BEFORE THE THRONE
Call to Worship: Psalm 27:7-13
When we gather, we behold the goodness of God in the land of the living. We see in part now what one day we will see in full, we behold the glory of the Father in the face of the Son. We see His goodness. Let’s sing to Him:
THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD
ABIDE
Sermon: Mark 11:27-12:12
If you are here as a follower of Jesus, Scripture tells us ‘Your life his hidden with Christ in God.’ And one of the things that means is that when God looks at you - he sees Christ’s perfect obedience, Christ’s perfect righteousness, the song of delight the Father sings over the Son He sings over you, the eternal inheritance which rightfully belongs to Christ, Christ shares with you and me. I hope that makes us humble, grateful, and worshipful. Would you stand if you’re able, let’s sing together:
THERE IS A REDEEMER
LAMB OF GOD
Benediction
Sunday
Questions To Consider
One of the things that our team has spoken about is the need for a deeper dive into our songs and services apart from a weekly service evaluation. And that would open up questions, and facilitate discussion for our whole team around the purpose and movement of our gatherings, apart from song choice, and how each of us can play a part in moving our services in the same direction.
One of the things that sparked these categories in my mind is Mike Cosper’s 10 Questions to Consider at the end of every year. I appreciated how he was able to open a view of the gathering wider than song choice and simply judge a service. The categories below are certainly not exhaustive, but will hopefully fuel deeper thought:
SONGS
What new songs are we singing, and how are people responding?
Which songs consistently have high responses (loud singing/participation, comments, humming in the bathroom)?
What holes are in our master song list (content)?
What are we singing too much (themes, songs, style)?
Is the liturgy balancing an awareness of the people, while continuing to lead toward a direction that more closely embodies our values and mission?
COMMUNICATION
Is it clear?
Are we equipping our verbal communicators to understand and navigate the movement, tone of the morning, and the moment while still being themselves?
Are the announcements leading people in worship, and moving them toward mission, not just giving them information?
What has been confusing?
Where have we dropped the ball (for the congregation, for the team, with visuals, with helping equip those on the platform knowing how to effectively communicate)?
FORMATION
What is missing?
What is stale?
Are the ordinances being thoughtfully navigated (within the service and by the communicator)
What has been surprising?
What would you add?
Here are some other similar resources you may find helpful:
10 September: Liturgy + Set List
ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
Call to Worship: Psalm 18:1-3
If you are here this morning as a follower of Jesus, your life is held secure regardless of circumstances because your life is hidden with Christ in God. We sing to our Rock and our Redeemer about who Jesus is, and what He has done:
WHAT YOU SAID
LAMB OF GOD
Sermon: Mark 9:33-50
If you start early enough, work hard enough, and spend as much time, energy, and effort to pursue greatness in the world, you just might get there. But every follower of Jesus can be great in God’s kingdom and economy when we - through the power of the Holy Spirit - pursue true humility and deep discipleship. Following after our Servant King. Let’s sing to Him together - would you stand if you’re able:
I STAND AMAZED
GOD YOU’RE SO GOOD
Benediction
2 July: Liturgy + Set List
CHRIST BE MAGNIFIED
Good morning, Life Church. Welcome to worship with us on this Lord’s Day, this Family Worship Weekend, and this Fourth of July Weekend. It is right and good for us to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in this country, but if you’re here as a follower of Christ, you know that everything good is from God. But you also know that every good thing we experience on this side of eternity is only a shadow, only an arrow of the true freedom that is available to all people through Christ. Freedom that is not determined by countries, governments or politics. So I hope as you celebrate these freedoms this week that you take it as an opportunity to lift your eyes to the deeper, truer freedom in Christ. Let’s hear God call us to worship from His Word:
Psalm 145
WHAT YOU SAID
HOLY (JESUS YOU ARE)
Sermon: Exodus 20:12
Reflection Questions
The Apostles’ Creed
Communion
FORGIVEN FOREVER
Benediction
28 May: Liturgy + Set List
HOUSE OF THE LORD
Good morning Life Church, and welcome to worship with us on this Memorial Day Weekend, and this Family Worship Weekend. One of the reasons that we can gather in freedom to worship in this country is that for generations men and women have laid down their lives to secure and sustain the freedoms we enjoy. That is what our culture is celebrating this weekend, and that is right and good. But what we know as followers of Christ is that the freedoms we enjoy in this country are only a shadow of the freedom that ours in and through Christ. Because He has set us free from the law of sin and death. Let’s celebrate the freedom that we have in this country, but if you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, let’s celebrate the freedom that is ours through Christ. Let’s hear God call us to worship from His word:
Call to Worship: Psalm 1:1-2
Let’s look to Christ, the One who fulfills the law.
ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST
BE THOU MY VISION
Sermon: Exodus 20:1-3
Everyone, everywhere, always, is a worshiper. But right worship begins not with us, but when God reveals Himself as the only one worthy of our worship - ‘I AM the Lord your God, worship me alone.’ Right worship is a result of the Holy Spirit leading you in all truth to behold the person and work of Christ. And this morning is Pentecost Sunday, the day when the global church remembers and celebrates the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower the life of every believer. To empower right worship. And so as we remember this day and the sending of the spirit we are going to pray these words together. I will read this through one time so you can hear these words, and then together we will pray these words.
Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer
THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD
ONLY A HOLY GOD
Benediction
23 June: Liturgy + Set List
ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
Call to Worship: Psalm 98:1-4
We sing to the Lord, not to fill time before a sermon.
We sing to the Lord, not to hype ourselves up emotionally.
We sing to the Lord not to make space for late comers.
We sing to the Lord because he has done marvelous things. We sing to the Lord because He is good and does good.
WHAT YOU SAID
HOLY (JESUS YOU ARE)
Sermon: Mark 6:45-56
In our home, we have a framed sketch of the ocean breaking against rocks, and in the corner is a quote from Charles Spurgeon that says ‘I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.’ No storm in your life can or will be wasted if it weans you from the world, and pushes toward the One who lived and died with open arms. Would you stand if you’re able, we’ll sing.
WE ARE SAVED
HOLY HOLY HOLY
Benediction
Every Resurrection Sunday
The Sunday following Holy Week can feel… well… anticlimactic. Likely you have invested more time, energy, creativity, and intention during Holy Week than almost any other time of the year. Does the Sunday following Easter just mean ‘business as usual’? My personal conviction is that there is no such thing as just another Sunday. That every Sunday as we gather with the people of God matters to our formation as the people of God, and matters as we declare God’s worth and value corporately. But I get it, you’re still recovering, and the excitement can sometimes feel deadened by the normalcy of life.
But the truth is, every week is a mini-resurrection Sunday.
That is why Christians gather on Sunday rather than Saturday. We are reenacting this day, orienting our lives around the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Every Sunday should stand as a marker in the week and in our life that Jesus is still alive, still ruling and reigning, and that He is worthy of our worship.
Remind your team, remind your people, and remind yourself that this Sunday is a mini-resurrection Sunday.
2 April: Liturgy + Set List
BE THOU MY VISION
Good morning Life Church and welcome to this first Sunday in Holy Week - Palm Sunday. A day when we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and how He was met with shouts of praise and worship. But we know that the events of Holy Week escalate and praise quickly turns to protest. It can be easy to stand on this side of the cross and wonder how people got it wrong. But truthfully, we can do the same. Happy to praise and worship the Lord when we feel like our lives are going to plan - but how quickly we move to protest, anger, and bitterness when we feel that God has done us wrong. But it is precisely because Jesus laid aside what was rightfully his that you and I never receive what is rightfully ours - death and hell. This is the wondrous mystery of Holy Week - let’s be reminded of who Jesus is and what He has done as God calls us to worship from His Word, this is from Philippians 2:
Call to Worship: Philippians 2:5-11
COME BEHOLD THE WONDROUS MYSTERY
ALL HAIL KING JESUS
Corporate Confession:
Merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against You
in thought, word, and deed,
By what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.In Your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
And direct what we shall be,
So that we may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, To the glory of Your holy name.Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. [From the Book of Common Prayer]
Sermon: Mark 6:14-29
GOODNESS OF GOD
ABIDE
Benediction
23 October: Liturgy + Set List
THIS IS AMAZING GRACE
Call to Worship: Psalm 130
