One of the more subtly challenging aspects of worship planning that our team faces is how to develop a sense of cohesiveness from week to week. How does the worship we facilitate this week relate to what we experienced the previous week or to what we will encounter next week?
Admittedly, this intentional continuity does not have to happen all the time. However, we have found that with the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent and for services within a defined three-to-six week sermon series, the more continuity we can bring between services, the richer and perhaps more poignant our worship becomes.
Historically, our worship planning team involved three people: Gillian, who is a member of our worship committee and an elder; a planner who served as a liaison with the musicians; and me as the preaching pastor. But over the past year we have experimented with a different approach to our worship planning. For each sermon series we invited a different group of people from the church to participate in the planning process.
Typically the group meets with Gillian and me about a month before the series is set to begin. I provide the sermon theme for the series and identify the Scripture texts. We then brainstorm other Scripture texts, songs, litanies, poems, visuals, and resources that could fit with the direction of the series. By the time we leave, not only have we compiled a list of potential resources, but we have also typically chosen a song, a short responsive reading, or a blessing that will be included in each worship gathering to bring additional continuity to the series. Then we begin drafting the worship services via email. For the most part, the order of worship is drafted 7 to 10 days before the actual service, providing us with plenty of time to make any needed adjustments.
One of the more exciting ways this approach bore fruit was when we engaged our middle school and high school youth in planning for Advent and Christmas last year. Gillian, Dave (our youth elder), and I met with a group of eight youth who had expressed interest in helping to plan our Advent services. Along with our typical brainstorming, we also spent time with the youth talking through some of the historic themes and emphases associated with Advent. As we planned, we added a second face-to-face meeting to give us a little more time to craft the flow of each service.
We decided to focus our Advent series on the angels and songs present in Luke 1-2 and to bring themes of hope, love, joy, and peace to the surface through the candle lighting, songs, and Scripture readings. As the services came together, a few common threads developed.
First, the youth found a way to incorporate the song “Dona Nobis Pacem” in several of the gatherings.
A team of youth led the congregation in singing it two of the weeks and a couple of other youth played it as an instrumental piece during the offering one week.
For another thread we adapted a few excerpts from The Jesus Storybook Bible in connection with our candle lightings each week. Though this reading occurred in different places within the order of worship, each time two youth would responsively read the excerpts and then lead us in lighting the candles.
The third thread we incorporated was a call-and-response as the younger children were leaving for Children and Worship. The kids would call out “Jesus is coming!” and the adults in the sanctuary would respond “He’s almost here!”
Overall, we have found this planning approach to be quite enriching. It has allowed for a greater diversity of songs and Scripture passages in the services, for more people in the congregation to actively contribute to our communal worship, and even for some discipleship conversations about why we worship the way we do. On top of that, there have been consistent comments from the congregation about how meaningful different worship series have been for them, and they have highlighted prayers, readings, or poems, not only the sermons, in making their comments. With the Advent/Christmas series in particular, our elders received feedback about how encouraging it was to see youth involved in leading several different aspects of the service.
Following are the orders of worship that our youth planning team developed with us for Advent.
First Sunday of Advent
Prelude
“On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry" Coffin
and “Hark, the Glad Sound! The Savior Comes” Doddridge
Welcome and Announcements
God Gathers His People
Call to Worship
Isaiah 40:1-5
Prayer
Song: “O Come, O Come, Immanuel” (st. 1-4) Latin, 12th cent.
Greeting
Song: “O Come, O Come, Immanuel” (st. 5-7) Latin, 12th cent.
Song: “Dona Nobis Pacem” (led by a team of 10-12 youth) Public Domain
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins and Receive Forgiveness
Advent Story
Excerpted from Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2007), pp. 48-55
Lighting of the Advent Candle
“We light this candle as a reminder that the hope for our salvation does not come from our own hands, but from Jesus Christ.”
Prayer of Confession
Song: “Comfort, Comfort Now My People” Winkworth
Assurance of Pardon and Call to Holy Living
Isaiah 44:1-5
God Extends His Covenantal Faithfulness through Baptism
Teaching
Song: “You Are Our God; We Are Your People” Hoekema
Baptism
Communal Profession of Faith
[As children leave for Children and Worship and Sunday school]
Children: “Jesus is coming!”
