If you’ve been able to join MBC in worship at some point over the past two months, you will have experienced the little “worship experiment” that we’ve been trying as we sing the Psalms.
For the first few weeks, it was truly an experiment! I had no idea how people would react; if they would love it, hate it, or be completely indifferent to it. While I’m sure there are probably still a number of people who might fall into each one of those camps, overall I think it’s been a great success on at least a couple of levels.
First, and most importantly, I think we as a congregation have been given a new way to engage with scripture (well, it’s new for us; as I’ve mentioned before, this is a 3,000 year old form of worship). If that’s all that is accomplished through this, then I consider it a success.
Secondly, we’ve been able to tap into some of the creative abilities represented by our music teams. Did you know that the choruses we sing as part of these Psalms have been written by our own people? So, while I wrote the first few just to get this project off the ground, the last three weeks have been written by different members of our music teams: three weeks ago, Psalm 46 was written by Charmaine, two weeks ago Grant arranged Psalm 105 for us, and this past week, Psalm 116, was provided by Lisa. It’s been great to see the talent, passion, and creativity that has come from our own people! It’s also been kind of fun to see the different musical styles represented by those who arrange the Psalm. It adds some diversity to our repertoire, doesn’t it?
So, while the main purpose is for our Church to be drawn into a fresh engagement with the Psalms of Scripture, I also encourage you to check in your bulletin to see who has arranged the Psalm for that week and give our new songwriters some encouragement.
Anyway, as you’ll see below, here is the order of service that Lisa and I assembled for this past Sunday. If you just look through this order can you see the story that’s being told?
Notice how we move from praising God for His creation (Be Praised) through to his works of redemption and re-creation (Saviour of the World) to us being sent out to proclaim that He is the “Hope of the Nations.”
Sunday, October 16, 2016:
Gathering:
Call to Worship:
“Be Praised” (Gungor)
“Greatly to be Praised” (Fee)
Service of the Word:
“Saviour of the World” (Ben Cantelon)
Psalm 116 (sung as arranged by Lisa Sawatzky)
Prayer
Scripture Reading: Genesis 18 & 21
Sermon: The God of Hope
Response:
Pastoral Prayer
Offering
Haiti Sharing
Sending:
“Hope of the Nations” (Brian Doerksen)
Closing Prayer
