Lutheran Worship Presentation
Confirmation Class Outline

Lutheran Worship is:

	1.  Historical--In many ways, we worship just like the early
		Christians did.  We sing hymns, pray, and read the
		Bible, and tell the stories of Jesus.  This connects us
with all of the Christians who have gathered for 2000 years.
		Even Jesus sang hymns.

	2.  Liturgical--literally it means "work of the people."  We do not 
		come to worship to be entertained, but rather to fully 
		participate in praising God for all that we are and have.
		We participate in the singing, praying and proclaiming of
		the word.  Our worship service is a set form which closely
		resembles that of the Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, and
		Greek Orthodox churches.  For this reason, these three
		church bodies are called Liturgical Churches.  Part of the
Liturgical tradition is the Church year, which divides the year into certain seasons.  A new church year begins with the 1st Sunday in Advent and ends with Christ the King 
		Sunday.  

3.  Traditional--Through the years, certain traditions have risen 
		which aid in our worship.  These may change through the
		years, and are not "written in stone"  They tend to reflect 
		the culture of the surrounding area.  Examples of tradition 
are:  Advent wreath, Pastor's  and choir wearing vestments,  Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, Annual Celebrations, etc.

Structure of the Worship Service.
Part One of the Worship Service
CONFESSION: 
Notice that this is not included within the Service
in the LBW.  It is optional part of the beginning.  On festive Sundays, Christmas and Easter, it is not included.  God 	does not need our confession, we do.  In confession, we remember that God has washed away all of our sin in our Baptism.  We need to be reminded, that even though God	has won the war, there are daily battles still to be fought,and we are still sinners needing God's forgiveness.  In confession, we state that we cannot by our own power free ourselves from sin and death, but are wholly dependent upon God's grace.  Luther says that in confession we return daily to our baptism.

Biblical Reference: 
I John 1:5-10  (Letter of John, not the Gospel)
Some of this Scripture passage makes a good Litany for confession of sins.
Psalm 51:1-9 is a good confession of sins.

The Sign of the Cross:
	Our posture for prayer, singing, and kneeling, are shared by many religions around the world.  The sign of the cross is unique to Christians.  The beginning and end of the service are opportunities to make the sign of the cross, and people are encouraged to do so.  
Encourage children to make the sign of the cross--and say:  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen  as the first thing they do in the morning and the last thing they do at night.  This way, they remind themselves that they belong to Jesus.

ENTRANCE HYMN:
This is the first corporate act of the service.  It calls and invites all members of the congregation to join in praise and adoration of our God.  It helps set the tone for the day.

APOSTOLIC GREETING 
The Pastor calls--we respond, just as God initiates action and we respond.  This is a pattern throughout the Liturgy.  This greeting was used by the Apostles (12 disciples of Christ) .
	2 Corinthians 13:14

THE ENTRANCE RITE
In ancient Rome, the bishops and Pastors would go around to each church.  They made such a long procession, that the entrance rite was sung while they processed into the large churches.

KYRIE:  This is a Greek word meaning Lord.  KYRIE ELEISON is Greek for “Lord have mercy.” In the Roman rite, the congregation sings, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” Our Kyrie in the LBW is taken from the Greek Orthodox Church, which makes our worship ecumenical!

The Kyrie may be a Litany related to the theme of the day, to
a prayer for all people, or a responsive reading. People may say "Lord Have Mercy"  as a response to the Litany.
The Kyrie may also be sung--using a verse or two of a song asking for mercy. Hymn 96 would work very well.

Biblical Reference:
Luke 17:11-15; Luke 18:35-43

HYMN OF PRAISE:  
In the LBW we have two:
1. Gloria:  In this song we give thanks and praise to God for the incarnation, which means God becomes human in the form of Jesus. The Gloria echos the angels' song of the first Christmas.
Biblical Reference:  Luke 2:13, 14;  Rev. 15:3-4
	
2.  This is the Feast:  In this song, also known as “Worthy is Christ” we give thanks and praise to God for the resurrection of Jesus.  A lot of this hymn is taken from the book of Revelation. We remember that Christ is victorious over sin and death.
Biblical Reference:  Rev. 4:9-11; 5:8-14  

The Hymn of Praise may be any hymn praising God and His actions on our behalf. They may come from our LBW or other sources. An example of the range of songs one could use is: "The Lord liveth! And Blessed be the rock!"

PRAYER OF THE DAY:  This prayer is a bridge to the next part of 
the service.  It also sets the tone for the day.  It is related to the
prescribed lectionary readings for the day.  These may be found on LBW pages 13ff.

Part Two of the Worship Service

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD:  
1.	Old Testament Reading:  We read of God's dealings with 
the chosen people, Israel. We see his love and gracious acts to them. This reading often is related thematically with the Gospel reading.
2.	Psalm--The Psalms were ancient Israel's Hymnal.  The 
Psalm for the day usually is a comment upon the Old Testament Lesson. We chant it in much the same way as the Israelites did.
3.	2nd Lesson--This Lesson is usually a letter from Paul or 
one of the Apostles from the New Testament.  This is read very much like it was in the early Christian church.  These readings may be consecutive from Sunday to Sunday.

The Gospel Verse:  The people stand during this verse.
	Biblical Reference:  John 6:66-69
	Lenten Verse:  Joel 2:13

4.	Gospel Lesson:  The high point of the Lessons is the 
gospel lesson, which is usually a story about Jesus. The people stand to show respect and honor for this reading. The Pastor goes to the midst of the congregation to read, reminding us that God dwells in the midst of the people through Jesus Christ.