Adults: “He’s almost here!”
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God Speaks to Us through His Word
Scripture
Luke 1:5-25
Message
“Intruding on the Mundane” (Zechariah’s Angel)
After 400 years of “silence” from God, suddenly God sends an angel to announce God’s good news: the Savior is on his way! This good news intrudes into the mundane and ordinary rhythms of God’s people. God’s word is simultaneously cosmic and intensely personal, because it comes to two people, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who have borne decades of unanswered prayers in the face of unrelenting barrenness. They, like God’s people, had embraced a mundane way of life in which they had learned to cope with God’s apparent silence. With the angel’s announcement, hope is rekindled—though perhaps overwhelmingly so—and we discover that God is not as distant and uncaring as we might have thought. Zechariah’s forced silence amid his disbelief becomes a posture inviting all to watch and wait with anticipation for what God is about to do!
Prayer
Song: “Blessed Be Your Name” Redman, Redman
God Invites Us to Respond with Our Offerings
Offering
Offertory Prayer
God Sends Us Out by His Grace
Blessing
Song: “Come, Lord Jesus” Landry
Second Sunday of Advent
Prelude
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” Prudentius
and “Shout to the Lord” Zschech
Welcome and Announcements
God Gathers His People
Call to Worship
Advent Story
Excerpted from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pp. 116-121
Lighting of the Advent Candle
“We light this candle as a reminder that it is because of God’s love for the whole world that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to save us.”
Song: “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” Wesley
Prayer
Greetings
Song: “God of Wonders” Byrd, Hindalong
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins and Receive Forgiveness
Call to Confession
Isaiah 55:1-7
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon and Call to Holy Living
Isaiah 55:6-13
Song: “Great Is the Darkness” (Gerald Coates, Noel Richards)
[As children leave for Children and Worship and Sunday school]
Children: “Jesus is coming!”
Adults: “He’s almost here!”
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God Speaks to Us Through His Word
Scripture
Luke 1:26-38
Message
“Overshadowing” (Mary’s Angel)
Hope for God’s people has been rekindled. And now, in a remarkable demonstration of God’s lavish grace, God sends an angel to announce God’s favor to Mary: “The promised Savior is coming through you!” Yet it is not Mary’s favor with God that is central here. Rather, Mary’s faithful submission to God’s plans flourishes in God’s overshadowing presence: the Lord is with you! What seemed impossible—both that God would send the Savior and that Mary, a woman with no husband and no social standing, would be part of God’s unfolding plan—becomes a reality because of God’s overshadowing, loving presence. Mary’s response invites us into a posture of receiving and recognizing God’s presence with us as we watch and wait with anticipation for God’s salvation.
Prayer
Song: “I Lift My Eyes Up” Doerksen
God Invites Us to Respond with Our Offerings
Offering
Offertory Prayer
God Sends Us Out by His Grace
Blessing
Song: “Dona Nobis Pacem” (led by a team of youth) Public Domain
Third Sunday of Advent
Prelude
Song: “Mighty to Save” Fielding, Morgan
Song: Instrumental variations on “O Come, O Come Immanuel”
Welcome and Announcements
God Gathers His People
Call to Worship
Psalm 146
Special music
Greeting
Song: “Savior of the Nations, Come” Ambrose, Luther
Prayer
Advent Story
Excerpted from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pp. 144-151
Advent Candle Lighting
“We light this candle as a reminder of the joy that is ours because God is faithful to all his promises: Jesus Christ is coming!”
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins and Receive Forgiveness
Song: “My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout” (st. 1 & 2) Cooney
Scripture
Psalm 15
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon and Call to Holy Living
Colossians 1:22, 23; 3:12-14
Song: “My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout” (st. 3&4) Cooney
[As children leave for Children and Worship and Sunday school]
Children: “Jesus is coming!”
Adults: “He’s almost here!”
