Worship

Sunday’s Divine Service W/ Holy Communion

at

8:00 AM & 11AM*

*Coffee Fellowship after service

Thursday’s Daily Lectionary Meditation W/ Communion at 11:00AM

We live-stream our services online at

https://www.facebook.com/POPLakewoodWA/live

*You do not need a Facebook Account to watch!

If you would like to give to Prince of Peace and our ministries, please click the giving button at the top of this page, or you can mail in/drop off your offering at the church office. Thank you for your support of Prince of Peace and its ministries!

Bible Studies

Sunday’s after the 9:30 AM Service

Topics Vary

About Our Services

At Prince of Peace we use the Lutheran Service Book (LSB) for our hymnal and we rotate through all of the different Divine Service settings. For more information about our confessional and liturgical services, see the description below about “What is Basic in Lutheran Worship” and the description of each part of the liturgy. We want you to be familiar with what it is we believe and why we do what we do here at Prince of Peace.

Special Services During The Year

Thanksgiving Eve Service 7:00 P.M.

Christmas Eve 9:00 P.M. Candlelight

Christmas Day 11:00 A.M.

Advent/Lent Midweek Services

During the Advent and Lenten Seasons we have midweek services on Wednesday night with a supper prior to worship.

6:00 P.M. Supper

7:00 P.M. Service

Holy Week Services (Easter Week)

Palm Sunday 9:30 A.M.

Maundy Thursday 7:00 P.M.

Good Friday 7:00 P.M.

Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil TBA

Easter 9:30 A.M.

with Breakfast and Easter egg hunt afterwards

What is Basic in Lutheran Worship?

What makes a worship service distinctly Lutheran in nature?  Some might think the question is improper.  Some would say that the "Order of Service" is a matter of personal preference, or adiaphora (indifferent things; things neither commanded nor prohibited by God).  Others would answer that Lutheran worship simply reflects a cultural form or style such as Germanic (Germany) or Nordic (Scandanavia).  But a Church that has confessional theology and calls itself "Lutheran" will have basic theological norms that bound and mark the service.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church confesses that the article on Justification is the chief article by which the church stands or falls. Ephesians 2:8-9 expresses it best. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (NIV).  The Augsburg Confession in Article IV restates this biblical teaching as the chief article of the Christian faith.  This understanding of a Grace-filled relationship between God and the sinner through grace for the sake of Christ accepted by faith is the foundation for any worship in a Lutheran congregation. Lutheran worship, then, must be firmly rooted in the scriptural principle of sola gratia (grace alone).

True worship is Divine Service.  The Divine One serves His beloved—that’s humankind!  God is the initiator.  We are His creatures and we can only receive what our Creator thrusts upon us.  True worship gladly receives what God does to us and for us.  God reveals and delivers His Love for us thru the “Means of Grace”.  The means by which God delivers His Grace to us are: 1) His Word; and 2) the Sacraments.  The Word and Sacraments are central to Lutheran worship and all true Christian worship.

Lutherans have understood that God’s Word is expressed in the twin poles of Law and Gospel—a concept communicated both by Dr. Martin Luther of Germany and Dr. C.F.W. Walther (a German immigrant to America and the first president of the LCMS).  Therefore, worshippers will, at various times during the service, feel the crushing blow of the Law and the Life-giving restoration of the Gospel.  Law and Gospel are central to Lutheran worship and all true Christian worship.

The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church clearly state that the Mass (order for the Sunday Service of Word and Sacrament) is retained.  The Augsburg Confession XXIV says, “Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us and celebrated with the highest reverence.”  And the Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV says, “We do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it.  For among us masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on other festivals.”  The mass form is not culturally biased to one group.  In fact, most of the material found in the mass form is a direct quotation or paraphrase from Scripture.

What would such a service look like in its barest essentials? *

1. Invocation in the Name of the Triune God

2. Confession and forgiveness

3. Psalms, praise, and music with words based on Scriptural themes

4. Reading of the Word of God (according to a pericopal or lectionary system)

5. Exposition of the Word of God (sermon)

6. Prayer for all types of conditions

7. Offerings of the people

8. Preface and Consecration of bread and wine with the Words of Institution; Reception of the Sacrament of the Altar

9. Dismissal with the Lord's blessing (benediction)

* This list is provided so Lutheran leaders can ensure they include the essentials in each worship service.  Once you have mastered the essentials you can insert supplements and introduce variations appropriate for the local context.

Are there basic ingredients in a worship service that mark it as distinctly Lutheran?  Yes.  A Lutheran worship service is one that is built on the article of justification by grace through faith.  It is centered in the reading of the Word (scripture and sermon) and the administration of the sacraments.  It is a service that expounds the Word of God as both Law and Gospel.  It follows the mass form inherited from many cultures of the past twenty centuries.  These are what's basic to worship that can be called "Lutheran."