We are people who wait. We wait between two Advents, the Advent of Christ’s first arrival, and the Advent of His second coming. As we heard last week we wait between Christ’s ascension to be with God the Father, and as we’ll hear today we wait for Christ to return to judge the living and the dead. As we wait, we see in part, but when Christ comes again, we will see and know in full. We are going to teach you a new song this morning, and the verses of this song are really a confession of those who see in part. But the chorus is a declaration of those who see in full - the song that has been resounding around heaven for all of eternity - that God is holy, holy, holy. As we sing, I want to invite you to hold these two realities in tension, that we wait and know it part, and that one day we will know in full. Let’s sing…
HOLY (JESUS YOU ARE)
I LOVE YOU LORD
Sermon: Revelation 19:11-20:15
In many ways, Christ’s first coming was quiet and obscure. When he returns, there will be no denying that Christ has returned to rule and reign. Let Christ’s return fuel our response in humility, hope, and mission. Let’s confess what we believe about our returning King through the words of the Apostels’ Creed, would you stand if you’re able:
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
KING OF KINGS
IN CHRIST ALONE
Benediction: 2 Timothy 4:8
2 October: Liturgy + Set List
BEFORE THE THRONE
Call to Worship: Psalm 139:7-12,17-18
In the depths and in the heights, in the sorrow and in the joy, inside of me, and outside of me - there is no place where God is not present, aware, ruling, and reigning. And for followers of Jesus, this should be a comfort that draws us closer to the Lord. We’re going to sing this morning about the way that God has and continues to pursue His people. We are going to begin with a song that we have sung a few times here, but can be a bit tricky, so we’ll sing the chorus, and the bridge before we get into the song:
JESUS!
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD
Sermon: 1 Peter 3:18-19
“Because Jesus has descended into hell there is no reality in which Christ has not declared victory. There is no realm over which Christ does not have authority. There is no moment in which Christ does not offer hope.” Let’s celebrate and rehearse that victory, authority, and hope by confessing what we believe about our faith through the words of the Apostles’ Creed. Would you stand:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
GOODNESS OF GOD
DEATH WAS ARRESTED
Benediction
February 6: Liturgy and Set List
HOW GREAT THOU ART
Call to Worship: Psalm 70:4-5
We gather not for a spiritual pick-me-up, but to delight our hearts in the salvation of our great God. The One who has enabled us through Jesus to be in right relationship with Him. Let’s delight in that truth together:
WAYMAKER
MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE
Sermon: Joshua 5:1-9
The people of Israel saw God do great and glorious things and still did not obey. Brothers and sisters, we sit on this side of the cross of Christ and still do not obey. Our obedience to God does not earn God’s love for us. God loves us, so we desire to obey. Let’s remind one another of that truth together - would you stand and sing:
HOW DEEP THE FATHERS LOVE FOR US
RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)
November 28: Liturgy + Set List
THE KING IS COMING PRELUDE/COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS
Call to Worship: Psalm 130:5-8
This is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming or arrival. We are people who live between two Advents. And in this season we remember the first coming of Christ - His first Advent as a baby. When He took on our flesh as a baby, lived a perfect life, died a death that we deserved, and was raised to life again. And we look forward with longing and expectation to the day of His second Advent - when He will return as King to rule and reign, to wipe every tear and set all things right. So as we sing songs expressing the longing and expectation for Christ first Advent this season, I want you to hold in your mind at the same time His second Advent. Let’s remember His coming, and look ahead to His return.
KING OF KINGS
O COME, O COME EMMANUEL
Sermon: Matthew 1:1-17
If you’re here this morning as a follower of Jesus, the genealogy we read in Matthew is not just a list of names - it is actually your genealogy. Because you have been adopted, grafted into the family of Jesus. Not because of your goodness, or righteousness, but because of the goodness of God. And this family of God is a family that is always, always, always moving toward fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore at the right hand of God. So, family of God, let’s respond join the family song:
RAISE UP THE CROWN (ALL HAIL THE POWER)
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
Lighting the Advent Candle: Galatians 4:4-7
Benediction:
Brothers and sisters, let us go as those carrying the Light of Christ into the darkness. Living as those who have been redeemed from the law, no longer slaves, but as adopted as children, heirs of God in Christ.