Word and Table with Commentary Notes

Prepared by Lester Ruth

Word and Table Order, UMH pp. 6-11 / Commentaries
ENTRANCE
GATHERING
GREETING
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
The risen Christ is with us.
Praise the Lord!
HYMN OF PRAISE
OPENING PRAYER
The following or a prayer of the day is offered:
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
[ACT OF PRAISE] / Structural: This order of worship has sometimes been called a 4-fold order because it has 4 “folds” or “movements” within it: Entrance, Word [Proclamation and Response], Table [Thanksgiving and Communion], and Sending Forth. The first visibly gathers the church from the worldand launches it into the praise of God.
Historical: The 4-fold order is the one most clearly attested in the historical records from the 2nd century onward and the one most widely used in Christian history. Its historical pedigree and use across a range of denominations has made it the basis for much worship renewal in the last 50 years.
Theological: The most important symbol in Christian worship is the church itself, the Body of Christ, assembling on the day of Resurrection, when Jesus Christ arose from the tomb. Thus to assemble as the church is not merely a perfunctorything but is a God-given witness of the resurrection to the world. The suggested greeting rejoices in Christ’s resurrection and presence boldly, making these the cornerstone of worship.
Structural: The structure of this first prayer hints at the structure in the whole order of worship: first God’s nature and actions are remembered and then an appropriate prayer of response is made in light of that remembrance. That flow from remembrance to response will characterize the movement from the order’s 2nd to 3rd folds.
Historical: This prayer is one of the most longstanding elements in Methodist worship, reaching back to the resources John Wesley had sent in 1784. Prior to that it was a part of his church’s Anglican resources and, prior
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
PRAY FOR ILLUMINATION
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit that, as the Scriptures are read
and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSON
[PSALM] May be sung or spoken
[SCRIPTURE LESSON]
HYMN OR SONG
GOSPEL LESSON
SERMON
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Responses may include one or more of the following acts:
Invitation to Christian discipleship, followed by a hymn of invitation or ofresponse, or a baptism or confirmation hymn, Baptism, confirmation, reaffirmation of faith, or other reception of members.
The following or other creed:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
CONCERNS AND PRAYERS
Brief intercessions, petitions, and thanksgivings may be prayed by the leader, or
spontaneously by members of the congregation. To each of these, all may make a common response, such as: “Lord, hear our prayer.”
Or, a litany of intercessions and petitions maybe prayed.
Or, a pastoral prayer may be prayed.
INVITATION
Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
CONFESSION AND PARDON
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church, we have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All pray in silence
Leader to people:
Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People to leader:
In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven!
Leader and people:
Glory to God. Amen
THE PEACE
Let us offer one another signs or reconciliation and love.
All exchange signs and words of God’s peace.
OFFERING
As forgiven and reconciled people, let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.
A hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung as the offering is received.
The bread and wine are brought by representatives of the people to the Lord’s table with the other gifts, or uncovered if already if already in place.
A hymn, doxology, or other response may be may be sung as the gifts are presented.
If a Great Thanksgiving other than that which follows here is to be used, the service proceeds with a “Service of Word and Table III.” Otherwise, the service continues as follows:
THANKSGIVING AND TABLE
(See the separate commentary on the Great Thanksgiving.)
SENDING FORTH
HYMN OR SONG
DISMISSAL AND BLESSING
Go forth in peace.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
Amen.
GOING FORTH / to that, was used in Latin as a prayer of preparation in Medieval worship.
Theological: The prayer assumes that we are dependent upon God even for the ability to worship. Methodists have loved this prayer because of the way it speaks to some of our deepest aspirations: the movement of God in the heart and a desire for perfect or complete love.
Structural: After the initial acts of gathering and praise, the order flows to the 2nd fold or episode in worship: Bible-based proclamation.
Historical: Christianity shows its roots in the worship of Jewish synagogues by the assumption that substantial readings from the Scriptures are appropriate for the worship of God. Not surprisingly, ancient descriptions of worship indicate substantial and multiple readings as acts of worship.
