1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Prelude
Opening Song: Gather Us In Lift Up Your Hearts, 529
God's Greeting and Call to Worship
Leader: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
All: And also with you!
Our help is in the name of the Lord, Psalm 124:8
who made heaven and earth.
Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, based on Ephesians 4:12–13
you have adopted us as your children,
you lavish your grace upon us at Word and table.
May all we do here equip us for ministry,
build us up as the body of Christ,
strengthen our unity in faith,
deepen our knowledge of Jesus, our Lord,
and help us to grow into maturity as your children,
reflecting the full stature of Christ.
Amen.
Song: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus Lift Up Your Hearts, 831
Sung Call to Confession: The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation Psalm 27
Sung Prayer of Confessions: Create in Me/Crea en mí Psalm 51
Assurance of Pardon Isaiah 65: 17-25
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
Song of Response: The Lord Is Kind and Merciful Psalm 103
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Revelation 21: 1-8, 22-27
Sermon
Prayer of Application
Song of Application: Come, We That Love the Lord Lift Up Your Hearts, 483
The choral introduction to this congregational hymn is based on
the historic African American tune associated with “Come, We That Love the Lord.”
Prayers of the People with Healer of Our Every Ill Lift Up Your Hearts, 303
Refrain and Stanza 1
Prayer: Spirit of all comfort, you know us. You know our fears and our sadness;
you hear the cries of the suffering around the world . . .
Refrain and Stanza 2
Prayer: God of love, thank you for your grace which beautifully unfolds before us. Thank you for . . .
Refrain and Stanza 3
Prayer: Spirit of kindness, thank you for the sisters and brothers gathered here in this place.
Thank you for the families and churches that they represent. . . .
Refrain and Stanza 4
Prayer: Spirit of compassion, God who knows all our thoughts and feelings,
thank you for your promise to one day make everything new. . . .
Refrain
Blessing Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who by the power at work within us
is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.
Go in peace to love and serve the coming Lord.
Closing Song: Soon and Very Soon Lift Up Your Hearts, 482
Leaders: Karen Campbell, preaching; James Abbington; alumni from the James Abbington Church Music Academy; Tony Alonso;
Marty Haugen; Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.; Emmett G. Price III
Jared Ortiz, professor at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, describes the Nicene Creed as a dramatic and powerful statement where every word is like a declaration of war, saying yes to the truth and no to many falsehoods.
Jane Williams, professor of theology at St. Mellitus College in London, England, sees the Nicene Creed, crafted 1700 years ago, as an extraordinary creative and exciting description of who God is and therefore what we trust in as Christians in God's world.
Maria Eugenia Cornou and Mikie Roberts serve on a planning team for an October worship event in Egypt to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the ecumenical creed that emerged in the year 325 and remains firmly embedded in the worship practices of the church today.
Jared Ortiz, professor at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, describes the Nicene Creed as a dramatic and powerful statement where every word is like a declaration of war, saying yes to the truth and no to many falsehoods.
Jane Williams, professor of theology at St. Mellitus College in London, England, sees the Nicene Creed, crafted 1700 years ago, as an extraordinary creative and exciting description of who God is and therefore what we trust in as Christians in God's world.
Maria Eugenia Cornou and Mikie Roberts serve on a planning team for an October worship event in Egypt to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the ecumenical creed that emerged in the year 325 and remains firmly embedded in the worship practices of the church today.
This expression of Psalm 148 was submitted by Ed Willmington, who wrote it with Clayton J. Schmit. The nature of Psalm 148 is total exuberance as all of nature offers praise to God.
