“Order of Worship” α
–RED TEXT indicates links to content with the exception of any prayers from The Worship Sourcebook.
§ WE ARE LED INTO GOD’S PRESENCE
Through prayer, let’s draw near to our heavenly Father through His only Son Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, approaching the throne of grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need:
O Wisdom, your words uttered in the beginning generated a world of beauty
and goodness, giving purpose and value to each creature; instruct us in the way of
prudence, that we may nurture the world with justice and joy. Help us to resist evil
and to obey you, so that we may walk in your ways and the beauty of your creation
may flourish— through the one whom we know as the Wisdom of the ages, even
Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Prayer of the People D.4.4.6 — Worship Sourcebook 455-6)
§ WE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD
Reading the Word – JEREMIAH 7 (LISTEN HERE)
From Bible Gateway:
False Religion Worthless
7:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:
“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
9 “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,[a] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.
21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’
27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29 “‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
A period of silence may follow for reflection & recording insights.
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§ WE LIVE IN PRAYERFUL RESPONSE TO GOD
As we spend time with God in prayer (Listening as well as offering up prayers of Adoration, Confession of Sin, Thanksgiving, Surrender, & Supplication), we might include in our praying:
+The Jesus Creed (see * below) and/or The Apostles’ Creed (see ** below)
+The Lord’s Prayer (Prayed, Used as a Guide, or Both; see *** below)
+Prayers for Ourselves, Our Families, the Church, & the World
* – “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31, NIV 2011).
** – I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead; I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. (United Methodist Hymnal 881)
*** – Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. (United Methodist Hymnal 895)
α NOTE: The following “Order of Worship” is offered as a possible way into prayerful communion with the Triune God of the Bible and into earnestly listening for God’s revelation of His nature, saving work, and will through the Scriptures. However, depending upon your time limitations, interests, and convictions, one can “pick and choose” what it will look like for him or her to seek God through disciplined engagement with Scripture (“Read”) and Prayer (“Pray”) with the goal of receiving and reflecting the love of God (“Love”) every day of our lives (“Daily”).
† = Reprinted by permission from The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004, Faith Alive Christian Resources.
Read. Pray. Love. Daily. 