Theological: There are several ways to explain the flow from Proclamation, Response, Thanksgiving, to Communion in this order of worship. For one thing, it highlights the initiative of God’s word to create. God first speaks, which brings about a new creation, when in turn rightly responds in worship. Or the flow can be explained by considering two of the major characteristics of the church: this order allows us first to exercise our prophetic ministry of proclaiming God’s good news and then a priestly ministry of prayer and offering. Another ancient explanation highlighted the unfolding of salvation history: the first part of the service assumes the church in this world with its need of Bible-based proclamation and then anticipating our heavenly destiny in acts of praise, thanksgiving, and Communion.
Historical: Praying God to enable us to hear well when the Scriptures are read was drawn from early Protestant services of the 16th century.
Theological: This prayer highlights one of the subtle emphases in the service: the utter graciousness of God in even enabling the church to worship well, especially in a current movement of the Holy Spirit. Conversely, to petition God for such grace indicates our dependence upon God’s gracious promises.
Structural: The classic approach is to move from an Old Testament reading through a Psalm to two readings from the New Testament, first from the letters and then from a Gospel.
Historical: Ancient orders of worship all provided for multiple readings of Scripture. One of the earliest descriptions of an order of worship, Justin Martyr’s from the 2nd century, likewise spoke of reading from the Old and New Testaments in every service. It has only been in the development of certain forms of Protestant worship in the last 500 years that the range of number of readings normally done have become limited.
Theological: There are multiple theological significances to this time of Scripture reading. One is a presumption that God is honored by the recitation of salvation history. Another is the sensibility that no creation exists, including the new creation, unless God speaks. And God primarily does that now through the Scripture. Another significance is that the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is the key to right understanding of the whole scriptural story; thus the Gospel normally has the last spot in the sequence of readings. Finally, such an extended time of Scripture and its proclamation in the sermon fulfills the church’s role as a prophetic people to the world.
Structural: The sermon provides a major pivot in the flow of the service. Whereas up to this point, the service has been mainly about God speaking—with initial opportunities to respond—now the service centers on responding to the Word. The placement of the invitation to discipleship, baptism, or other membership rites shows how the time to respond to the Word has come in the flow of the service.
Historical: In the ancient church, unbaptized worshipers or visitors were dismissed from the service after the sermon. As the remaining worshiping congregation shifted to a new role in the service, the emphasis in the service shifted to extended times of prayer or in clear expressions of the whole church, as in the placement of the creed here.
Theological: Ancient theological sensibilities often spoke of a sense of fulfillment at this point in the service by comparing this time after the sermon as being like what it will be like when Christ returns or like what it is means for the church to be in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6) with Christ. Simply put, after the sermon in this order of worship, the people of God shift from a prophetic to a priestly role.
Structural: The main congregational prayers, particularly the main intercessions and petitions for the day, are made by the church after the Word has been heard
Historical: The placement of the prayers at the point in the service is the classic placement although some Protestant traditions more recently have placed these prior to the sermon.
Theological: Some churches label these prayers as the prayers of the people, thus emphasizing the corporate nature of this main prayer.
Structural: At this point, the service begins to centers on several actions that bring the worshipers toward the Lord’s table.
Historical: Whereas the precise order has varied from church to church and era to era, several actions tend to accompany the Lord’s Supper and be part of a large complex of activity around the table: offering (originally the people brought and offered the food for Communion) andan exchange of peace, and praying the Lord’s Prayer. In the ancient church, no one participated in these things until after baptism. The confession of sin and a declaration of forgiveness has often been added, too.
Theological: These actions are the in-house actions of a royal, priestly people in whom Christ lives and acts. The offering is a participation in Christ’s priestly ministry, not simply a pragmaticmatter of raising money. The exchange of the people is not simply a cultural exchange of welcome but is a continuation of the granting-of-peace ministry of the Risen Lord (see John 20:21).
Structural: Of course, it seems obvious that the worshiping assembly must eventually disperse. But this last fold in the four-fold order is more than a dismissal. It is a commissioning.
Theological: Having ascended to heaven and advanced to the coming Reign of God in the third fold of the order of worship, it is now time for the church to enter into the here and now as a graced people with a mission. The liturgy continues with a life of worship and mission.

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