National Day of Repentance Three models of a church service for a day of repentance

Suggested service #1 Welcome, opening prayer Worship: Liturgy: Reverend /Pastor _________ Leader: If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14. The Lord says there is nothing we can do that will separate us irrevocably from Him, but we must turn from self-adoration to the worship of God alone. It is a process, but it is also the greatest privilege ever granted. Congregation: The Lord has posted watchmen on the walls. We are the watchmen. Day and night He calls us to give ourselves no rest and to give Him no rest until He has established Jerusalem in our midst and makes her the praise of all the earth. Isaiah 62:6-7. The Lord says we are to give neither ourselves nor Him rest as we call upon Him to establish His Kingdom in our midst. He wants us to pester Him as He wants us to learn to be faithful to Him. It is a process, but it is also the greatest privilege ever granted. Leader: For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to do you good, plans to give you a hope and a future. You will call to me and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you. Jeremiah 29:11-14 The Lord says when we seek Him with all our hearts we cannot fail to find Him. Congregation: We choose to follow You, Lord. We believe in Psalm 139 which says: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

READING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGE

JAMES 4:1-10

4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble. 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. AMAZING GRACE All Sing Together Congregation: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:1-4. We thought repentance was how we got ready to receive the Good News. Now we see that the privilege of repentance is itself the Good News. Praise Him! READING OF THE GOSPEL PASSAGE MATTHEW 28:16-20 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them

in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

BRIEF SERMON: [e.g. REPENTANCE AS A LIFESTYLE TO CARRY OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION] THE LITANY THE PEOPLE PASS GODS PEACE TO ONE ANOTHER THE MINISTER PRAYS OVER THE COMMUNION ELEMENTS The shape of the prayer is discretionary, but it should include thanksgiving for all that God has given in creation, the various leaders He has sent from time to time, and honest admission that we have rejected and distorted and even destroyed His gifts; the Words Jesus used over the Last Supper should be included and a prayer for the Holy Spirit to fill and bless and commission the congregation should conclude. SINGING TOGETHER CLOSING.All Sing Together Closing with two or three songs might include traditional hymns such Be Thou My Vision, Alleluia Sing to Jesus, or Lead on O King Eternal, or contemporary songs such as Alleluia He is Coming, As the Deer, More Love, More Power, or They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love. A DISMISSAL OR SENDING ACCLAMATION

************** Suggested service #2-------------this second model, the Great Litany, also comes from Reverend Jim Wilson, Director, National Day of Repentance praynorthstate@charter.net THE LITANY OF REPENTANCE [The Litany is an Abridged Version of the Great Litany Found in the American Book of Common Prayer] Oh God the Father, Creator of Heaven and earth, Have mercy upon us.

O God the Son, Redeemer of the World, Have mercy upon us. O God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the faithful, Have mercy upon us. Remember not, Lord Christ, our offenses, nor the offenses of our forefathers; neither reward us according to our sins. Spare us Good Lord, spare your people, whom You have redeemed by Your precious blood. In Your mercy preserve us forever. Spare us, Good Lord. From all evil, all wickedness, all sin; from the schemes and assaults of the enemy of life, from everlasting condemnation, Save us Good Lord. From all blindness and arrogance of heart; from pride, conceit, and hypocrisy; from envy and malice; from indifference, self-satisfaction and passive affection substituted for love, Good Lord restore us. From all perverted, sinful, and inappropriate affections; from the counterfeits and shadow constructs of the world, the flesh and the devil, Good Lord be our intervention. From all false teaching, false thoughts and words and visions of God, from splits within the Body of Christ, from hardness of heart, and from contempt of Your Word, Your Commandments, and Your whole revelation, Good Lord awaken and heal us. From such natural disasters as earthquake, fire, flood, and cataclysmic storms; from drought, disease and famine, Good Lord rescue us. From oppression, rebellion and subversion inside or outside the structures of government, Good Lord set us free. By the mystery of your Holy Incarnation, Birth, and submission to the Law of Moses; by your Baptism, Fasting and Temptation, Good Lord make us holy as You are holy; make us whole as You are whole. By Your Agony, Blood and Sweat; by Your Cross and Suffering; by Your precious Death and Burial; by Your glorious Resurrection and Ascension; by the coming of Your Holy Spirit and in anticipation of your Return to Reign, Good Lord make us holy as You are holy; make us whole as You are whole. In our poverty and prosperity, in our death and in our life, in your Day of

