Category: Liturgy
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The Greatest Show on Earth (Lord’s Day Exhortation)
This is the Lord’s service for the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day, as we hear Lord’s Word and feast on the Lord’s Supper. Liturgy is the greatest show on earth – and that’s because it’s not a show on earth, it really takes place in the heavenly sanctuary. Mystically, spiritually, by faith, when we…
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Maundy Thursday Leftovers: The Footwashing God
Here some belated notes to go with this year’s Maundy Thursday sermon: Here is a note from our bulletin that explains the service: Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus in the upper room with His disciples just before he was betrayed. On this special night, we remember how Jesus transformed the Passover meal into…
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Epiphany Exhortation: Keep the Party Going
The move from Christmas season to Epiphany season should not be a let down. Christmas is a season of great joy, but Epiphany is as well. And so that’s my exhortation to you: Keep the party going. Keep the celebration going. The themes change, but the festivity remains. Christmas celebrates Christ’s birth into the world.…
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Advent/Christmas Exhortation
Christmas celebrates the incarnation of God’s Son. John describes it as the Word made flesh. Isaiah used the language of “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us.” In the incarnation, God becomes man without ceasing to be God. Jesus Christ, from the point of conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is…
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Liturgical Sacrifice as a Way of Life
Romans 12 sermon (2005)Romans 12:11-2 This sermon was originally preached as the first of a two part series on February 27, 2005. The audio of Part 2, from Haggai 1:1-11, can be found here. Daniel Boone was the great American explorer who first scouted out men of the Western Frontier. He was a pioneer and a trailblazer, cutting…
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Confession of Sin
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this church opens wide her doors and offers welcome to all who are spiritually weak and seek rest; to all who mourn and long for comfort; to all who struggle and desire victory; to all who sin and need the Savior; to all who are strangers and want fellowship; to all who hunger and…
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Covenant Renewal Worship
What is the purpose of gathering together on the first day of each week for worship? If worship gathers up the gifts of the past week and gives thanks for them, if worship lays a foundation of grace for the week to come, what does that mean? How does it work? What are we supposed…
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Of Prayer Books and Puritans: Reform, Revival, and Renewal in Protestant Worship
[In 2007, I wrote this essay for a compilation of articles on Reformational liturgy. The project was going to be edited by the late Gregg Strawbridge. Gregg had already edited books of essays on baptism and paedocommunion, so the book on liturgy would complete the trilogy. Alas, too many other contributors got sidetracked and the…
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The TPC Baptism Font – Design and Placement
This is an email I sent to the TPC congregation in October 2009 explaining why we have our baptismal font at the doorway into the sanctuary and why we do our baptisms from the location rather than from the front of the sanctuary. It has a few other details about liturgical practices that might be…
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The TPC Communion Table
Around 2009, Trinity Presbyterian Church moved into a new worship facility in Cahaba Heights. We renovated the building, especially the worship space, and that included getting new liturgical furnishings. The blog post below is an email I sent out to the congregation on September 13, 2009 to introduce the congregation to our new communion table.…
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