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| What is Lutheran Worship? (Your guide to Worship in the Evangelical Lutheran Church) |
The first question we should answer is: "Why do we worship?" Christians come together because we know that -through God's Holy Word and Sacraments- our loving God comes to us and is with us. In these moments of worship, God reaches into our lives and brings us renewed faith and strength and peace. In fact, properly speaking, we Lutherans tend not to use the word "worship." Rather, we call it the Divine Service- for in the Divine Service, the Triune God serves us- he comes to us, he calls to us, and he strengthens us with Word and Sacrament. Through the years, Christians have worshiped in many different ways. The Bible does not tell us what form our worship we take. The Lutheran Church uses a fairly standardized worship structure (liturgy), not because we consider this the only right way to worship, but because we believe that this ancient, time-tested manner of worship enables all of us to take part in a beautiful, vital, and significant worship experience. Much of it uses words drawn directly from the Bible, and all of it points us to Christ. By reverent and intelligent use of this liturgy, we can draw near to God with our praise and our prayers, and we can receive from him the blessings of forgiveness and his own strengthening presence. God speaks and we listen. God gives, and we respond with prayer and song. In our worship service, there are certain elements that remain basically the same each week. These elements are the framework on which we build our worship each week. They reflect the changeless, timeless needs of people everywhere. Within that framework, however, there are parts which change according to the Sunday or the Season. These changing elements carry the special messages for the day, and lend a particular variety and life to each Sunday. In Lutheran worship, we generally stand to pray and confess our sins. Sit to hear the Word and listen to God's Law and Gospel. You will also notice that during the service, the Pastor will change position frequently. When he faces us, this indicates that he is God's spokesman and that through him God is speaking to us. When the Pastor joins us in facing the altar, this indicates that we are speaking to God together in prayer and praise. Now we are ready for worship. Let us together walk through the worship service. |
PRELUDE and OPENING HYMN The organist and/or musicians will play instrumental works before the beginning of the actual worship service. This prelude helps to set the tone for our worship and to cultivate the proper mood and attitude for worship. After the prelude and the pastor's greeting, you will be invited to open your hymnals to the hymn. After the organist plays through the melody once, we will sing this hymn together. INVOCATION Following the opening hymn, the order of worship continues with the Invocation. This calls upon (invokes) the name of our Triune God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By this, we give testimony that we worship the true God, the God of the Bible. By this, too, we call upon his power and presence. CONFESSION and ABSOLUTION Then we prepare ourselves for the day's worship by confessing our sins. At the burning bush, Moses was told to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Likewise, we too must cast away our sins to stand in the presence of God. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:8-9). Having confessed our sinful condition and our need for salvation, we hear the Pastor, as God's representative, speaking to us the ever-present words of comfort: that we are forgiven all our sins through the merit and work of Jesus Christ. THE PSALM OF THE DAY Now, we are prepared to enter into the Holy Place of God's Presence, and that is what we do next. A reading from the Psalm is usually spoken or chanted responsively by the Pastor and the congregation. Occasionally, though, we will sing or chant this, which is fitting since the Psalms were the hymns of the Old Testament Church. At the conclusion to the Psalm we speak or sing the "Gloria Patri" (Latin for "Glory be to the Father"). This is included to remind us that all of the Old Testament is understood by us in the light of the New Testament. THE PRAYER FOR GRACE We now continue with a prayer for mercy, traditionally referred to as the "Kyrie." The Kyrie Eleison (Greek for "Lord, have mercy") is not a confession of sins, but an espression of our emptiness before God. It's an expression of our need to have him come and fill us with his grace. This 3-fold prayer has been used in the Church since the third century. It gathers together all our needs and lays them before God's mercy seat. THE SONG OF PRAISE The response to the Kyrie is our hymn of praise. Truly, the Lord has had mercy upon us- he sent his Son to meet our need, and this is what the angels announced in their song over the Bethlehem's fields: "Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14). This ancient and stirring hymn spells out God's whole plan of salvation to us. We praise God for sending his Son, "who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) and who is "now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death" (Hebrews 2:9). On occasion, we will substitue different songs of praise. During Advent, we often use "Oh Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel." During Lent, "The Royal Banners Forward Go." During Easter, "This is the Feast." THE SALUTATION Following this song of praise, the pastor now turns and greets the people with the words that angel Gabriel first announced to Mary. The Pastor says, "the Lord be with you," praying that the Holy Spirit bless the congregation as they hear God's Word. The people respond, "And with your spirit," (or "and also with you") praying that the same Holy Spirit would be with the Pastor, that he might give voice to their petitions and preach God's Word with power. THE PRAYER OF THE DAY Sometimes referred to as the "Collect," the Prayer of the day is a short prayer which gathers together the thoughts and prayers of the church as they apply the day's theme. These prayers are modern versions of some of the oldest and finest prayers which have come down to us through the ages. THE LESSONS At this point, we are approaching the chigh point of the worship service. Up to now, we have been speaking to God, presenting ourselves and our needs and hopes before God. But now, God speaks to us. He reveals himself and his will in a special way- in the reading and preaching of his Word. God has made himself known to us in the Bible. He speaks to us today through these words of Scripture God first speaks to us in the Old Testament lesson, where we learn of his mighty words and deeds with the Old Testament Church, the people of Israel. God then speaks to us in the Epistle lesson, a selection from one of the