Greater Attention

Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship, Year D

Timothy Matthew Slemmons

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781620320037
  9781498215022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621896890
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship is a series of four liturgical resources: three consisting of liturgical elements for Years A, B, and C, and a fourth, the first such resource to support the implementation of Year D: A Quadrennial Supplement to the Revised Common Lectionary (Cascade Books). Each volume consists of a Call to Worship, Opening Prayer, Call to Confession, Prayer of Confession, and Words of Assurance, with Years A-C including additional elements (A Prayer in Preparation for Worship, The Offering, Prayer of Dedication, and a Blessing) suitable for Presbyterian, Reformed, and other Protestant worship. Each of these practical volumes is intended for use by pastors, liturgists, and other planners and leaders of worship.

Part I

The Christmas Cycle

Advent—Christmas—Epiphany

First Sunday of Advent

Malachi 1:1–14

Psalm 18

Luke 1:1–25

Hebrews 1:13—2:4

Call to Worship

Call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised!

For God is our stronghoId, our shield, the horn of our salvation!

The Lord hears the cries of his people.

From his temple, God hears our cries of distress.

The Lord has bowed the heavens and come down!

He has reached down from on high and drawn us out of mighty waters.

Lead us out, O God, into a broad place.

For you have delivered a humble people.

It is you, O Lord, who light this lamp!

The Lord our God lights up our darkness!

For this we extol you, O Lord, among the nations!

We shall forever sing praises to your holy name!

Opening Prayer

Lord God of hosts, your name is great among the nations. From the rising of the sun to its setting, let your name be exalted, and let pure and worthy offerings be made to you. For you are the beloved of Jacob, great beyond the borders of Israel, and honor and respect are due you. Therefore, let our worship of your name be pure and pleasing to you. Look with favor upon us, take away our disgrace, let us hear and believe your holy Word, and do not let us fall silent concerning your Son, but give us courage to tell the good news at home and abroad, that your people everywhere will return to you.

Call to Confession 

Every transgression and every act of disobedience have received a just penalty! But how shall we escape if we neglect to own up to our need for God’s justice, if we fail to grasp the enormity of God’s grace in providing it or to consider what it cost the Son of God, who died to save us? Therefore, let us consider our sin and confess our need for this great salvation!

Prayer of Confession

O Lord our God, we confess that we have been slow to believe your promises, and quick to drift away from you. We have paid far too little attention to your word, to your testimony, to your miraculous signs and wonders, and far too much attention to selfish concerns. We have held back from you our very best, even though you gladly and graciously sent us your beloved and only begotten Son. Forgive us, O God, for our sinful thoughtlessness! Let us never again neglect so great a salvation as you have provided for us in Jesus Christ!

Declaration of Forgiveness

The Lord shows himself loyal to those who show themselves loyal, but with the crooked he shows himself perverse. The way of God is perfect. The promise of the Lord proves true. He is a rock for all who take refuge in him. You who have confessed and cried out to the Lord, know that you are delivered and forgiven, and be at peace.

Second Sunday of Advent

Numbers 12 or 20:1–13 (14–21) 22–29

Psalm 106: (1) 7–18, 24–28 (43–48) (or Psalm 95)

Luke 1: (57) 58–67 (68–79) 80

Hebrews 3:1–19

Call to Worship

The Lord has raised up a horn for our salvation

in the house of his servant David!

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has looked

with favor upon his people and redeemed them.

Praise the Lord, who has shown us great mercy.

Prepare the way for the Lord our God!

Let the Holy Spirit descend, we pray!

Let the spirit of prophecy make us partners with Christ.

By the tender mercy of our God,

the dawn from on high will break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Opening Prayer

You, O God, are the builder of all things, and Christ Jesus, your Son, the faithful builder of your house, even as he serves as its head and cornerstone. Help us, O Lord, as partners with Christ, to be the house in which you dwell, that we may hold firm to faith and hope until the end, with boldness and unwavering confidence in you. Show your holiness, O God, to this assembly, among this people where your glory abides, in Jesus’ name.

