Covenant Service 2019

New Year’s FRESH-START SERVICE - 2019

Adapted from John Wesley by Jeren Rowell FURTHER ADAPTED by Rev. Dr. Timothy J. Stidham   

Call to worship: The Daily Office

[leader] "Everyone, let’s connect with God in a New Year's covenant which won’t be forgotten."

We come together early in this new year to join in a New Year's service. Our purpose is to be reminded of our deep need of God's forgiveness and power in our lives through Jesus. We call this God’s grace. Grace is both forgiveness we don’t earn and spiritual power given by God to help us live.

God’s plan is for all of us to admit that we are sinful and broken without Jesus. He also wants us to remember that we can’t experience true salvation through anyone but Jesus; through anything but his forgiveness.

Next, we can realize that our need of his grace is more than forgiveness for sins, or things we’ve done wrong. It goes deeper. We need grace to make us clean and holy on the inside. We call this sanctification. The Holy Spirit changes us for the better from the inside out.

I invite you to join me in an opportunity for a fresh experience of his grace. God is inviting you to adventure with Him. God invites you to put your whole life in His hands. Let’s embrace this new life adventure together. Let’s rededicate ourselves to this special relationship God offers to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Historical Background

[leader]: This service comes to us through John Wesley, the forefather of our beliefs and church family heritage.

For him what it meant to be a mature disciple of Christ was the joining of believers in a covenant "to serve God with all our heart and with all our soul."

For us, it is important that we recognize our continuing need for confession. Confession is speaking out our sins, failures, and need for God. We have tended to think of confession only at the moment of turning to Jesus for the first time.

But scripture makes clear, even the mature follower of Jesus needs a prayer of confession from time to time. Read 1 John chapter one to study further. In John Wesley’s own words: "the most holy among us is subject to a thousand infirmities which spring from our fallenness.”

Our shortcomings and human failings need the work of Jesus as well as our 'properly so-called' sins. According to the apostle Paul, all of us must live daily recognizing our need of the cleansing work of Jesus.

Today, we recognize again not only our great need of the grace of God, but our need to express our group relationship with God and our personal relationship with God – that in 2019 we will love and serve the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We need to understand that God is making a commitment to us today as well. God has promised to forgive our sins and to always be there to help us and correct us if we are faithful to God.

LEADER: Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

PEOPLE: Amen.

PEOPLE: Amen.

LEADER: Come let us worship the Lord who established a new covenant through his Son Jesus Christ.

PEOPLE: We come in Spirit and in truth.

Worship: Be Thou My Vision

PRAYER OF ADORATION

LEADER: Let us pray:

Let us worship our creator, the God of love;

God continually preserves and sustains us; we have been loved with an everlasting love; through Jesus Christ we have been given complete knowledge of God’s glory.

PEOPLE: You are God; we praise you; we acknowledge you to be the Lord.

LEADER: Let us glory in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor; he was tempted in all points as we are, but he was without sin; he went about doing good and preaching the good news of the kingdom; he accepted death, death on the cross; he was dead and is alive forever; he has opened the kingdom of heaven to all who trust in him; he sits in glory at the right hand of God; he will come again to be our Judge.

PEOPLE: You, Christ, are the King of Glory.

LEADER: Let us rejoice in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life. Through the Spirit we are into the family of God., and made members of the body of Christ; the witness of the Spirit confirms us; the wisdom teaches us; the power enables us; the Spirit will do far more for us than we ask or think.

PEOPLE: We give praise to you, Holy Spirit.

Silent Prayer:

LEADER: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy name through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let’s say the prayer Jesus taught to his disciples, using the word “trespasses”.

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Scripture:

1 O LORD , our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

        You have set your glory

    above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants

    you have ordained praise [b]

    because of your enemies,

    to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,

    the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars,

    which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

    the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [c]

    and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

    you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,

    and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,

    and the fish of the sea,

    all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD , our Lord,

    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

1 There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.  

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”

( NIV)

Worship: AMAZING GRACE (MY CHAINS…)

“My Dear Friends, get these three principles fixed in your hearts: that things eternal are much more substantial than things temporal; that (some) things not seen are as certain as the things that are seen; that upon your present choice depends your eternal lot. Choose Christ and His ways, and you are blessed forever; refuse, and you are undone forever.

And then, beloved, make your choice. Turn either to the right hand or to the left; Christ with His yoke, His cross, and His crown; or the devil with his wealth, his pleasure, and his curse. Then ask yourselves, “Soul, you see what is before you; what will you do? Which will you have, either the crown or the curse? If you choose the crown, remember that the day you take this, you must be content to submit to the cross and yoke, the service and sufferings of Christ, which are linked to it. What do you say? Had you rather take the gains and pleasures of sin and risk the curse? Or will you yield yourself a servant to Christ and so make sure the crown?”

Do not delay the matter. If you are unresolved, you are resolved: if you remain undetermined for Christ, you are determined for the devil. Therefore follow your hearts from day to day; let them not rest till the matter be brought to an issue, and see that you make a good choice.

Next, embark with Christ. Adventure yourselves with Him. Cast yourselves upon His righteousness. You are exiles from the presence of God and fallen into a land of robbers and murderers. Your sins are robbers, your pleasures are robbers, your companions in sin are robbers and thieves. If you stay where you are, you perish. Christ offers, if you will venture with Him, to bring you to God. Will you say now to Him, “Lord Jesus, will You undertake for me? Will You bring me to God and bring me into the land of promise? With YOu I will venture myself. I cast myself upon You, upon Your blood, upon Your righteousness.

This is coming to Christ as your Priest. And by this you now renounce your own righteousness. Do you deeply sense your sins and your misery without Christ?

CONFESSION:

People: We have a deep sense of our need for Jesus. We see ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. God’s Spirit has opened our eyes; for we cried out, "Lord, where are we? Is there no hope of escaping out of this miserable condition?

We confess the poverty of our worship, our neglect of fellowship and of the means of grace, our hesitating witness for Christ, our evasion of responsibilities in our service, our imperfect stewardship of your gives. Have mercy on us Lord and forgive us. We are lifeless, if we continue as we are. What can save us?

LEADER: Let us each make silent confession of anything God has brought to mind...now let us continue together…

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; In your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

LEADER: Nothing will bring us to Jesus but absolute necessity. We try to forsake our sins through prayers, and sermons, and sacraments, searching for salvation.

But all of these, though they are needed in their places, cannot save us by themselves. Our strong commitment to do well can’t help us; in fact, it may reflect the selfish source of our sin. We might think we earned it.

Rituals or spiritual actions like prayer or communion alone cannot help; unconnected to saving faith in Jesus, they are empty vessels. All these things tell us, "You knock at a wrong door; salvation is not in us." Can we now see how laughable our own goodness is, or do we trust in anything but Jesus? Any good in us falls short of His perfection. Only Jesus can save us. This will always be true. Let faith be genuine and deep within us. Let us be committed to a daily relationship with God. Can we commit fully today? If yes, then let’s read this prayer together…make sure you really mean it.

Supplication

ALL: Lord, be merciful to us. What should we do? We know we can’t stay like we are, and we are weary of trying to do it alone.

Our praying alone won’t help us. Our hearing alone won’t help us. If we give everything we have to the poor, or give up our bodies to be burned, all this would not save our souls. Woe to us. We need your help to know what to do!

LEADER: We must let our sins go. Be done with sin. We must let our righteousness go. Don’t trust in it. It’s not perfect. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He came to seek and to save those who are lost. All are lost apart from Jesus.

Jesus has provided everything needed for our forgiveness and real change inside us. Friends, will you now trust Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life? If so, say these words together…

All: Lord Jesus, here we are, lost creatures, and enemies to God, under his wrath and curse. Jesus, do something for us; make us right with God and save our souls. If we had come in our own name, You might well have ignored us; but since we come at the command of the Father, do not reject us. Lord, help us. Lord, save us.

PASTOR: We come together, but we also come alone. Make sure this is your own commitment today. Think about it for a moment. [PAUSE] if this is your commitment, say these words…

All: I come, Jesus. I believe, Lord. I dive deep in Your grace and mercy like a big spiritual swimming pool. I trust Your saving death alone to save “me”. Do not refuse me. I have nowhere else to go. Here I will stay. I will trust You. I will rest in You. I will risk myself for You your Kingdom. On You I lay my hope for forgiveness, for life, for salvation. If I lose it all, I lose it on Your shoulders. If I sink, I sink in Your ship. If I die, I die at Your door. Don’t send me away, for I will not go. I need you too much. I love you too much to let go. Thank you for loving me and receiving me just as I am. Thank you that you will make me that special person I was born to be.

““When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.””

COMMITMENT LEADER: we now surrender ourselves to the Lord. As his servants, we must give up the power and control of ours lives to Jesus.

Scripture: "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness,

But rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace."

All: We are yours, Lord. We give you the highest place in our lives-nothing and no one is as great as you in all the universe and beyond. We give ourselves to doing your will in the world.

Pastor: in so giving ourselves to the Lord, we say that we will receive what he has planned for us to do, both as a group and as individuals.

Let him assign you to your work. Jesus has many services to be done; some are easy and bring honor, others more difficult and tedious.

Some are a perfect fit to our likes and interests; others are opposite to both. In some we may please Jesus and please ourselves, as when he requires us to feed and clothe ourselves.

Indeed, there are some spiritual duties that are more pleasing than others; as to rejoice in the Lord, to encourage someone, or to praise God.

These are the sweet works of a Christian. But then there are other works, where to please God is to deny ourselves. As when we make ourselves available to others even when it is inconvenient, or when we go to visit others in need, or when we sacrifice our resources to further the Kingdom of God.

Find what it is that Christ expects of you and then give yourselves totally to his will, without trying to get an easier way and without holding back.

All: Make us what you want to, Lord, and send us where we should go. Let us be beautiful containers of silver or gold, or plain ones of wood or stone; as long as we are people of honor we are satisfied. If we are not the head, or the eye, or the ear, one of the higher and more valued members, then let us be the hands, or the feet, as one of the lowest and least valued of all the servants of our Lord.