	5.  Sermon:  The pastor works with the lessons and tells how 			they apply to us in our daily life.  He usually preaches on 			the Gospel text, but may also preach on the OT or NT 			lesson.

Our Response: Now, the congregation responds to all they've 
	heard in word and song. 
(Because God has...Therefore, we...)

	6.  Hymn of the Day:  The most important hymn in the service.  
		This is our response to God's Word.  The hymn usually
		is related closely to the Gospel lesson and the sermon
		or theme for the day.

7.	The Creed:  We have the option to use either of two 
historical and traditonal statements of what we believe.
		
A.  The Apostle's Creed:  A personal statement of belief.
Tradition ascribes this creed to the Apostle's. We do know that it is very early and was handed down through the years. It was primarily used at Baptismal services.  It appears in written form in the 2nd century and reaches it's final form in 750.
			  
B.	The Nicene Creed: uses “we” statements to confess 
what the church believes. It was written about 325 AD but evolved through several of the 4th century ecumenical councils to its present form.	In this creed, we are responding to God's mighty acts and
			we are reminded of the faith into which we are
			baptized.

8.	The Prayers:  We respond to God's love by speaking to him, 
		and expressing our concern for the whole church, for all 
		people in the world, and for people in our congregation.

The Sharing of the Peace:
This is the bridge between the proclamation of the Word and Communion.  We express our forgiveness for each other, and our unity as we prepare for the meal.

Part Three of the Worship Service

The Offering:
	This is a good way in which we can respond to God's love.  Because God has first loved us so much, we now respond by giving to God our time, our talent, and our possessions.  We realize that they are only a gift from God to be used by us to share God's love to the world. In the offertory prayer, we are reminded that God is the source of all good gifts.

The Offertory Response
	Biblical Reference: Psalm 51:10-12

THE SACRAMENTAL  MEAL:  (Three different terms used.)
	Eucharist:  Greek word for "thank you."
	Communion:  It means feeling a part of, feeling as one with, 
		communicating with God and each other.
	Lord's Supper: Recalls Jesus' last supper and the New
		Covenant that he made with us.
	
1.  The Great Thanksgiving:
	These are among the oldest words in the liturgy.  We lift our
hearts to give attention to God.  We give him thanks (Eucharisto).
2.  Preface:
We praise God for his mighty acts. These words change with the seasons of the church year.  These are in our own words.  
3.  Sanctus:  Latin for "Holy."
	The congregation responds to hearing of God's mighty acts 
	by singing Holy, Holy, Holy which Isaiah and Revelation say is
	sung by all the angels in heaven and will be also sung by all
	creatures and people here on earth.  The Hosanna reminds
us of the supreme sacrifice of God, the death of his Son on our behalf.  This is the song the people sang when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, beginning the events leading to Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection.

Biblical reference: Isaiah 6:1-3; Rev. 4:5-8

4. The Words of Institution remind us of God's saving acts 
throughout	history.  It recalls Jesus' last words and asks the Holy Spirit to be with us in our celebration.
Biblical Reference: I Corinthians 11:23-26

5.  The Lord's Prayer is our table grace before the meal.
Biblical Reference: Matthew 6:9-13

6.	Communion:  When receive the bread and wine, God forgives 
our sins and refreshes us for our daily life. We believe that 
Jesus is truly present in these elements.

In Communion, we look three ways:
We look backwards:
to Jesus' crucifixion.  We sing Agnus Dei, Latin for Lamb of God, to remind us that Jesus died and was raised from the dead for us.  He freed us from the prison of sin and death.  We also remember all the times that Jesus ate with people, Zaccheus, Mary and Martha,
the feeding of the 5,000, and the breakfast on the beach after his resurrection.
Biblical References: 
Matthew 26:20-30; Luke 24:13-35; Luke 19:1-10

We look at today:
 We believe that Christ is truly present with our bread and wine, and that he comes into our hearts today.

We look forward:  
to the great promised feast. The Feast when we are in heaven and when Jesus comes again. Both Isaiah 25:6 and the marriage supper of the Lamb as described in Revelation give us glimpses of what this feast will be like. 

7.  Post-Communion Canticle: The Congregation responds to the
	gift of Christ in the holy meal by thanking and praising him.
	Then, since the service and meal are ended, we know what to
Do; tell everyone what he has done!  Let all of the world rejoice and bear his name!
Biblical Reference: Psalm 98; The Nunc Dimittis: Luke 2:29-32

8.  The Benediction:
A.	The Trinitarian blessing: God, Son, Holy Spirit is from the 
11th  Century
B.	The Aaronic blessing, which we use, is from Numbers 6:22-
27
   The sign of the cross may be made at this time.

9.  The Dismissal: We depart to bring Christ's joy and love to the world by serving him.  Our response to the whole Service of Word and the Sacrament is "Thanks Be To God!"

Some Miscellaneous Notes

Note how much of our Worship service is based on Scripture! Our words are not just empty, they come from God's own Holy Word.  The
Liturgical Service is Scripturally based.

Rubric--This word comes from the same root word as ruby, and means red.  Rubrics are instructions written into the liturgy for the worship leaders.  The Psalms contain rubrics, instructions to
the song leaders.  
Look in the LBW and read the rubrics that occur during the service.

•	Take a look at page 120 at Luther's service of Holy Communion.

•	Look at Morning Prayer, page 131, and Vespers page 142.

•	Take a look at the 3-year Lectionary, written out on page 13.

•	Look at other services in the LBW, such as Marriage, Funeral, etc.

•	Look at different indices in LBW: Metrical, Authors, Composers.