Gloria Dei Lutheran Church

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

5415 Raleigh-LaGrange Road

Memphis, TN 38134

Rev. Jim Turriff, Pastor

901-386-9695

gdlcmemphis@gmail.com

Please join us this Sunday

Bible Study for all ages 9:00AM

Worship Service 10:15AM

No Bible Study June through August

Worship Ministry

Worship Services at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church follow a liturgical format.  Liturgy refers to a formal and prescribed order in which the Worship Service is conducted.  Although Scripture does not specify what that order should be, evidence of various activities that should be included in a church service are recorded in New Testament passages. Included among those activities are:

• Engaging in fellowship with other Christians in ways that treat them as family – sharing, loving, giving, and praising God in simplicity of heart (Acts 2:44-47). 
  
• Preaching, teaching, exhorting, and reading the Word of God; and steadfast adherence to the Apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42; 1 Tim. 4:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:2).
  
• Praying, praising, singing, and giving thanks to God (Acts 2:42,47; 1 Tim. 2:1; Col. 3:15-17).
  
• Observing and holding fast to the Sacraments – Baptism and the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion (Acts 2:41-42,46; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). 
  

Other aspects of the liturgy have been handed down in tradition from the original New Testament Church (2 Thess. 2:15; 1 Thess. 5:21; 1 Cor. 11:2).  All activities included in our Worship Service are recorded and sanctioned in the Scriptures.

The order of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) Worship Service normally involves 3 or 4 components depending upon whether or not the Sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated.  That order is as follows:

Service of Preparation

• Invocation or Processional Hymn – a hymn of praise or prayer for a particular Church holiday, or related to the season of the Church year (Col. 3:16).
  
• Invocation – the Holy Service begins by remembering our Baptism, and calling on the triune God to be with us (Matt. 28:19).
  
• Confession and Absolution of Sins – we publically acknowledge our sins, that we are imperfect, and that we are in need of God’s forgiveness.  Speaking for God, the pastor announces God’s promise to forgive repentant sinners (1 John 1:9). 

Service of the Word 

• Kyrie – three short, one-sentence prayers; each concluding with the sung or spoken response, “Lord have mercy or Christ have mercy” (Matt. 9:27; Matt. 15:22; Matt. 17:15; Matt. 20:30-31; Luke 17:13).
  
• Glory to God – a hymn of praise (Luke 2:24). Omitted during Advent and Lent.
  
• Collect/Prayer of the Day – a short prayer addressing the cogent topic communicated by the readings.
  
• First Reading – an Old Testament passage that relates to the Gospel of the Day except during Easter season when taken from the Book of Acts (Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim.3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).
  
• Gradual/Responsorial Psalm – is appropriate for the season of the Church year and a link to the second reading (Eph. 5:19).
  
• Second Reading – from one of the Epistles in the New Testament (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
  
• Children’s Devotion – A short sermon designed for children on a subject related to the topic of the day as expressed in the Scripture lessons (Matt. 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).  Included on Sundays without Holy Communion.
  
• Gospel Reading – a testimony of Jesus’ life and His grace, appropriate for the worship theme, as recorded by one of the four evangelists St. Matthew, St. Mark, St, Luke, and St. John (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 1:16; Eph. 1:13-14; Col. 1:22-23).
  
• Creed – our confession of faith as expressed in one of the three Ecumenical Creeds.  The Nicene Creed is spoken when Holy Communion is celebrated and the Apostles Creed is used in most other Worship Services.  The creeds are part of Christian tradition dating from as early as the first or second century (Phil. 2:6-11; 1 Tim. 3:16).
  
• Hymn of the Day – a hymn based on the theme for the Worship Service and sermon (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19-20).
  
• Sermon – the pastor proclaims how the principles presented in the readings apply to our lives in terms of what God demands of us and what He accomplishes for us through Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15; Matt. 24:14).
  
• Offering – we return to God according to His blessings so the Church may continue to spread the Gospel (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:6-7).
  
• Prayer of the Church – the pastor offers prayers for all people, the whole Church, the nation, the international community, and special concerns (1 Tim.2:1-2).  The congregation responds with “Lord, hear our prayer” or another appropriate antiphon after each part of the prayer.  
  
• The Lord’s Prayer – we pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).
  

Service of the Sacrament (included on the first and third Sundays of each month)

• Preface – an introduction to the appropriateness of the Holy Communion celebration (Lam. 3:41; Ps. 118:1).
  
• Sanctus/Holy, Holy, Holy – a short hymn of adoration which may be sung or spoken (Is. 6:3; Matt. 21:9; Mark 11:9; Ps. 118:26)  
  
• Words of Institution – The pastor says the words Jesus spoke when He ate the Last Supper with His disciples in the Upper Room (Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). 
  
• Agnus Dei/Lamb of God – words John the Baptist used to refer to Jesus (John 1:29).  The words instill the remembrance that Christ is the Lamb of God sacrificed for our sins (Is. 53:7).
  
• Distribution of Holy Communion – we kneel at the Communion rail remembering Christ’s sacrificial death to receive Holy Communion. Christ’s body and blood are present “in, with, and under” the bread and wine which are given for the forgiveness of our sins (1 Cor. 11:26). 
  
• Nunc Dimittis/Song of Simeon – conveys our appreciation for what God has done for us and promised to do in the future because of our faith (Luke 2:29-32).

The Blessing

• Post Communion Prayer – a prayer appropriate for preparing us to continue to walk in faith throughout the week and glorify God in our daily lives.
  
• Benediction – usually the blessing God spoke to Moses to give to Aaron and his sons to use to bless the Israelites (Num. 6:22-27). 
  
• Closing Hymn – a hymn appropriate for ending the Worship Service, thanking God for the worship experience, and dismissing everyone joyfully with grace in their hearts (Col. 3:16).