Judgment, Good Lord bring us closer and closer to You as we turn and seek You daily. We beg You to hear us, undeserving though we are; we beg You to govern us, rebellious and self-satisfied as we are; we beg You to open our eyes as leaders and as ordinary citizens of Your kingdom and adopted members of your family. Give us authentic understanding and leaders who will lead us into Your presence by word and act. Please Lord because we need You and we cannot make it without You step by step. That it may give You joy to bless us and confidence to send us out to bring all mankind into Your Kingdom in the power of Your Spirit and through no power and might of ours; that it may bless You to bless us with the real understanding that follows obedience and leads to the fruit of Your Spirit; that it may touch Your heart to see Your children restored and healed wherever we have strayed beginning with us as we speak these words, Dear Lord we are begging You. That You may have joy as they respond to Your prompting and authority the President of the United States and all others in worldly power that they may do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly in Your presence, Dear Lord we are begging You. That You bring true peace and freedom to the tribes and nations that war and oppress, Dear Lord we are begging You. That You show and empower love to the homeless, the hungry, and the prisoners to all who are under any kind of desolation, Dear Lord we are begging You. That you show us how best to use and preserve the bounty of Your creation, that all may enjoy it and enjoy it for all time; that You move us to walk in the callings and challenges You provide with single focus as Your servants, and for the common good, Dear Lord we are begging You. That You protect and rescue all who are in danger in their work or travel; that You protect and preserve women in childbirth and women and men in fear of the childbirth You have provided; that You hold children, orphans and widows in the palm of Your hand and bring peace to homes and families torn by violence and hatred; that You through us and ahead of us would visit and comfort the lonely and strengthen the suffering ones, Dear Lord we are begging You.

That You would lead us into authentic repentance as you lead us away from the worship of the petty things we substitute for You; that You remind us constantly of how it is infinitely more important to Whom we turn than from what we turn; and that You forgive those we need to forgive even when we are slow to obey You in this, Dear Lord we are begging You. Abba God we are begging You to hear us. Abba God we are begging You to hear us. Father God we are begging You to turn us until You alone fill our field of vision. Father God we are begging You to turn us until You alone fill our field of vision. Abba God we are begging You to restore us to the joyful obedience we find only in You. Abba God we are begging You to restore us to the joyful obedience we find only in You. Son of God we are begging You to hear us. Son of God we are begging You to hear us. Lamb of God we are begging You to release us from bondage to ourselves. Lamb of God we are begging You to release us from bondage to ourselves. Son of God we are begging You to usher us into the freedom of your presence. Son of God we are begging You to usher us into the freedom of your presence. Spirit of the Living God, fall again on us. Spirit of the Living God, fall again on us. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, fill us to bursting as You once did, and make our wineskins new. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, fill us to bursting as You once did, and make our wineskins new. The Minister Prays a Concluding Prayer for Blessing the Renewed Lifestyle of Repentance ****************

Suggested service #3:

sharing model. WORSHIP

The Worship/ Prayer/ Silence/ Optional public

PRAYER.INCLUDING PSALM 51 SCRIPTURE: REVELATION 3: 1-22 SILENCE, GIVING TIME FOR EACH PERSON TO SEEK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO REPENT OPEN TIME FOR SHARING BY THE CONGREGATION WHAT A PERSON MAY HAVE REPENTED OF, AND NOW THEIR REACTION CLOSING WORSHIP TIME FOR FELLOWSHIP