1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Welcome
Invocation – Awakening
Gillian D. Grannum © 2000 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Call – Psalm 30:1-3 (NLT)
I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health.
You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
Response – Amazing Grace
John Newton, Public Domain
Call – Psalm 30:4 (NLT)
Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.
Response – O Give Thanks
Gillian D. Grannum © 2011 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Call – Psalm 30:5 (NLT)
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Response –
Rain
Gillian D. Grannum © 2000 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Cry - Collective Improvisation, Jazz Vespers Ensemble
The Bottle of Tears [Song of Comfort]
Ruth Naomi Floy © 2006 NaRu Music
Call – Psalm 30:6-7a (NLT)
When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!”
Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.
Response – I Know
Gillian D. Grannum © 2004 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Call – Psalm 30:7b-10 (NLT)
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.
I cried out to you, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
“What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave?
Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.”
Response – Divine Reply
Gillian D. Grannum © 2011 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Call – Psalm 30:11-12 (NLT)
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!
Response – Oh, Give Thanks
Gillian D. Grannum © 2011 Rain Down Melodies, LLC
Benediction – Oh, How He Loves You and Me
Kurt Kaiser © 1975 Word Music, LLC
Jazz Vespers Ensemble:
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
