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Thursday, 09 October 2008 15:35
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Lutheran Worship: Our Service of Holy Communion
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Gathering

In each service of Holy Communion,
the Holy Spirit gathers people around the means of grace: the
Word of God and the sacraments.
Sunday is the primary day on which the Church gathers.
Sunday is the first day of creation when God transformed darkness into light.
Sunday is the day that the crucified and risen Christ appeared to the disciples
and was made known to them in word and in the breaking of bread.
The heart of worship is not found in what we do,
the words we speak, or the songs we sing.
The heart of worship is what God does and what God gives.
In the presence of all of us together, in baptism,
in the word sung and preached and prayed,
in the gift of the body and blood of Christ in holy communion,
we participate in God’s mission to the world.
On this day of Christ’s resurrection, and at other times,
we make the sign of the cross,
the sign first marked on us in holy baptism.
We confess our sin and receive God’s word of forgiveness,
giving thanks that, even when we are dead in our brokenness,
God makes us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2.5).
Together we are brought into the presence of God
with an honest recognition of the reality of human sin and brokenness
and our own sin and brokenness.
Together we hear God’s promise and declaration of forgiveness.
We give thanks for God’s mercy in the gift of baptism.
Baptism is the place of entry into the Christian community
and it shapes all our life.
Martin Luther once noted that the life of the Christian community
and of each of us is nothing else than a daily baptism,
once begun and ever continued.
In worship, we are God’s people, gathered around Word and sacrament.
During the gathering, music plays an important role in giving us a common identity.
Gathering songs welcome us to the mercy of the triune God
and move us from our individual experiences into the purpose of worship.
The Kyrie ("Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy") is our prayer of peace for God’s mercy to fill the church and the world. The song of praise gives thanks for God’s glory revealed in Jesus Christ. When we sing “Glory to God,”
our voices join with the angels in a song from Luke’s gospel.
In “This is the feast,” we gather with all creation around God’s heavenly throne
singing words from the book of Revelation.
Whether our time of gathering is brief or extended,
the presiding minister and congregation greet each other in the name of the triune God.
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