Sunday Liturgy: Why are we structuring Sundays this way in this season?
When Christians get together for corporate worship, there should be intentionality for our time together. There is an intentional rhythm of God acting and His people responding. We see this rhythm in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and we base our time together on this rhythm. The apex or centerpiece of this rhythm of redemption is the Gospel. The gospel can be explained thematically: God (Holiness) > Man (Sin) > Jesus (Atonement) > Sinner’s response (Faith), or as a narrative (four acts of a story): Creation > Fall > Redemption > Restoration.
When we gather as the people of God we want our liturgy set up to follow this rhythm based on the gospel, which allows us to remember, experience, and continue to live in this story week in and week out.
So what is a liturgy? We’ve been using that word more as of late. Liturgy literally means “the work of the people.” Every church has a liturgy. The question becomes how explicit or intentional this liturgy is.
James K.A. Smith says liturgies are, “Rhythms, routines, rituals, and practices that have formative power. They aren’t just something you do, but something that is done to you. Therefore, asking the question ‘why do we do what we do’ is very important, because what we ‘do’, ‘does’ something to us.”
At Providence Road we want to work towards being more intentional in our liturgy on Sunday mornings and as a result equip and calibrate our people to being more intentional in our rhythms, routines, and practices in our everyday lives.
We believe the social distancing guidelines in this season have given us an opportunity to bridge the gap between Sunday worship liturgy and everyday life liturgies. Because of this, we’ve been intentional in how we’ve structured our Sunday liturgy in hopes that it will move us to be more active in our participation from our living rooms on Sundays, as opposed to a passive posture. It will also lead us to being more intentional in our everyday lives. Resources like the Family Worship Guide along with the Prov Road Kids resources also further this aim.
Our prayer through this season is that we would continue to move forward in finding our freedom and joy in Jesus, seeking Gospel saturation by being disciples that make disciples in all of life. We believe this approach to Sunday worship is the best path forward.
Here is a brief description of the liturgical elements during this season:
Greeting/Call to Worship: The welcoming of the congregation, and taking the focus off ourselves and setting our eyes on God.
Adoration: The continued focus on God by reinforcing his holy character, his mighty acts, and his steadfast love, leading the people into a sense of worship and adoration toward God.
Confession: We bring all of ourselves before God, admitting where we fall short, lack belief, and choose to go our own way. This is a time to own and repent of known and unknown sin against God and man.
Assurance: A reception of the assurance of what Christ has done with sin and who we are in Him. The gospel redeems and reconciles us back to God.
Prayer: A time of prayer, highlighting particular needs within the church, the city, and the world.
Giving: Giving is an act of worship. This is a part of the liturgy in order to be reminded that everything we have belongs to God and he calls us to be faithful stewards of our resources.
The Proclamation of the Word: A time where the Bible is preached. Preaching is expository (letting God say what he wants to say from the Bible, not what the preacher wants to say), gospel-centered and Christ-focused.
Benediction/Sending Forth: These two elements are usually combined into one as a blessing from God is spoken over his people and we are sent by God back into the world. Having entered God’s presence and renewed our covenant with Him, we are now sent out to advance his kingdom and live for his glory.
We want to follow the rhythm of God speaking and us responding. Therefore all of these sections will often include Scripture reading, prayer, readings from historical confessions and creeds, and moments of silent reflection.
There are a few differences from our normal “in-person” Sunday morning gatherings and the liturgy outlined above. The three primary differences you’ll notice is that there is no music, there is no communion, and the sermon is shorter. Here are some reasons for the differences.
For music, our worship leaders are providing “living room worship sets” every week. This allows people in their living rooms to have more flexibility in when and how they want music to be incorporated.
As it stands now we think having a shorter sermon is best for this format and keeps all the elements of the liturgy more balanced.
For communion, we felt that doing “all-church online communion” is incomplete and a lot is missed in the online format. May our absence of participating in the Lord's Supper during this season cause us to long for our reunion when we are allowed to physically gather together again.
Further Reading on liturgy:
Book: You are What You Love by James K.A. Smith - this is one of my top ten books for Christians to read. This is an accessible read on how liturgies (habits and practice) fuel our love for Jesus.
Video: What is a liturgy? - This 30 minute video is part one of an interview with James K.A. Smith did on liturgies.
Article/Paper: Why we use liturgy in worship? - This paper was written by fellow Acts 29 church Coram Deo on why they use liturgy. Coram Deo is a church we’ve learned a lot from over the years. Some of the language of the article might be different, but the purpose behind why they use an intentional liturgy in worship resonates with us.
