Each week as we look at the means of Grace I want to begin with my short summary about the Means of Grace: the Means of Grace are those "routes" by which we encounter the grace of God and by which the grace of God encounters us. Grace is not a commodity that can be packaged and dispensed by human beings. Grace is the mysterious and wondrous love of God which is made real in our lives; forgiving and freeing us to become the persons God has designed us to be. One of God's gifts is that we have been given opportunities to participate in activities which position us to experience and be enriched by that grace. For most Christians, worship is perhaps the primary place means by which we encounter the grace of God and the grace of God encounters us.
The Worship section of the PCUSA Book of Order contains the following description of worship in section W-1.2000:
"God brings all things into being by the Word. God offers the Word of grace, and people respond to that divine initiative through the language of worship. They call God by name, invoke God's presence, beseech God in prayer, and stand before God in silence and contemplation. They bow before God, lift hands and voices in praise, sing, make music, and dance. Heart, soul, strength, and mind, with one accord, they join in the language, drama, and pageantry of worship. "
This wonderful paragraph helps us glimpse the conversational nature of worship; meaning the process by which God speaks to us and we respond to God. Thus worship becomes that moment in which we can encounter the grace of God. What follows is a description of our weekly worship practice. I hope this outline will assist each of us in experiencing God's grace more fully as we worship.
We begin with the Call to Worship which is usually drawn from scripture. The Call to Worship is intended to be God, through the written word, calling us to come together as the body of Christ, in order that we might be encountered by God.
The Opening Hymn is our response to God's call to us. We respond with words of praise and adoration. In essence we are turning toward God in order to receive the grace God has to give.
The Time with the younger church is the moment in which the children (and adults) hear the Word of God and encounter God's grace at an age appropriate level. We firmly believe that God's grace is poured out on persons of all ages.
Following the Time with the Younger Church we move to the Prayer of Confession. As was explained a couple of weeks ago, the Prayer of Confession is not intended to make us feel badly about ourselves. It is intended instead to be an opportunity for us to acknowledge where we have not lived into the grace of God that we have been offered. Confession allows us to confess our sin thereby opening our hearts to receive forgiveness which is at the heart of God's grace.
Our response to being forgiven is to sing the Gloria Patri in which we praise God for restoring our relationship with God through God's gracious love for us.
At his point we move into the heart of the worship experience where we encounter God and God's grace through the reading and exposition of God's written word. Though we as Presbyterians do not speak of scripture as being "inerrant" we still believe it has the power to show us not only how to live in the world, but to also transform our lives. We believe that the grace of God works through scripture to change us. It is, as the Apostle Paul wrote, the power of God for salvation.
Once again following our encounter with God in and through scripture, we respond with a hymn of praise. This act allows us to give voice to our gratitude for having heard from God.
The remainder of the service is organized around our continuing response to God…in other words it is our moving toward God even as God has moved toward us. Through giving our tithes and offerings we give a portion of what God has given us in order that the work of God's community can continue. The offering is followed by prayer in which we both speak to God and then listen for God's response. The service closes with another hymn of praise (orienting ourselves toward God) and the offering of God's blessing in the benediction. We are then sent out to into the world in order to practice what we have learned.
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