Call to Confession

When our ancestors sojourned in the wilderness, they tested the Lord and rebelled against him, so that the Spirit said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways,” and that generation “will not enter my rest.” Therefore, let not our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, as on the day of rebellion, but let us, with believing hearts, confess our sin, seeking the mercy of God with our first confidence and with the pride that belongs to hope.

Prayer of Confession

O Lord, you are good, and your steadfast love endures forever! Yet, we confess that though you have delivered us so many times, we are a dis...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Series Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part 1: The Christmas Cycle
• First Sunday of Advent
• Second Sunday of Advent
• Third Sunday of Advent
• Fourth Sunday of Advent
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Eve: A Festival of Lessons and Carols
• Christmas Morning
• Christmas Day
• First Sunday after Christmas
• Second Sunday after Christmas
• Epiphany
• First Sunday after Epiphany— Ordinary Time 1 (Baptism of the Lord)
• Second Sunday after Epiphany— Ordinary Time 2
• Third Sunday after Epiphany— Ordinary Time 3
• Fourth Sunday after Epiphany— Ordinary Time 4
• Fifth Sunday after Epiphany— Ordinary Time 5
• Sixth Sunday after Epiphany / Proper 1— Ordinary Time 6
• Seventh Sunday after Epiphany / Proper 2— Ordinary Time 7
• Eighth Sunday after Epiphany / Proper 3—Ordinary Time 8
• Last Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration Sunday)
• Part 2: The Paschal Cycle
• Ash Wednesday
• First Sunday in Lent
• Second Sunday in Lent
• Third Sunday in Lent
• Fourth Sunday in Lent
• Fifth Sunday in Lent
• Sixth Sunday in Lent (Palm Sunday)
• Maundy Thursday
• Good Friday
• Holy Saturday: The Great Vigil
• Easter (The Resurrection of the Lord)
• Resurrection Evening
• Second Sunday of Easter
• Third Sunday of Easter
• Fourth Sunday of Easter
• Fifth Sunday of Easter
• Sixth Sunday of Easter
• Ascension (Thursday)
• Seventh Sunday of Easter
• Pentecost Sunday
• Part 3: Ordinary Time (Propers 4–29)
• Trinity Sunday
• Proper 4— Ordinary Time 9 / May 29–June 4 (if after Trinity)
• Proper 5— Ordinary Time 10 / June 5–11 (if after Trinity)
• Proper 6— Ordinary Time 11 / June 12–18 (if after Trinity)
• Proper 7— Ordinary Time 12 / June 19–25 (if after Trinity)
• Proper 8— Ordinary Time 13 / June 26–July 2
• Proper 9— Ordinary Time 14 / July 3–9
• Proper 10— Ordinary Time 15 / July 10–16
• Proper 11— Ordinary Time 16 / July 17–23
• Proper 12— Ordinary Time 17 / July 24–30
• Proper 13— Ordinary Time 18 / July 31–August 6
• Proper 14— Ordinary Time 19 / August 7–13
• Proper 15— Ordinary Time 20 / August 14–20
• Proper 16— Ordinary Time 21 / August 21–27
• Proper 17— Ordinary Time 22 / August 28–September 3
• Proper 18— Ordinary Time 23 / September 4–10
• Proper 19— Ordinary Time 24 / September 11–17
• Proper 20— Ordinary Time 25 / September 18–24
• Proper 21— Ordinary Time 26 / September 25–October 1
• Proper 22— Ordinary Time 27 / October 2–8 (World Communion Sunday)
• Proper 23— Ordinary Time 28 / October 9–15
• Proper 24— Ordinary Time 29 / October 16–22
• Proper 25— Ordinary Time 30 / October 23–29
• Proper 26— Ordinary Time 31 / October 30–November 5
• All Saints’ Day— November 1 (or First Sunday in November)
• Proper 27— Ordinary Time 32 / November 6–12
• Proper 28— Ordinary Time 33 / November 13–19
• Proper 29—Ordinary Time 34 /:November 20–26 (Christ the King or Reign of Christ)