The purpose of the Liturgy is to help the Christian congregation to worship God in spirit and in truth so that the members may each time experience anew God’s wondrous gift in Christ Jesus.
The congregation assembles to meet God Whom all the angels adore, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord of the hosts. All things are open and clear before His eyes and in Him alone is our salvation. The SALUTATION reminds us that we are standing in His presence. The INVITATORY prepares us to appear worthily before Him. The first main part of the worship is the CONFESSION of sins, as we are not worthy to appear before Him as we are. For we have sinned in thought, word and action, and we have left undone much which we ought to have done. All these sins must first be confessed, and without such confession there is no true fellowship with God. It is thus necessary that the confession of sins be said slowly and impressively and that all join in it reverently and sincerely.
The confession is followed by the ABSOLUTION. Our God is not only a holy God Who does not hold innocent the guilty. He is also a merciful God, willing to forgive sins which are truly confessed and sincerely repented of, and Who is ready for His own sake and for His Son’s sake to accept us again as His children. The absolution is not mere wish, but it is the declaration of God’s forgiving love in Jesus Christ to every sinner who repents. It is therefore to be received with glad and joyful assurance.
The declaration of God’s forgiving grace fills us with gratitude, and leads on to the PRAYER OF ADORATION. In it we adore the mystery of God’s love Who has given His own Son for our salvation, and Who through the Holy Spirit fills us with the assurance of His faithful love and equips us for His service. Thankfulness for the gifts already received, and longing for gifts still in store for us, is its dominant tone. From the different Collects found in this section, one may be chosen.
The LESSON tell us what is God’s will and purpose for men. Without knowing His actual will we cannot serve Him aright. He spoke to His people of old through His prophets and through His Son. So to-day He speaks to us through His Word, charising and admonishing, comforting and strengthening us. The Old and New Testament lessons as well as the text of the sermon are correlated and speak with one voice. It is important that the lessons be read slowly so that all present may hear them clearly and receive them in their hearts.
Then the congregation unites in saying the CREED. It is its answer to the Word of God heard in the lessons. In the Creed the congregation confesses the Lordship of God in Jesus Christ over all the world.
After the creed the OFFERTORY. This also is an act of worship, the offering to God of our gifts for the furtherance of His cause in this World; and thus they are consecrated by prayer. These offerings are an expression of our gratefulness to the Giver of all good gifts. Are they a worthy and sufficient expression of our love to Him?
Next comes the PRAYER OF INTERCESSION, in which we ask for the manifestation of God’s power in every sphere of human life. This prayer leads us into deep fellowship with God, as through it we take part in God’s care for this world. The number of subjects embraced may vary and the Liturgy leaves room for new subjects to be introduced.
Before the sermon the congregation engages in SILENT PRAYER. May we all use it well in order to put away from our minds whatsoever hinders the acceptance of His message. If we are too much occupied with ourselves or worldly thoughts the Lord will be knocking at our doors in vain.
The purpose of the SERMON is to help us to hear the voice of God speaking to us, personally. Thus it is the Word of God spoken to us through the minister. We listen to a sermon not to criticize it, but to hear and accept God’s voice through it.
The prayer after the sermon is the PRAYER OF DEDICATION. In it we pray that the seed of the Word may grow up in us so as to bring forth fruit in our lives. We pray that we may leave the house of God with a heart overflowing with the love of God, with a new understanding of the will of God and with a determination to spend ourselves in the service of God.
The BENEDICTION assures us that while we may leave the house of God, God does not leave us. His fellowship will continue and His grace will be sufficient for us in all the conditions of our life.
The SACRAMENTS are outward signs and pledges of God’s grace, established by Christ. In His mercy God helps our weak faith, and through these signs assures us that His salvation is a real and sure thing for all who accept it in faith. Who would neglect this help from God for the growth of our spiritual life?
BAPTISM is the sign of the Covenant of God in Jesus Christ with sinful man. God promises, under the sign of water, to forgive our sins, to accept us His dear children and to offer us all His heavenly gifts. And man promises to accept God as his only Lord, put all his trust in Him and so obey His holy will. God is faithful to His promise but are we to ours? We also baptize our infant children though they cannot express their readiness to enter into this Covenant. We do it as a sign that God does not wait for our worthiness, but is gracious even before man can respond. Infant baptism calls for the CONFIRMATION, when the child is able to confirm the covenant of his baptism and to appropriate in faith the promise of God to him.
In the Lord’s SUPPER God shows us tangibly the greatness of His love. He does not give salvation to the righteous as a reward for his righteousness, but to the repenting sinner, forgiving his sins. Our worthiness, therefore, does not consist in the good deeds we have done, but in the acknowledgement of our utter sinfulness and our need of His grace, expecting and accepting all help from Him alone. The bread and wine point to His body broken for us and His blood shed for us. As we partake of these elements we are experiencing His fellowship which strengthens us unto life eternal. Shall we not readily join in this meal of communion with our risen Lord in deep thankfulness, as often as it is prepared for us?
