THE FIRST LESSON Matthew 21:28-32
THE SECOND LESSON James 1:22-27
SERMON "Responding to the Word: Who it is We Worship?"
Worship Notes
Today we continue our series exploring various aspects of corporate worship, which is the most important activity we do together as the body of Christ gathered as Westminster Presbyterian Church. This series is an outgrowth of the recent worship survey of the congregation. Over the past three weeks, we have reflected on "why" we worship, "how" we worship, and affirmed God's Word as the foundation for our corporate worship. This morning, we consider how we, as individuals and as a body, respond to God's Word.
Just like the music through which we worship, our response to God can be described as praise, prayer, and proclamation. Our first hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee," is a hymn of praise that likens our response to God's to that of flowers opening to the sun above. In the section of the worship service titled, "Responding to the Word", we respond with a prayerful hymn that God might help us to hear the Word and enable us to be "doers" of it. That prayerful spirit of response is sustained as we sing "Lord, I Want to Be a Christian."
The anthem "Go Out With Joy" and the benediction response "Trees of the Field" are each derived from Isaiah 55 and proclaim a praise-filled response to God's Word as we seek to "do" it in our daily lives. Our worship concludes by singing the hymn "O Jesus, I Have Promised," which speaks directly of our response to God's call on our lives. The postlude is a jazz setting of the gospel hymn, "Blessed Assurance." The text of this great hymn of faith reflects our response to God's word in its chorus: "This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long!" Through corporate worship, may our faith grow to enable us to respond to God's Word with our praise, prayer, and proclamation.
