Kairos vs. Chronos time
When we enter worship, we leave chronos time behind. Chronos refers to chronological or sequential time. It’s the minute-by-minute, beginning-and-ending time that we are all accustomed to. Kairos is an ancient Greek word that refers to the right or opportune moment. When we hear the lay lector say, “We now hear the belfry bell that calls us to Christian worship,” we leave behind normal (chronos) time and enter into God’s (kairos) time. The hour of worship that is before is a gift of grace. We have the opportunity to set everything aside to focus on God together. We invite you to take a deep breath and sit silently for a moment as we leave the world behind to enter God’s time, where you’ll have the opportunity to consider God’s call on your life and respond as a disciple of Christ.
The Psalter
Consisting of 150 psalms or songs, the Psalter or the Psalms were Israel’s praises to God that God has gifted back to us in the Bible so that we can use them for our worship and study. Martin Luther called Psalms the little Bible because he said all of Scripture is condensed there. John Calvin called them the anatomy of the soul because all of our human experience is condensed there. It is interesting to note that two-thirds of the Psalter are psalms of lament—songs that cry out to God in our suffering. This goes to show that God wants all of who we are when we worship, not just the shiny parts. Reciting the Psalter in worship takes us back to the earliest days of worship in the Old Testament. The Psalms are our original hymnal–a tradition that we are proud to uphold.
Hymns
“I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” These lyrics from the familiar hymn “His Eye is on the Sparrow” capture a bit of why we sing in worship. Music is as much a part of the human experience as food and falling in love. God has placed within the heart of each human being the need for song. When we sing during worship, we glorify God and grow closer to one another. God’s love pulls a song of praise from every heart that binds us tighter as God’s people in the world.
Confession
We have been confessing our sin together (corporate confession) in one way or anther since God first reached out to Abraham. To enter the sanctuary is to step into the presence of God. God’s presence assures us that despite our sinfulness, we are loved. When we confess together, we admit that our righteousness isn’t enough—we need a Savior. We witness to the fact that God’s loving presence (the Holy Spirit) works in and through us despite our sinfulness. We leave our guilt and burdens with God. And, perhaps most importantly, we celebrate our child-of-God status. The confession of sin is a vital part of any worship service because in it we admit who we are before God and celebrate the God who invites our confession.
Passing the Peace
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul tells the church that we no longer regard one another from a worldly perspective, but as people who are now part of the new creation that Christ began. This, Paul says, is our ministry of reconciliation. When we celebrate our forgiven status after the prayer of confession, we embrace who we are as the family of God. We celebrate the peace Christ brings to His early family and we remember that we do not view one another from an earthly perspective anymore. We view one another the way Christ views us: as beloved sisters and brothers who’ve been redeemed by the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Offering
Why do we make such a big deal about the offering? Why not just put baskets out at the entry way, not calling attention to it? Because giving God’s tithes and our offerings is a part of our celebration each week, and our giving is far more than money. It’s our time, talents, service, prayers, etc.—we offer God all of who we are. We gather. We encounter the grace of God. We experience forgiveness. God’s forgiveness enables us to offer all of who we are as holy people. That’s worth celebrating!
Kids’ Moments
Children are part of our family. Jesus welcomed them into His earthly ministry and tells us to honor them. When we call our children forward doing worship, we emphasize their importance among us by offering a portion of worship that translates well to them. We open the circle wide to include all God’s people.
Songs and Prayers for Illumination
In our song or prayer for illumination, we ask God to speak to us through the Scripture and sermon. Without the presence of the living God, the Bible is just a book and the sermon is at best good advice. With the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Bible becomes alive and the sermon testifies to God’s work in creation.
Scripture
The Bible is the word of God that bears witness to Jesus, the capital W Word of God. As Untied Methodists we affirm in our Book of Discipline that the Bible “is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine.” The Bible is a collection of 66 books. In each of them the author or authors share how God came into their life or the life of their people to create, redeem, and form them into His people. God speaks to us through the Bible when we read it devotionally on our own or when we read it together during worship or Bible study. The stories we read become our story as they illuminate the way God is present and active in our life as God’s people, share God’s will and purpose for His people and all creation, and form us into Disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible holds a special place in our worship. The pastors of our church routinely follow a lectionary–a calendar of readings from the Bible developed to make sure that we hear from all parts of the Bible. The Scripture passages are then carefully and prayerfully interpreted so that the sermons we hear are based on those passages as directed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is one of God’s means of grace, which means God works in and through it to pour grace into the lives of His people.
Sermon
We know God through the written Word, the Bible, and through the living Word, Jesus. The sermon is an act of worship that interprets and presents the Word of God for the congregation, here and now. The sermon deepens our knowledge of God, and calls us to meditate and to remember. The sermon also speaks to our hearts, and may prompt us to rejoice, to repent, to delight, or to hope. In these ways, the sermon draws us closer to God’s Word in worship together.
Creeds
The earliest Christian Creed simply states “Jesus is Lord.” As the Church began to grow, making claims about the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, the purpose of the incarnation and resurrection, etc., creeds began to take form so that we Christians could share clearly what we believe about God. The earliest and most important creeds are The Apostle’s Creed which states concisely the main tenants of historical, biblical, orthodox Christianity, The Nicene Creed which adds emphasis on the fact that Jesus as truly human and truly divine (what we call the mystery of the incarnation), and The Athanasian Creed which adds emphasis on understanding the Trinity as three persons in one God. It is important to remember that the root of the creeds predates Scripture. When we Methodists say that our most important tools for discerning the will of God are Scripture, Tradition, reason, and experience, the creeds defiantly fall into the Tradition part. The most important thing to reminder: when we say the creeds together, we confess our faith to the world and reinforce our faith internally. We Christians disagree on a lot of things, but we agree on core beliefs of our faith that we find in these creeds.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion stands at the center of everything we do as Christians. Jesus says it’s the New Covenant in His blood—His pledge to be with us by the Holy Spirit until He returns again. The first Holy Communion meal was when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples on the night before he was crucified. The Passover meal celebrates God delivering the Jewish people out of slavery and leading them to the Promised Land. Jesus tells His disciples He is the fulfillment of God’s covenant and that he has become the sacrifice that will free us from sin and death. When we come to the Lord’s table we accept God’s grace and promise to be disciples of Jesus. How often can we take Communion? As often as it is offered. There is no limit on God’s grace. The early church and many Christians around the world still celebrated it whenever they worship. We Methodists are slowly returning to a weekly observance. Why do we call it a Sacrament? The word means Holy Mystery. We believe that God is at work in the bread and cup in ways we cannot fully understand, forming us into His people. Who can receive Holy Communion? We believe everyone is invited to the Christ’s table. God’s grace is for all people. John Wesley called Communion both converting and conforming. By converting he meant that those who need God will find God in it. By confirming he meant that those who know the grace of God will find deeper meaning and new levels of God’s love.