APC WEBSITE CONTENTS |
|
|||||||||||
|
|
On This Page: In preparation for worship during this Church season
of Easter, we invite you to read the scripture passages. Worship on Sunday
begins at 11:00 am. March 30 Second
Sunday of Easter Pastoral
Intern John
20: 19-31 1
Peter 1:3-9 April 6 Third
Sunday of Easter Centennial
Guest: Former Interim Minister Fred Lyon Luke
24:13-35 "Accompanying
the Resurrection" April 13 Fourth
Sunday of Easter Centennial
Guest Presbyterian Church ( Matthew
16:18, 18:17 “Worship
and the Church” April 20 Fifth
Sunday of Easter Centennial
Celebration Psalm
31:1-5, 15-16 I Peter 2:2-10 2:00
pm April 27 Sixth
Sunday of Easter Acts
17:22-31 John
14:15-21 May 4 Seventh
Sunday of Easter Centennial
Guest: Former Interim Minister Mary Boyd Click The
Directory for Worship in our Book of Order begins with these words,
“Christian worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and
power to the triune God.” We pray, sing, read scripture, give our
offerings – all of these praise and honor our God. And all that we do
outside of worship arises from our encounter with the living God in
worship. However,
have you ever wondered why we order our worship services the way we do?
Why do we have the Prayer of Confession before the scripture readings? Why
not have the sermon after the Joys and Concerns of the People? Well, since
we are Presbyterians, and Presbyterians always do things “decently and
in order,” you know there is a reason behind our order of worship. If
you look at APC’s Sunday bulletin you will see four sections:
1. We Gather as God’s
People.
2.
We Listen for God’s Word.
3.
We Respond to God’s Love.
4.
We Offer Ourselves to God. Each of these four sections has a distinctive purpose, yet are also four parts of the whole liturgy – “the work of the people.” Let’s examine the purpose and theology behind each of these parts of our worship service. We
Gather as God's People The
gathering of the community begins as we all leave our homes and drive to
the church. We may be thinking ahead to Sunday school or ushering, but we
may also be thinking about the trip to the grocery store, Aunt Susie’s
visit tomorrow, and the dog’s upcoming trip to the vet. When we gather
in the church and hear the sounding of the hour we are leaving our
isolation of individual lives. We are coming together as God’s covenant
community. We are gathering at the church in order to do
worship, not merely to observe. We are all participants in this
celebration, as we hear God’s word for our lives. The
chime serves to call our attention to the beginning of worship, as the
Christ candle is lit. The musical prelude provides time for reflection and
settling. The Call to Worship reminds us of God’s gracious acts, and
calls us to join in the praise and worship of God. We respond with
singing, and then with private and corporate confession. Confession is a
prayer where we acknowledge our sin and our misuse of our God-given free
will. This sin keeps us from truly living “in the image of God” as we
were created. However, sin is never the final word. God’s grace and
forgiveness are more powerful than any sin, and all are forgiven and
assured of God’s mercy. The
gathering also includes the passing of the peace, which has its roots in
the earliest days of the church. In the letters of Paul he describes the
“kiss of peace” among Christians assembled for worship. We may not all
be comfortable today with a “kiss” (especially in winter with flu and
colds running rampant), so a handshake has been substituted. The passing
of the peace occurs after the confession and forgiveness, and helps us
move toward recognizing all people as children of God. We
Listen for God's Word In
this section of the worship service the Word of God is proclaimed. We
gather to hear God’s word for us today, through scripture and
interpretation of the stories of God’s people from the past. Listening
to scripture read and listening to the sermon may seem like a passive
activity, but it is not. It is
an active listening as we each discern how that word engages us. What
might we take away with us for the coming week, as we live out our
Christian vocation in our daily life? Before
scripture is read we pray together the Prayer for Illumination. In this
prayer we are asking for the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the reading,
hearing, and proclaiming of the Word. John Calvin says about the Holy
Spirit: “[God] illumines our
minds by the light of his Holy Spirit and opens our hearts for the Word
and sacraments to enter in, which would otherwise only strike our ears and
appear before our eyes, but not at all affect us within.” This is active
listening, allowing the Word to “affect us within,” not be merely
something we hear or see. We
ordinarily have two readings, the first from the Hebrew Scriptures and the
second from the New Testament. However, there is nothing
“unliturgical” about having two from one or two from the other. Many
churches today have moved from using the term “Old Testament” to
saying “Hebrew Scriptures.” This serves to recognize the origin of the
first reading and to guard against any inclination to assume that the
“New” has superseded the “Old.” God made a covenant with Abraham
and with Moses, and the Hebrew Scriptures are the record of God’s
activity with the people of Following
the readings is the sermon. Gone are the days – at least in our
denomination – when sermons stretched for an hour or more. Aren’t we
glad about that? I know I am, because I cannot imagine preparing a sermon
for that amount of time! The sermon is an interpretation of Scripture that
offers insight into God’s word for our lives today. The goal is to bring
the text alive, with meaning for today. Traditionally
this section ends with some sort of corporate prayer that expresses the
theme of the readings and the sermon. At APC we sing a hymn at this time.
The preacher chooses the hymns and tries as much as possible to have them
reflect this theme. The next time you attend worship see if you can
discover what this theme is. You will find it in the Call to Worship, in
the hymns, and in the prayers. In
the next edition of the Bridge I will explore some aspects of the third
and fourth parts of our Sunday liturgy. So, the next time you are in
church remember the opening of our Directory for Worship, “Christian
worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the
triune God.” Let us engage our hearts as well as our minds, and may the
whole church say “amen!”
"I believe the most important part of our church life is the time we spend in worship. It is in worship that we are reminded of who we are, people of God, and of who we are called to be, God's people in the world. In worship, we confess that we fall short of the vision God desires for us and that God loves us and forgives us and we are reminded of what it means for us to seek justice and do kindness and walk humbly with our God. It is only as we gather to worship God regularly that we are given the strength, courage and conviction to move beyond the walls of the building and be the church in the world." — Rev. Sharon K. Core
We welcome young children to stay for worship. Worship bags -- made just for youngsters in grades 1 through 5 -- are available to help children participate in worship. Pick them up before worship from the back pew and return them after the service. The bags contain:
Nursery care is provided in Room 203 during worship every Sunday. Just ask an usher or greeter if you need assistance. |
