If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.
For this week’s devotional, we will be guided by this week’s texts from the Revised Common Lectionary.
Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.
Time of Preparation
Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?
When you are ready, take a moment to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment. Take a few moments to breathe in and out, asking God to still your heart and mind.
A Prayer of St. Augustine
Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of Thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of Thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto Thee, therefore perfect what Thou hast begun, and what Thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek Thy face, turn Thy face unto us and show us Thy Glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect. Amen.
Encounter With God
In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.
“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.”
—Psalm 33:1-5 (NIV)
SONG OF ENCOUNTER: Goodness of God (lyrics here)
Confession
In this second movement, we simply see ourselves for who we are: people who need God.
“And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’”
—Matthew 9:10-13 (NRSV)
Take a moment in silence to breathe in God’s invitation to bring your sin and struggles to Him.
Sit with the truth that this is not about shame or guilt, but about God’s desire for us to be whole.
As you are ready, be honest with Him in prayer about your need.
SONG OF CONFESSION: Lord I Need You (lyrics here)
Assurance
In this third movement, we receive the good news of the gospel: we are forgiven.
“Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”
—Hosea 6:3 (NLT)
Sometimes it is too easy for us to doubt the goodness and grace of God. Even as we bring our sin and brokenness to him, we struggle with our own shame and self-condemnation which can create a sort of “spiritual blindness” in us. In that blindness we fail to see the truth of God’s mercy, and we project that condemnation back onto God, assuming he is angry and slow to forgive.
Spend some time reflecting on Hosea’s promise that God will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn. As confident as we can be that the sun will rise tomorrow, that’s how confident we can be that God’s forgiveness is real. Spend a few moments in silent reflection on the sureness of his mercy and grace.
“Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him.”
Commission
In this final movement, we are encouraged and equipped for the work God would have us do.
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
—Genesis 12:1-4 (NRSV)
The call of God to Abram is specific, but it contains quite a bit of uncertainty. Abram and his extended family are told to leave their homeland of Haran and go on a journey, but they aren’t told exactly where. All God promises is that he will show them.
Obedience to God’s call is not always a guarantee of clarity in every moment. As part of our own growth we are asked to trust him even when the way forward is not entirely certain. Trust is the order not just of the day, but of every day.
There’s a story told about a new pastor in a large, rural parish who got confused trying to find a church member’s farm for a pastoral visit. He thought he had the long and complicated directions firmly in his head, but he ended up hopelessly lost. The second time he drove to the farm, the farmer himself was in the passenger seat giving each needed direction: “Turn here. Go straight for two miles. Take a right here.” The pastor didn’t need the full set of directions, he just needed the presence of the farmer guiding him along each step of the journey.
May we have that same level of attentiveness to God’s Spirt as he guides us. We may not have every step in the journey mapped out, but we have something better—the living presence of the One who knows the way.
SONG OF COMMISSION: Our God Will Go Before Us (lyrics here)
Benediction
““The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
—Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)