Liturgy

Deeper

/ The Pastor

Tonight is our final Lenten worship service of the year. I will be live streaming from my home starting at 7 PM (Pacific) on our YouTube channel: Living Word Lutheran Church – Graham, WA (if that doesn’t work, use Puyallup, WA instead for the city). The text for preaching will be Psalm 130, “God’s Promise of Redemption”. And so with that, I offer the following liturgy of repentance that I wrote for tonight. To God be the glory.

Redeeming God, my rescuer –
All too often I have tried to go it alone.
All too often I have tried to rescue myself.
All too often I have appealed to the world.
And each time I try, I sink deeper,
and deeper,
and deeper into the mire.
I struggle and claw,
I fight and battle,
but to no avail.
It’s a hopeless cause,
and one of my own doing.
Yet my pride gets in the away.
My stubbornness too often wins the day.
I resist,
I deny,
I forsake.
I forsake Your redeeming and steadfast love.
Oh God, I cry out to You.
Hear me.
Rescue me.
Help me.
I am weak and defenseless.
I am tired and sinking.
Deeper,
Deeper,
Deeper, into the mire.
Help me. Save me.
Redeem me!
Oh Lord, my God, hear my cry: I repent…

Repentance for Straying

/ The Pastor

For our Lenten worship tonight, via YouTube live stream, I prepared this Liturgy of Repentance. I am preaching on Psalm 23 and highlighting God’s promise of peace. Feel free to worship with us at 7:00 PM (Pacific Time). See the church website for more information on accessing the live stream.

http://www.livingwordlutheranchurch.com

To God be the glory!

Holy God,
Father,
Creator,
Sustainer,
and Good Shepherd.
You give me everything I truly need.
Your provision is unmatched by anything or anyone of this world.
Your supply is endless.
You invite me to come and buy without money and without price.
You give and give and give some more.
For You are the Good Shepherd and I am your sheep.
Yet, I stray from the flock to seek my own.
My wants overwhelm me, and I spurn Your grace.
Fear leads me to stockpile wants that will not save me –
They won’t protect me,
They won’t shield me.
Oh God, I have strayed and gone my own way.
I have sought worthless wants.
Oh my Good Shepherd
retrieve me,
restore me,
revive me,
and lead me in the path of righteousness – repeating Your promises to me. Repeat them without end as I remain in You.
For You are THE Good Shepherd and with you I lack nothing.
All I want is You.
All I need is You.
Keep me close and may Your rod and staff comfort me.
Oh Lord, my God and Shepherd, I repent of my straying.

My Keeper

/ The Pastor

This is a liturgy of repentance that I wrote for our Lenten worship service tonight. The text for preaching is Psalm 121 as I talk about God’s promise of everlasting keeping. Just think about this: You a sinner – are kept by God – through faith in Jesus Christ. Wow, oh Wow! God is awesome!

I am known by You, for You formed me.
I am known by You, for You knit me together.
I am known by You, for You choose me before I knew myself.
I am known.
I am known by You, for You breathed life into my being.
I am known by You – you know my – everything.
You know my sin.
My failings are known by You.
My shortcomings – they too – are known by You.
Everything – everything is known by You.
And yet – You keep me.
Through Jesus Christ You are my shade at my right hand.
Through Jesus Christ You are my Rock and Salvation.
Through Jesus Christ You keep my going out and coming in.
Through Jesus Christ You keep my life.
My life, oh God, You keep it.
You are my keeper.
My loving keeper.
The sinner that I am – and You keep me.
Oh God, I am unworthy to be kept.
I am unworthy to be treasured by You.
I am unworthy of anything but condemnation.
Oh God, if I am kept by You, I want to honor and worship You.
I want to glorify You.
I want to serve You.
And thus, I confess my shortcoming – my sin – my unworthiness.
Oh Lord, my God, hear my cry: I repent…

Sing People, Sing…

/ The Pastor

Just in case you need another reason to praise and worship God, I thought I would offer this. God painted this scene this morning behind our church building and I just had to share this. To God be the glory!