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God Speaks to Us Through His Word
Scripture
Luke 1:39-56
Message
“Singing with Mary”
Mary’s song expresses a deep delight in God’s faithfulness as God extends his mercy from generation to generation, wrapping the poor and downtrodden within the story of God’s grace. Here the hope and love of God begin to burst forth into joy as God overturns the oppressive systems and structures, choosing instead to remember and elevate those who seem to have been forgotten. The good news of the coming Savior will be good news for those who have been overlooked and forgotten for so long.
Prayer
Song: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” Brooks
God Invites Us to Respond with Our Offerings
Offering
“Dona Nobis Pacem” (youth instrumental as the offertory)
Offertory Prayer
God Sends Us Out by His Grace
Charge to the Congregation
Blessing
Song: “God With Us” (Graham Kendrick)
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Prelude
Song: “There Is a Redeemer” Green
Song: “Here I Am to Worship” Hughes
Welcome and Announcements
God Gathers His People
Call to Worship
Isaiah 65:17-25
Prayer
Song: “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” Coffin
Greetings
Song: “Blessed Be the God of Israel” Daw
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins and Receive Forgiveness
Advent Story
Excerpted from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pp. 170-175.
Lighting of the Advent Candle
“We light this candle as a reminder that God wraps us in the peace of his promise to make everything new—including us!—in Jesus Christ.”
Prayer of Confession
Song of Assurance
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” Lutheran Book of Worship
[As children enter Children and Worship and Sunday school]
Children: “Jesus is coming!”
Adults: “He’s almost here!”
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God Speaks to Us Through His Word
Scripture
Luke 1:57-80
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God!
Message
“A Light Has Come” (Zechariah’s Song)
Zechariah rejoices as the miracle of God’s faithfulness unfolds through the birth of John the Baptist. Elizabeth proclaims her son’s name to be “John.” When the people doubt her, Zechariah writes “His name is John,” a declaration that brings him freedom from his silence. That naming, as with the naming of prophets’ children in the Old Testament, conveys a glimpse of who God is and what God is about to do among his people: God has not forgotten his people, but has turned his attention to his beloved! This love from God is so great and so unexpected that it leads Zechariah to proclaim that God’s salvation is actually a light that will transform all peoples—a bold declaration from someone living under military and economic occupation by another kingdom. Peace on earth, which has been so obviously elusive and undesired, is suddenly possible because of what God is about to do.
Prayer
Song: “God Reigns! Earth Rejoices” CRC Publications
God Invites Us to Respond with Our Offerings
Offering
Offertory Prayer
God Sends Us Out by His Grace
Blessing
Song: Refrain of “O Come Let Us Adore Him” Wade
Christmas Day
Prelude
“Once in Royal David’s City” Alexander
and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” Wade
God Gathers His People
Call to Worship
Luke 2:1-7
Prayer
Song: “Joy to the World” Watts
Greeting
Song: “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” German/Latin
Song: “How Great Our Joy” Public Domain
God Calls Us to Confess Our Sins and Receive Forgiveness
Scripture
John 1:1-5, 9-11
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon and Call to Holy Living
John 1:12-14
Song: “What Child Is This?” Dix
Christmas Story
Excerpted from The Jesus Storybook Bible, pp.176-191
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Song: “The Candle Song” (Graham Kendrick)
God Speaks to Us through His Word
Scripture
Luke 2:8-20
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God!
Message
“A Savior Is Born” (Angels’ Song)
Joy to the world! A Savior is born! The angels sing their own song in declaring the mystery and wonder of God’s faithfulness as Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Continuing with the underlying theme of God’s self-revelation to the most unexpected people, the angels sing their song to a group of shepherds keeping watch over sheep in the fields, while Jesus, God’s own Son and the Savior of the world, is born in a stable. The questions then come to us, the most unlikely of people generations later: Will we go and see this Savior who has been born? And having seen him, will we go away rejoicing, spreading this good news wherever we go?
Prayer
Song: “Angels We Have Heard on High” French, 18th cent.
God Invites Us to Respond with Our Offerings
Offering
Offertory Prayer
God Sends Us Out by His Grace
Blessing
Song: “Ere Zij God” CRC Publications
