Mid-Week Worship based on Isaiah 6
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”
—Thomas Ken, 1674
SONG OF BENEDICTION: Doxology
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 some time 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.
In this final movement, we are encouraged and equipped for the work God would have us do.
“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
—Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)
The first three movements of worship are focused on how we relate to God. We praise the One who created us, who is worthy of glory and honor. We confess our sin. We receive grace. The flow of these movements is vertical in nature.
In this fourth movement, the flow extends outward. There is still a vertical dimension as we receive instruction and empowering from God, but now we are invited to consider how our relationship with him impacts the world around us. We are called to serve others, to lay down our lives for them as Christ laid down his life for us.
In the call of Isaiah this is represented as a call-and-response. God asks, “Whom shall I send?” and the prophet replies, “Here am I, send me.” Thousands of years later the call is the same, and our response should be the same as well.
How is God calling you to serve others in this season of your life? How are you responding to that call? Spend some time offering yourself anew to God for the work he would have you do.
SONG OF COMMISSION: Here I Am, Lord (lyrics below)
This reflective musical moment contains the chorus of the well-known worship song.
Below you can find a link to the full song as well.
Here I am, Lord.
Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go, Lord
If You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
FULL VERSION (with lyrics)
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 some time 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.
In this third movement, we receive the good news of the gospel: we are forgiven.
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
—John 1:16-17 (NRSV)
The song for today is typically used during the Advent and Christmas season, but it has something to say to us all year long. For this movement of worship, where we ponder the grace and mercy of God that brings forgiveness for sin, why not spend a moment or two reflecting on Bethlehem? As Paul reminds us:
“The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners—of whom I am the foremost.”
—1 Timothy 1:15 (NRSV)
As we remember and celebrate God’s grace, the language of the incarnation is perfectly appropriate. Mercy and forgiveness are why Jesus came. He is the grace of God with us.
SONG OF ASSURANCE: Grace of God With Us (lyrics here)
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 some time 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.
In this second movement, we simply see ourselves for who we are: people who need God.
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”
—Psalm 51:17 (NIV)
Like the prophet Isaiah, an encounter with a holy God makes us all too aware of our own sin. But this is not something to be avoided. In fact, it is something to be embraced. We should desire an awareness of our sin, because such awareness leads to a greater revelation of God’s remarkable love and grace.
The Puritan minister Richard Alleine captured both the pain and beauty of recognizing our brokenness in a prayer he wrote in 1660. Spend some time reading this prayer slowly and reflectively. Soak in the truth that a broken heart before God is a beautiful thing, a place of honesty and also a place of tender mercy.
I mourn, Lord, and I lament.
I weep, but it is because I cannot mourn or lament as I should.
If I could mourn as I ought, I would be comforted.
If I could weep, I would rejoice.
If I could sigh, I would sing.
If I could lament, I would live.But I die. I die, and my heart dies within me, because I cannot cry.
I cry, Lord, but not for sin.
I cry, I beg for tears for sin.
I cry, Lord, my calamities cry, my bones cry, my soul cries, my sins cry, “Lord, for a broken heart.”But look: I am not broken yet.
The rocks tear apart, the earth quakes, the heavens drop, the clouds weep, the sun will blush, the moon be ashamed, the foundations of the earth will tremble at the presence of the Lord.
But this heart neither breaks nor trembles.
If only I had a broken heart!
If I did, you would have your way in my heart.What would be impossible, if my heart were tender?
Work would be easy.
Pains would be a pleasure.
Burdens would be light.
Neither the commands nor the cross would be severe.
Nothing would be hard except sin.Where are you, fear?
Come and plough up this rock.
Where are you, love?
Come and thaw this ice,
Come and warm this dead lump,
Come and enlarge this poverty-stricken spirit.
Then will I run the way of your commandments.I accept of all that is yours, both your yoke and your cross.
I accept you, Lord—your love, and whatever you will.