It is right, oh God and it is our joy to give You thanks and praise at all times and in all places – to limit our praise and thanks to a single moment in time is impossible. Therefore, we offer our worship in every moment and with our very lives. For You give us peace through holding all our tomorrows. You give us Life through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son. You give us love for You are love. And so, it is our great pleasure to join with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…

Sing people, sing…

Magnify Your Song

/ The Pastor

Let us join our song together in praising our awesome God…

Holy God and Father, it is right to give You thanks and praise at all times, in all places and in all circumstances. Yes, it is always right to give You thanks and praise. For You are sovereign over the heavens and the earth. You are the Creator. You reign on high – high above all gods. You are our Rock. You are our Fortress. Through Jesus Christ, You are our salvation. Oh God, praise and worship is indeed befitting You. Our souls sing for joy at the mere thought of You. Holy and mighty God you are glorious and thus we long to magnify our song by joining with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…

May our song of praise to God never, ever diminish.

Desire

/ The Pastor

Let us praise and worship our awesome God.
Written for the Great Thanksgiving in our Holy Communion liturgy…

To give You thanks and praise, oh God, is indeed our delight, for through Jesus Christ, You have fulfilled our deepest desire. Our desire is to live life to the fullest and that cannot be done outside of You. You have redeemed us from sin and death. You have filled us with Your Spirit. You have defeated every enemy. You have placed us upon the Rock. Oh God, our Father and Creator, our Strong Fortress and Shield, our Hope and Salvation. Draw us closer and closer that we may delight more and more in You. And on that Day, may we be taken up into the loving arms of our bridegroom, Jesus Christ. And so, in our joy that is only from You, we join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…

Let Us Ascribe

/ The Pastor

It is Sunday.

The Lord’s day.

Let’s us join together – raising our hands to God our Father through Christ Jesus our Lord…

Yes, oh yes, it is right and our duty and our joy to ascribe worship, praise and glory to You, oh Lord, our Rock and Redeemer. You are full of majesty. You are full of power. And You reign on high. You sent Jesus to live and die and rise for us – that we would have the hope of everlasting life. There is so much to You, oh God. To probe Your depths would be a never-ending task, but oh the joy in trying. And so, we join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…

Bless the Lord, oh my Soul and all that is within me. Bless His most holy name!

It Is So Right

/ The Pastor

Psalm 122:1 (ESV) ~ I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Oh God, it is so right and salutary. It is indeed our joy and privilege to give you thanks and praise at all times and in all places – in every moment and with every breath. You are worthy. You are so worthy for You have given us a King to reign over us that we may never fear anything or anyone. You have given us a Savior who has saved our very souls. You have given us a Shepherd to feed and nourish us. You have given us a place at Your Banquet Feast – a place of honor – so we may longingly and lovingly perpetually gaze our eyes upon You. Yes, oh God, yes, it is right and our joy to worship You. And so, we join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise.

It IS right

/ The Pastor

Here’s some liturgy I wrote for Holy Communion this morning.

Is it right to give You thanks and praise? Of course it is, oh God. You are our Loving Father,
God almighty,
Creator,
Sovereign Lord and King,
Redeemer and
our Strong Fortress.
You came down at Christmas time and flooded Your creation with Love.You dwelt among us in Jesus Christ, died and rose that our sins would be forgiven. You have obliterated the reign of the Father of Lies; smashing his head as You promised. You have washed us clean with the blood of the lamb and through faith, have clothed us with Christ’s righteousness. Oh God, there is much to thank and praise You for and so we continue our efforts by joining with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…

To God be the glory, always and forever. Amen!

Christ-Drenched Joy

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

Today, Living Word Lutheran Church is excited. We are excited that we are redeemed by God our Father through Christ Jesus our Lord. We are excited that through faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and thus everlasting life is ours. We are excited to be serving an awesome God. We are excited that we live in a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are excited that Satan has been defeated. We are excited that we are children of God. We are excited and drenched in joy.

…and oh by the way…we are excited that we are worshiping (for the first time) in our new building 🙂

To God be the glory!!!

The following is a little something I wrote for Holy Communion on this 3rd Sunday of Advent — JOY.

Yes! Oh Yes! It is right and our pleasure to worship you, to give You thanks and to make much of You, oh God. It is our joy to sing of Your mighty deeds. Through Jesus Christ Your son – the Messiah – You redeemed a lost and broken people through his death and resurrection. You reconciled us back to You and gave us Life. You healed that which the serpent broke and restored that which was lost. Holy Father, Your power is great. Your mercy is wide. You grace is abundant. Fill us again and again with your Spirit to overflowing that Joy may exude from us without end. May the world be drenched in love and be swept away in Your never-ending life. And so, it is our pleasure to join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise.