, 1697

* Passing of the Peace

Proclamation of the Word

Prayer for Illumination: “Speak, O Lord,” Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, arr. John Ferguson
Sung on our behalf by the choir

Text and music: Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Text and music copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music.

Old Testament Lesson: 1 Samuel 2:1-10, The Prayer of Hannah

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Gospel Lesson: Luke 1:26-33, 38a, 39-42, 46-55, arranged by John Ferguson

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

New Testament Lesson: Hebrews 10:1-18

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Sermon: “Witnessing Perfection”
• Listen (10 MB)

Response of Prayer and Thanksgiving

Sung Call to Prayer: “Let Us Draw Near the Throne of God”

Text: Christopher L. Webber (b. 1932), based on Hebrews 10:19-25
Text copyright © 2005, Christopher L. Webber.
Music: Federal Street; Henry K. Oliver (1800-1885), 1832

Prayers of the People

* Closing Hymn: “Since Our Great High Priest”
St. 1 in unison, st. 2-3 in harmony, st. 4 in unison

Text: based on Hebrews 1:3-4; 4:14-16; 12:2; vers. Christopher M. Idle (b. 1938), 1973
Text copyright © 1973, Hope Publishing Co.
Music: All Saints; Gesangbuch, Darmstadt, 1698; adapt. William H. Monk (1823-1889), 1861

* Blessing

Postlude on the Credo, “We All Believe in One True God,” J. S. Bach

Credits

The call to confession, prayer of confession and assurance of pardon are reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004, CRC Publications (TWS 2.1.7; TWS 2.2.22; TWS 2.4.30)

Anthems

“Speak, O Lord,” Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, arr. John Ferguson, MorningStar MSM-50-5108
“Mary’s Story: As Told by St. Luke,” John Ferguson, GIA Publications, Inc. G-6668
“Magnificat,” John Ferguson, GIA Publications, Inc. G-6667