Published on
February 24, 2017
Video length
3 mins

A worship service held at Worship Symposium 2017

 

The Faithful Witness Revealed

Prelude                                                                                           Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Welcome and God's Greeting

O magnify the Lord with me.
Let us exalt God’s name together!

We will give thanks to you, O Lord, with our whole heart;
we will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
We will be glad and exult in you;
we will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Amen.

Sung Call to Worship: Mari beribadah/Let Us Come and Worship

Words and Music: Traditional Batak; J.A.U. Doloksaribu, Indonesia © J.A.U. Doloksaribu;
English para. Andrew Donaldson © 2015 World Council of Churches

Hymn of Praise: All People That on Earth Do Dwell (Psalm 100)           Lift Up Your Hearts, 1

Call to Confession                                                                                               Psalm 139

Prayer of Confession: Take, O Take Me As I Am

Assurance of Pardon                                                                                       Ezekiel 36:25-26

Song of Response: I Love the Lord; He Heard My Cry                         Lift Up Your Hearts, 439

Confession of Faith: from the Belhar Confession                                 Lift Up Your Hearts, 259

Prayer for the Witness of Justice and Reconciliation

Song of Response: Miren qué bueno/Oh, Look and Wonder (Psalm 133)

                                                                                                                                                                      Lift Up Your Hearts, 260

Passing of the Peace

As God has given us peace through Christ, so let us pass the peace of Christ to each 
other saying, “The peace of Christ be with you.” “And also with you.”

Prayer for Illumination

Scripture Reading                                                                                          Revelation 1:1-20

Sermon: What Do You See?

Song of Application: Que a nadie le falte/Let No One Miss Out

Words: Gerardo Oberman © Gerardo Oberman; English tr. Emily R. Brink
Music (NO MUY RÁPIDO): Merengue Dominicano; arr. Horacio Vivares © Horacio Vivares

Prayers of the People                                                                           

Song of Dedication: Go to the World                                                     

Parting Blessing                                                                                              2 Corinthians 13:13

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Conference Welcome

Organ Postlude: Pièce d´Orgue                                                                              J.S. Bach

 

 

 


Leaders:
Luke Powery, preaching
The planning team for the 2017 General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, 
musicians and liturgists: Alison Adam, André Bartlett, Christiane Brautigam, Nina Ciesilski, 
María Cornou, Sabine Dressler, Chineta Goodjoin, Dwight Kelly, Hanns Lessing, Gerardo Oberman,
Kathy Smith, Bruce Theron, and Ester Widiasih
Coro Polifónico, musicians
Calvin College students, musicians

Recent Media Resources

Surprised by the Psalms

Anneke Kaai studied fine art and painting in the Netherlands at secular schools in the 1960s and ’70s. That experience compelled her to express her Christian faith through her art. She has painted many works based on scripture, including three series of paintings on the psalms, which she sees as a bountiful resource of imagery for the full range of human feelings in relation to God.

May 5, 2026 | 90 min video
Psalmody in Black: The Psalter as Human Expression

This workshop explores the deep connection between the psalms and the breadth of human emotion through musical settings by Black composers. Interwoven with reflections on the history and function of the Psalter, this program reveals how these timeless texts continue to speak to the spiritual, emotional, and cultural experiences of our shared humanity. 

May 1, 2026 | 90 min video
Andrew Wilkes on Doing the Work of Liberation and Justice with the Psalms as Our Guide

Pastor-scholar Andrew Wilkes shares how his worshiping community, Double Love Experience Church, prayed and sang the psalms during the troubling times of 2020. The psalms gave them language and support for praise and lament, and Wilkes asserts that lament is the evidence of faith because we are bringing our troubles to God.

April 10, 2026 | 14 min listen