Revitalize Your Church

Gathering Call to Worship Waymaker Prayer for Troubled Times L: The Lord listens to us in times of trouble and joy. P: We call to the Lord in our anxiety and fear. L: God will not turn away from us. P: God will heal us and restore us. L: Let the Lord of life enter into your spirits. P: Lord, come to us and heal our brokenness and sorrow. AMEN (Retrieved from https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/5116/classic-worship-connection-june-25-2017 ) Old Testament Reading Psalm 27 Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus WORD Psalm 23 KJV Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us New Testament Reading Philippians 4:8-13 Gospel Reading Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” —John 14:27 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the worl...

C. S. Lewis connected worship with wellbeing when he wrote: The obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless …shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it.  The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits, and malcontents praised least...Except where intolerably adverse circumstances interfere, praise almost seems to b...

“We can use all the right techniques and methods, we can have the best possible liturgy, but we have not worshiped the Lord until Spirit touches spirit” -- Richard Foster

"Dusty, musty, wrapped in the mummy-like grave clothes of formalism and modern theology, without an 'amen' in the soul or a 'hallelujah' upon the lips, without the soft flowing pearls of erstwhile tender tears of conviction upon her cheeks, sits the professing church of Jesus Christ today, like a garden drooping; like a fountain that has ceased its flow; and offers but the poor apology of a bucket of muddy water from a hardly reached well." -- Aimee Semple McPherson

If you are given the task to lead the congregation in prayer on Sunday morning, I encourage you to consider the following: 1) You are the representative of the people  -- bringing their prayers and the concerns of their hearts before the Father. It is not just your own personal prayer -- so instead if saying, "God, I love you so much" say, "God, we are here to tell you how much we love you." 2) Be sure you don't pray the same phrases every time.  Change it up. If you don't prepare and think about the prayer, you will automatically resort to old familiar cliches -- which wear out quickly in public usage. 3) Say "thank you" to God early in the prayer.  "O Lord, we thank you today for providing strength, peace, and contentment for each moment. . ." 4) Don't preach at the congregation through the prayer.  Don't yell. God is not hard of hearing.  5) If you use an ancient or other written prayer -- let it stand alone.  ...

As you came near the spring you would marvel, seeing that the water was endless, as it constantly gushed up and poured forth. Yet you could never say that you had seen all the water. How could you see what was still hidden in the bosom of the earth? Hence no matter how long you might stay at the spring you would always be beginning to see the water. For the water never stops flowing, and it is always beginning to bubble up again. It is the same with one who fixes his gaze on the infinite beauty of God. It is constantly being discovered anew, and it is always seen as something new and strange in comparison with what the mind has already understood. And as God continues to reveal himself, man continues to wonder; and he never exhausts his desire to see more, since what he is waiting for is always more magnificent, more divine, than all that he has already see. -- Gregory of Nyssa

 A clapboard congregation  sings heartfelt doxologies  hammered out on an  untuned upright piano  with thirteen missing keys.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Haunting canticles  in a cavernous cathedral.  Echoes of praise  ring from pipes  when songs have ceased.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  An orchestrated blend of rock and blues.  A collection of redeemed sinners  who've tasted grace.  Ancient lyrics dance upon the screen,  electrified.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  And which is true worship?  Which is good and right?  Which is met with heaven's smile?  In which does God delight?  ALL!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes;   The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." -- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow if death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."   -- Thomas Merton

"We should never forget that the purpose of theology is doxology; we study in order to praise.  The truest expression of trust in God will always be worship to praise God for being greater than we know." --   Geneva Study Bible note

MorningSong Worship Father’s Day, T rinity Sunday June 15, 2014 Minister -- Mark Wilson Liturgists --   Tom Correll, Steve Gerich, Stacy Wilson Worship Leader --   Ryan Wilson GATHERING Call to Worship Leader:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. All: And with thy spirit. Collect of the Day   Leader:   God be with you. All:   And also with you. Leader:   Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true  faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever  and ever. Amen ** Hymn  Great is Thy Faithfulness p. 43 ...

Explaining our new MorningSong worship service to my friend, Bob, I said,  "It will be a fresh expression of old traditions.  We will read passages from both Testaments, sing the great hymns, have communion every Sunday and recite ancient prayers." "Ancient prayers?"  Bob replied, "How about Luke 18:11?   'God, I thank you that I am not like other people -- robbers, evildoers -- an even this tax collector.'" "I think we will skip that ancient prayer." Just because it's old doesn't mean it's good.