Creative Project for Worship Theology

I co-wrote a sermon series called "On the Edge." This series was about the fact that whether we like it or not, we are on the edge of making major decisions all the time. We started by focusing on living a life worthy of your calling. Other weeks focused on identity discovery (Mark 1:3-11), learning from mistakes (Mark 1:16-20 and Jonah), and this week was focusing on Obedience on the Edge. It was also the week that we ordained our elders and our leaders made their commitments for the year.

This was a perfect Sunday to focus on being a worship artisan, relying on several sources for worship material. This week was a week to see how others had leaned on God, obeyed regardless of fear, and made the conscious choice to move in faith. As leaders in our church were being asked to step out and commit, I wanted them to feel the power in knowing others had stepped out for centuries and God had been faithful.

It was also a great time for the congregation to sense a call to obedience. We had a number of significant life changes within the congregation, many of them within the lives of the leaders. Parents who were moving in with their adult children because they could no longer care for themselves, illnesses and deaths of family members—some expected and others unexpected, and our leadership was getting ready to meet in a week to renew their sense of call for the church and clarifying the vision for our church. This was a Sunday that people needed to be called into the present, despite their fears and stress and sense of being overwhelmed, and worship their faithful and Sovereign God.

I started off by welcoming people to the worship service. And then I commiserated with them for a little bit about how easy it is to come into worship but have your mind in a million places because you feel overwhelmed and alone. Life isn't going the way you had expected. It's taken a turn and sometimes that makes us feel alone. Then I read portions of Psalm 139 and introduced I Lift My Hands by Chris Tomlin and led them in the song.

I then led them in a responsive reading that I put together (see attached).

We immediately moved into singing Rise and Sing by Fee, and then transitioned into Trust and Obey with a contemporary cha-cha sort of feel (I asked for it to be recorded but the file became corrupt before they burned it for me.) We wanted the song to have a joyful, positive feel rather than the traditional somber tone.

This set up the ordination and commitment service that consisted of some verbal responses by the leaders and then a prayer. The sermon followed, again focusing on 1 Samuel 3:11-20. We closed the service with I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin.Responsive Liturgy