From time to time I like to share one of our worship services from Grace Fellowship Church. In that vein, here is how we worshiped on one September Sunday morning. This week’s cast of characters included Steve as service leader, Paul as preacher, and Josh as lead worshiper. The band was composed of guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar with one male and two female vocalists. Because the text on this Sunday focused on prayer, we had each of the elders take a turn praying, and each one prayed a different form of prayer. For that reason there were more people up front than is usually the case.
Welcome and Call to Worship (Steve)
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord” (Psalm 36:5-6).
Prayer of Adoration (Steve)
Steve prayed a prayer of adoration.
Singing (Josh)
- “Behold Our God”
- “How Great Thou Art”
Prayer of Confession (Tim)
I prayed a prayer of confession and especially confessed our sin of prayerlessness.
Singing (Josh)
- “Before the Throne of God Above”
Complementary Text Reading (Murray)
Murray said something like, “When there was a drought in the land of Israel, listen to what the prophet Elijah did.” He then read 1 Kings 18:41-46 and only after reading said that the reading was drawn from 1 Kings 18. He then said this: “Elijah prayed in faith to the Lord to send rain, and the Lord answered. Let’s thank God that he hears and answers the prayers of his people.”
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Murray)
Murray prayed a brief prayer of thanksgiving.
Singing (Josh)
- Psalm 138
Pastoral Prayer (Dwight)
Dwight prayed for a number of matters related to the church.
Scripture Reading (Dwight)
Dwight read the text upon which the sermon was based. He began by saying something like, “Please take your Bible and turn to James 5:13-20. If you have one of our church Bibles, you will find that on page 952. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and our ushers will bring one to you.” He began the reading with “This is what Holy Scripture says…” After reading the text he said, “This is the word of the Lord” to which the congregation replied, “Thanks be to God.”
Singing (Josh)
- “Prayer for the Ministry of the Word” & “Thy Promise Lord” set to the tune of “Amazing Grace”
Sermon (Paul)
Paul preached a sermon titled “Walk Your Talk Through Your Sickness” based on James 5:13-20. His outline was:
- Pray in your problems
- Praise in your joys
- Petition in your sickness
Singing (Steve)
- “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
Commission (Steve)
Steve commissioned the church to live on the basis of the truths we heard in the sermon. He also provided information about some upcoming events in the life of the church: The sermon Q&A following the service; the resumption of our Sunday evening services after a summer hiatus; the resumption of weekly Wednesday evening prayer meetings; the resumption of our GraceYouth meetings; and an upcoming Missions Night with Tim Keesee.
Benediction (Steve)
“Receive this blessing of the Lord from His Word: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ Amen.”