New Testament letters ("Epistle" literally means a "letter") Finally, the congregation rises for the Gospel, the words of Jesus recorded in the first four books of the New Testament. We rise as a mark of special honor to Jesus Christ, our Lord, whose life and words we are about to hear. This is indeed a time for the deepest reverence and the sharpest attention, as we sing, "Glory be to you, O Lord," and stand ready to hear his words and learn about his loving deeds. The Holy Gospel is usually the key to the theme for the day, and we respond to the Gospel lesson with the outburst of joy "Praise be to you, O Christ!" THE CONFESSION OF FAITH Having heard God's Word, we respond now by confessing our mutual faith with the Creed. In non-Communion services, we confess together the Apostles' Creed. On Communion Sundays, we use the Nicene Creed. Occasionally, such as on Trinity Sunday, we will confess together the longer, theologically-rich Athanasian Creed. SERMON HYMN AND SERMON Now the congregation sings the Sermon hymn, preparing our hearts to hear the sermon. The sermon is not just a number of offhand remarks, but a prayerfully prepared proclamation of God's message of repentance, salvation, and growth in the faith. In this Law and Gospel message delivered by the Pastor, the Word of the Living God reaches his people to cause repentance and to generate true and renewed faith in Christ. PSALM 51 (The Offertory) and the OFFERING Following the sermon, we join in singing the Offertory, using King David's words of repentance from Psalm 51. Here we confess our humble and grateful acceptance of God's Word and offer ourselves in thanksgiving to the Lord. Immediately after the Offertory, we who have been purified and strengthened bring our sacrifices (our offerings) and place them on God's altar. At this time, the congregation rises to sing either a hymn to God's glory. THE PRAYERS After the offerings have been brought to the Lord's altar, the Pastor speaks the Prayers. These prayers gather up all the needs of God's people. These prayers also include requests that are a response to the Scripture lessons and the sermon. *** At this point, if the worship service is a non-communion service, the service concludes with the Benediction and Closing hymn (see below). If we are celebrating the Lord's Supper, we will continue with the Communion liturgy. *** THE COMMUNION LITURGY The Pastor begins the Communion liturgy with the same salutation we used earlier. He receives the same response from the congregation as we move into the second major portion of our service. Then comes the invitation to "lift up your hearts" and to "give thanks to the Lord our God." This reminds us that our entire Communion Service is a service of thanksgiving. And it is indeed, "good, right, and beneficial" that we should give thanks to God for all his gifts. That's why we join together with to sing the Sanctus (the "Holy, Holy, Holy.") The first part of this song comes from the vision that the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:3) was granted of God's throne in heaven. The second part of this song comes from Christ's entry into Jerusalem, when the crowds sang, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:9). This reminds us that he is about to come into our own hearts and lives in the Lord's Supper. Hosanna in the highest! THE LORD'S PRAYER Now we come to the Lord's Prayer, that prayer which Jesus himself taught us. We are here reminded that we are together in the family of God, that at the Lord's table, we are not many individuals, but one body. We are brothers and sisters in the faith, whose spiritual welfare is closely linked together. THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND SHARING OF THE PEACE We now hear from the Pastor the very words of Christ, the Words of Institution, on which our sacrament is based. These are the words which our Lord spoke on the night in which he was betrayed. They make this observance not just a pious custom, but a sacrament instituted by Christ himself. Our Savior assures us that he is bodily present to give us forgiveness and fellowship with him. With these words, the Pastor consecrates the bread and wine, setting them apart for holy use. Then the pastor turns to us with a blessing: "The peace of the Lord be with you always." At the altar, we will receive Christ, who is our peace. We greet one another with the handshake of peace, praying that God's peace rest on one another and never leave us. AGNUS DEI HYMN As our final preparation for the reception of the Lord's Supper, we sing the Agnus Dei hymn, "O Christ, the Lamb of God" ("Agnus Dei" is Latin for "Lamb of God") This hymn is based on the words of John the Baptist when he pointed his disciples to the Messiah, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). THE DISTRIBUTION Reverently then, we come to kneel/stand before the altar of God, humbly to receive this Christ into our lives. As he once gave himself for us on the altar of the cross, so he now gives himself to us on the altar of the Sacrament. After our reception, we return to our daily activities nourished and strengthened with this heavenly food, assured that Christ is with us and in us as we face the challenges of our Christian life. Also, during the distribution of the bread and wine, hymns are usually sung by the congregation which help us meditate on the meaning of the Lord's Supper. THE POST-SERMON HYMN Following the distribution, we rise to sing the post-sermon hymn. We have several options here. Usually we sing the Nunc Dimittis, (Latin for "Now let us depart"). This was Simeon's song of rejoicing in the temple as he held the infant Jesus in his arms. Our eyes too have seen God's salvation, for we have received Christ through his Word and Sacrament. Like Simeon, we are now ready to "depart in peace." THE THANKSGIVING AND POST-COMMUNION PRAYER After the feast of the Sacrament, our service now hastens to a close. We offer our thanks to God in the post-communion prayer. Here we thank God for the blessings received through the Sacrament: forgiveness, and the strengthening of our faith and of our love for one another. We ask that God would continue his work in our hearts. THE BENEDICTION and CLOSING HYMN The service closed with the benediction, used first by Aaron at God's command as a means for placing God's blessing on his people. Finally, we sing the closing hymn as the candles are extinguished. After the Announcements and then a moment of silent prayer, we leave the Church, refreshed and strengthened to take up again the tasks of our God-given vocation in life. |
| This, then, is our Lutheran worship service. It is our way of stopping- taking the time to hear God's Word for us. It is our way of responding to God's Word, with praise and thanksgiving to the Triune God. May he bless your worship as you too "serve the Lord with gladness." |
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