|
|
Covenant Renewal Worship
Every
week on the Lord’s Day the Triune God graciously calls us together in
order to serve us. Yes, we gather to be served by God. This is
fundamental for us. God brings us together in his presence to give us
gifts; we gather at his call to receive his good gifts and respond with
thanksgiving and praise.
For this reason, Sunday must be central in the life of our
congregation. On this day, we are cleansed from sin, renewed in our
faith and trust in Jesus, instructed by his Word, and strengthened as a
community at the Table for sacrificial living in his kingdom.
How Do We Approach God?
In the providence of God, the Christian church has a rich heritage to
draw from when it comes to how we approach Him. Throughout the Old and
New Testaments and down through the first two millennia of the
Christian era, God has given us many glorious instructions and examples
to follow. However, many Christians in our day spend little effort
considering these gifts of God. Instead, many would rather worship God
in the way that seems most emotionally appealing or most practical or
comfortable.
Following in the footsteps of our fathers in the faith, the historic
church has followed a fairly recognizable pattern of worship in
obedience to the Scriptures. This service or liturgy is what some have
called Covenant Renewal Worship, made up of essentially five parts:
Call, Confession, Consecration, Communion, and Commissioning.
Recognizing God’s sovereignty and lordship, we are Called into the
presence of the Triune God where we respond with thankfulness and ask
for the Holy Spirit to give us grace as we worship. Having arrived, we
are reminded of our remaining sin and our continual need for the grace
of forgiveness and thus we joyfully Confess our sins to our faithful
Father. Having been assured of pardon through the death and
resurrection of Jesus, we enter into the presence of God with gladness,
singing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to the God of our salvation.
There, we sit as sons and daughters, eager disciples, listening as God
speaks with us through His Holy Word as our great Teacher, Consecrating
us as living sacrifices pleasing and acceptable to Him. We offer up our
prayers before the throne of grace, pleading the mercies of God for our
families and friends, our church and community, our nation and the
entire world. Then, in a great climax, He invites us to sit at His
table where we Commune as a royal family in His presence. There, He
feeds us and nourishes us with the Lord’s Supper. And having tasted the
goodness of God and rested in His provision, we stand and are
Commissioned and sent out into the world with a blessing to show forth
the same grace and peace to all we meet. We respond with a joyful song,
thanking our Triune God for the mighty wonders He has done and will
continue to do.
Why Covenant Renewal?
This pattern of worship is called Covenant Renewal Worship because it
roughly follows the pattern of covenant making and renewal in the
Scriptures. We see this pattern in the offerings of the Old Covenant:
the Sin Offering, Ascension Offering, Tribute Offering, and Peace
Offering (Lev. 9). We also see this pattern in God’s work of creation
(Gen. 1) and the renewal ceremonies of Israel (e.g. Deut. 29, Josh.
9:30-35). Far from being strange or esoteric, this pattern is built
into the very way God made the world and gives God’s people freedom to
come before Him in joyful confidence, believing that our prayers are
heard, our praise is accepted, and we really are blessed and
strengthened for honest, faithful service. Ultimately this is all
because Jesus Christ is the one and only atoning sacrifice for sin and
as High Priest in heaven, our advocate with the Father, ever
interceding on our behalf.
While we are very grateful for what God has already given to us and the
recovery of a high and glorious heritage in worship, we are also
convinced that as God gives new and genuine reformation and revival to
His Church, the Holy Spirit will lead His people into ever increasing
faithfulness and wisdom. And so, far from thinking we’ve somehow
“arrived,” we expectantly look to the Author and Finisher of our faith
to continue to grow us up into the one true man, the image of Jesus
Christ.
|
|