Pastoral Ministry Azusa Pacific University Dr. Dick Pritchard
March 23, 2004
"Worship"
I. The Core Focus of the Gathered Believing Community
A. What's in the center?
1. Preaching?
2. Worship?
3. Communion/Alter?
B. What stems out of that?
1. Word
2. Prayer
3. Praise
4. Sacrament
5. Fellowship
6. Witness
II. Worship & Celebration
A. Worship is ascribing worth to God through various person expressions
B. Celebration is rejoicing over what He has done for me and mine
C. Benefits
1. Allows
ever-present God to manifest Himself to us
2. Celebration
keeps us from being dried up or mean
D. Study
1. Psalm
16:8
2. Romans
15:3
3. John
6
4. Deuteronomy
14:22-29
5. Psalm
143:5-6
E. Practice
1. Continually
individually an corporately on Sabbath mornings and evenings and in other
worship gatherings
2. Praise
3. Prayer
4. Word
5. Receiving the Lord's Supper - the Eucharist
III. Planning & Leading Worship
A. Bringing people to their peak points of awareness and evoking
anticipation without making them anxious and/or resistant
B. Creating a distraction-free environment that allows the freedom of the
Holy Spirit
C. Facilitating an engaging, meaningful, participatory liturgy
IV. Liturgy
A. Late Latin: liturgia
B. Greek: leitourgia - a public service from the words for people' and a public building'
C. Meaning
1. A
Eucharistic rite, a rite
2. Body
of rites prescribed for public worship (most common reference to worship)
3. A
customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances
D. Liturgical leadership
1. It
is God whom we worship
2. Worship
requires some outward order to be accountable to its inner reality
3. The
fine line
a. Celebrate signposts and pathways that remind the community of its
historical experience and continuity
b. Even in orderly, remembering worship, each gathering is a new act of
adoration
4. Christian
worship requires community
5. Christian
worship cannot do without silence, but neither can it do without words
6. Music
is especially capable of expressing a significant part of what happens in
worship
V. Public worship phases
A. 1st Phase
1. Awe
2. Invocation
(prayer)
3. Adoration
4. Thanksgiving
B. 2nd Phase
1. Confession
2. Repentance
3. Affirmation
of Faith
4. Witness
C. 3rd Phase
1. Grateful
Response
2. Dedication
3. Commitment
to Christian Life
VI. Birthing a Sermon
A. When a theme of a proposed sermon is thrown against a problem, a sermonic idea may be born. When a problem is pushed against the gospel, the interaction may give birth to a sermonÉThe felt bind between need and theme is central to sermonic formÉ"
VII. Sacraments and Rituals
A. The Baptism of Believers
1. The
sign and seal of the new covenant of grace
2. Romans
6:3-5
3. Apostles' Creed
4. Witness/Declaration
of Faith
5. Anointing
w/Oil
6. Prayer
7. Sprinkling, pouring or immersion: "[Full Name], I baptize you in the in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
B. The Baptism of Infants or Young Children
1. Sing
and seal of the new covenant
2. Signified God's gracious acceptance and prevenient grace in Christ
3. Points
toward personal appropriation of the benefits of Atonement when reaching the
age of moral accountability and conscious saving faith in Christ Jesus
4. Challenge
the parents and church community to fulfill the desire of God for the infants
life
5. Response/Scripture
from Parents
6. Baptism
prayer and prayer of blessing
C. The Dedication of Young Infants or Children
1. Matthew
19:13-14
2. Parents' declaration of faith
3. Challenge
to parents and church community
4. Commitment
by all
5. Scripture
from parents
6. Pastoral prayer: "Our loving Heavenly Father, we do here and now dedicate [Full Name] in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
7. Prayer
of blessing
D. The Lord's Supper
1. Sermon,
homily, worship
2. 1Corinthians
11:23-29; Luke 22:14-20
3. "The Lord ordained this holy sacramentÉ"
4. Clarity
about who receives the Supper
5. Prayers
of confession and consecration
6. "[Name] this is the body o four Lord Jesus Christ, which was broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Take and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died for you."
7. "[Name] this is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve you blameless into everlasting life. Drink this, in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for you, and be thankful."
8. Prayers
of thanksgiving and commitment
E. Imposition of Ashes (Ash Wednesday)
1. Ashes
used from palm fronds (from previous Palm Sunday)
2. Meditation/homily
3. Symbolism
of mark and timing
4. Traditional: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return"
5. Contemporary options such as: "[Name], remember who you are and Whose you are"
6. Exit
in silence or worship
F. Confession
1. Formally
in prayers, readings, and/or songs
2. Can
mean expressions of what is believed
3. "Look at the face of Christ, then look at yourself, and confess the difference"
4. Informally
one-on-one during public service
5. Clarity
about priestly relationship with the confessor
6. Briefly
hearing the confession
7. Anointing
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
8. Prayer
of grace and forgiveness
9. Follow-up
is sometimes appropriate (or necessary)
G. Preparation for Marriage
1. Anybody
who falls into love, will fall out of love and that is where the commitment
takes over
2. Premarital
testing
3. Premarital
counseling
4. Checking
state laws for those officiating
5. Checking
church wedding policy
6. Calendaring
wedding and all related events
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