If we are not the head, or the eye, or the ear, one of the higher and more valued members, then let us be the hands, or the feet, as one of the lowest and least valued of all the servants of our Lord.

Pastor: Lord, place us in your kingdom in the roles you have designed for us.

People: Lord, make all of us your servants.

Pastor: in exalted places, or humble places.

People: let us be full; let us be empty.

Pastor: let us have all things; let us have nothing.

People: we freely and gladly accept our place in your kingdom.

Tithes & Offering Offertory: O For a Thousand Tongues/ONe Great Love

Covenant Requirements

Pastor: Friends, the commitment to Christ we have just expressed is the essence of following Jesus. When we have laid all our hopes upon Jesus, throwing ourselves totally upon the credit of his righteousness; when we have on purpose, given ourselves fully to him; then we are Christians indeed, and not until then. His people are a willing people. He will be all in all, or he will be nothing.  

Collect:

LEADER: Let us pray:

PEOPLE: Father, you have appointed our Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator of a new covenant; give us grace to draw near with fullness of faith and join ourselves in a perpetual covenant with you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Covenant

LEADER: and now let’s confirm our commitment by a solemn covenant with him. In the first covenant, God chose Israel to be a special people and to obey the law. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, has made a new covenant with all who trust in him.

As John Wesley himself said,

“Dearly Beloved, the Christian life, to which we are called, is a life in Christ, redeemed from sin, and through Him consecrated to God. Upon this life we have entered, having been admitted into that New Covenant of which our Lord Jesus Christ is mediator, and which he sealed with His own blood, that it might stand forever.

On one side the Covenant is God’s promise that He will fulfill in and through us all that he declared in Christ Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. That His promise still stands we are sure, for we have known His goodness, and proved His grace in our lives day by day. On the other side we stand pledged to live no more unto ourselves, but to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, and has called us to serve Him that the purpose of His coming might be fulfilled.

From time to time, we renew our vows of consecration, especially when we gather at the Lord’s Table: but on this day we meet expressly, as generations of our fathers have met, that we may joyfully and solemnly renew the covenant which bound them and binds us to God.

Let us then, remembering the mercies of God, and the hope of His calling, examine ourselves by the light of His Spirit, that we may see wherein we have failed or fallen short in faith and practice, and, considering all that this Covenant means, may give ourselves anew to God.” (Services of the Christian Year, p. 198)

ALL: O most holy God, I ask you to accept me as I humbly offer myself to you today. And because you require it, I put away everything that competes with you in my life-all of my idols. I renounce them all here today. I firmly covenant with You not to allow myself any known sin, but conscientiously to use all the means that I know you have given for the complete destruction of sin’s power in my life. I humbly affirm before your majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart to forsake everything else rather than turn from you to the ways of sin. I will watch against all temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest they should draw my heart away from you.

And since you have offered graciously to be my God through Christ, I call heaven and earth to record this day, that I do here solemnly acknowledge You as the Lord, my God. I do here take you Lord, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for my portion and do give up myself body and soul, as your servant. With your help, I promise to serve you in holiness and righteousness all my days.

O blessed Jesus, I come to you hungry and wretched; spiritually blind and naked, unworthy to wash the feet of your servants, much less be solemnly joined to the King of Glory. But since such is your unparalleled love, I do with all my power accept You and take you for my Lord-to love, honor, and obey You before all others and this to the death. I’m not worthy in myself, but I allow you to make me worthy today. I set aside my own wisdom and take you as my only Guide. I renounce my own will and take your will as my law.

And since you have told me I must suffer if I will reign, I do you here covenant with you to accept my lot as it falls, with You and by Your grace to run all hazards with You. I choose today to let neither life nor death separate us.

Now, Almighty God, searcher of hearts, You know that i make this covenant with You today, without any known deceit or reservation. I ask you that if you see any falsehood in me, that you would reveal it to me and help me put it right.

Hymn: #485 Nearer, My God, to Thee

Leader: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Leader: If you meant these words and actions, then all the benefits of the Christian life are yours. If you chose not to, remember that the Kingdom of God is always available to you, whenever you choose to embrace it. It is more than a mental decision to believe in ideas.

1.It is an absolute trust in Jesus’ saving death as the only thing which secures your salvation. 2. It is a total commitment to following Jesus and doing His will in the world. God is even now lovingly drawing you to Himself. Should you falter, simply come to God on these terms again. But remember, God will provide a way of escape for each temptation. And God will open doors for you to obediently love and serve others. His grace is sufficient for you. He invites us all to live the adventure of following Jesus in 2019.

Communion

Benediction All: and now receive glory, O God the Father, from your children. Thank you for the right to call you Father.

And glory to the Son, Jesus, who has loved us and washed our sins in his own blood, and has now become our forgiver and leader; savior and redeemer.

And glory to the Holy Spirit, who by his awesome power has turned our hearts from sin to God.

You, God, have now become our covenant-friend, and through your unlimited grace we are your covenant-servants.

Pastor: And now may the covenant we have made on earth be sealed in heaven. Amen.

www.esvbible.org/devotions/bcp