Lord, if you love, let me love you.
I will seek, until I can see.
Let me see, until I can love.My all is with you: my help, my hope, my treasure.
My life is hidden with Christ in God.
Yet this is all nothing to me, while my heart is not with you.Take it, Lord; take it up.
Where my treasure is, there let my heart be also. Amen.—Richard Alleine
SONG OF CONFESSION: Humbled Heart (lyrics here)
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 some time 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.
In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.
“Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
—1 Corinthians 8:5-6 (NRSVUE)
When we enter a space of worship there is a bit of a battle already taking place. We enter that place from a world filled with so many voices competing for our attention. Some are simple distractions, but others are more insidious and destructive—voices that tell a story that stands in stark contrast to the one revealed in Scripture and illuminated by the Holy Spirit.
This first movement of worship serves to counter those voices and bring us back to the true story, the one which is rooted in the identity and actions of our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. By orienting our gaze upward and hearing again of the attributes and works of God, those false, competing voices are silenced and replaced by reminders of what grounds and centers us.
One of the tools the church has used to do this for centuries is the Apostles’ Creed, a collection of belief statements that remind us who God is, what he has done, and where it is that we find our mercy and hope. Set to music, the worshipfulness of the creed is highlighted even more.
Following the song, you are invited to meditate on the words of the Apostles’ Creed below. Which statements most lead you into that worshipful space today?
SONG OF ENCOUNTER: This I Believe (lyrics here)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe 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 to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and 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.
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 some time 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.
On Mondays we use the Hebrew Psalter to focus in on the invitation to approach God in worship.
Read through the Psalm slowly and prayerfully, either silently or out loud. Pay attention to the movement of your soul and the longings of your heart as you read. How does it stir you to worship? What focus might you find from this Psalm for this coming week?
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 8 (lyrics here)
Just a quick check-in to say that due to illness (Jack has been in the hospital this past week) the devotional is still on pause. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal come next week. See you then!
We’re sorry, but due to unforeseen circumstances the worship devotional is temporarily delayed. Hopefully it will be up again soon. Thank you.
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 some time 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.
In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
—James 1:17 (NIV)
We live in a time of great disequilibrium. The word is changing faster than we can keep track, and the pace of that change is absolutely exhausting. Reports and statistics of psychological distress in our culture are on the rise, and one of the main contributors (perhaps even the largest) is the sheer chaos that seems to surround us. It’s hard not to feel stress when the ground beneath our feet seems to constantly shift.
Worship, however, grounds us. When we enter the presence of God, we are entering the presence of the unchanging One. Worship re-orients us and puts us back on a stable footing by reminding us that we exist in relationship with the God who brings order out of chaos, who provides a firm foundation for our souls as well as our feet. Jesus spoke to this truth in a parable:
“I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”
—Luke 6:47-49 (NLT)
The foundation is Jesus. The foundation is his truth, his word. The foundation stands, as Paul says, “bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his.’” (2 Timothy 2)
Let’s worship the God who doesn’t change, who is our rock and fortress, our firm foundation.
SONG OF ENCOUNTER: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (lyrics here)
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 some time 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.
On Mondays we use the Hebrew Psalter to focus in on the invitation to approach God in worship.
Read through the Psalm slowly and prayerfully, either silently or out loud. Pay attention to the movement of your soul and the longings of your heart as you read. How does it stir you to worship? What focus might you find from this Psalm for this coming week?
Refrain: Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.
To you I lift up my eyes,
to you that are enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
or the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God,
until he have mercy upon us.
Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of the arrogant,
and of the contempt of the proud.
Our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.
Sovereign God, enthroned in the heavens,
look upon us with your eyes of mercy,
as we look on you with humility and love,
and fill our souls with your peace
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Common Worship: Daily Prayer, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2005 and published by Church House Publishing
CALL TO WORSHIP: Be Enthroned (lyrics unavailable)