This statement is recommended to the parishes and people of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a guide and a discussion piece. It may be photocopied as needed.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DIVINE SERVICE

Our Liturgy

INVOCATION

We begin the Lord's Service in His name because He promised that where His name is, there He will be. Calling upon the Holy Trinity also helps us remember our own baptisms where God put His name on us through water and the Word. The INVOCATION is a reminder of God's promise given to us at baptism. (Matthew 18: 19-20)

CONFESSION

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ABSOLUTION

Our Lord instituted a glorious way by which He has chosen to forgive our sins. We come before God, CONFESSING nothing but our sins. There is no sin which holds us outside of our Lord's forgiveness. With the ABSOLUTION, through the words of the Pastor, Christ delivers to us, in a most personal way, the forgiveness of sins which He earned for us on Calvary. (John 20:21-23)

ENTRANCE SONG - INTROIT

With our sins forgiven, our worship moves to the presence of the altar. The Pastor moves to the altar to speak the ENTRANCE PSALM it gives a visual picture that because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and the unconditional forgiveness we have just received, we have access to the Holy of holies - a place kept separate under the Old Covenant by a heavy curtain which was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. (1 Peter 2:5)

KYRIE

KYRIE, means "Lord, have mercy." We greet our Lord as people of old greeted a king when he came to their city. It is the oldest and most frequent prayer prayed in Holy Scripture. It was prayed by Adam in the garden, King David after he confessed his sin, by the Canaanite woman, the leper, and others. We pray here for peace and salvation for ourselves and unselfishly for others; that the Lord would indeed continue to show His mercy to all of us.

HYMN OF PRAISE

God's response to our cries for mercy was to send His Son. The GLORIA IN EXCELSIS (meaning, glory in the highest) reminds us of this by inviting us to join in singing the first Christmas carol, one sung by the angels when Jesus was born. (Luke 2:14). The GLORIA continues by praising the Holy Trinity, centering on the the theme of why Jesus came; to be "the Lamb of God; who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

Having our sins forgiven and the assurance that God indeed is merciful is reason to sing a HYMN OF PRAISE. This hymn is the very song sung by the angels at the birth of the Christ-child. Our singing GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST is a way of celebrating Christmas the whole year long and also a way in which we are invited by the angels to "go and see" Jesus who no longer lies in a manger but in the Scripture readings which will follow. (Luke 2:13-15

THIS IS THE FEAST

A alternate HYMN OF PRAISE is the hymn, THIS IS THE FEAST. It is the song sung by all those in heaven who are gathered around the throne of Christ in the Revelation God gave to St. John. We, too, join with the whole company of heaven declaring Jesus the worthy Lamb of God. (Revelation5:12-13)

THE PRAYER OF THE DAY

The greeting, "The Lord be with you" and its response, "And also with you" signal a transition in the Lord's Service from praise and prayer to the hearing of God's Word in the lessons for the day. The words, "The Lord be with you" remind us of one of the names of Jesus, Emmanuel, which means "God with us." The prayer collects the varied thoughts of the lessons for the day and combines them into a single prayer. (Ruth 2:4)

rEADINGS

The readings of a number of Scripture lessons dates back to the time of Jesus and beyond. Luke tells of Jesus reading from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue, in which readings from the Law and the Prophets also took place. The lessons are God's Word to us and are the testimony of the Old Testament Prophets, the Apostles, and the writers of the Gospels. Together with the Creed, they form the profession of the Christian Church.

Sermon

The word "sermon" comes from a word which means to talk or converse. The sermon's job is to deliver God's Law and God's Gospel and in a personal way give assurance of the forgiveness of sins which Christ earned for us on the cross. Jesus gives us the topic for all sermons when He says: "Then He (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nation..." (Luke 24:45-47) After all, that's what St. Paul meant when he said: "We preach Christ crucified...the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1 Corinthians 1:23-25)

CREED

The CREED embodies the Church's ancient and universal confession of faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we say the Creed we are saying to one another and back to God what He first said to us in Holy Scripture. Millions and millions of other Christians throughout the world and across the ages have confessed these very words as their statement of faith.

PrAYERS

One who has been "born anew of water and the Spirit" cannot help but pray. Even when our poor, human flesh is incapable of praying, the Spirit itself "intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words." The Lord urges "that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone." Following the command of our Lord, we take time to PRAY, bringing those requests before the Lord. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

OFFERING

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OFFERTORY

The OFFERING of gifts to the Lord is our response to all that God has previously given us in this life and for what the Lord gives to us this morning. It is like saying to God, "Thanks, your gifts to me where received." The musical offertory was originally a psalm or hymn sung during the bringing forward of these gifts. We sing from Psalm 51.

Preface

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Sanctus

So much is contained in the next few words of worship. "The Lord be with you" - the risen Lord speaks peace to us. So also we respond, asking the Lord's Spirit be with the minister. Then we "Lift up our hearts...", hearts raised from the sin-drowning waters of baptism and will be raised on the last day. For that it is only right to give God thanks and praise. Finally, we sing Holy, Holy, Holy, echoing Isaiah's encounter with the Lord recorded in Isaiah 6. (2 Thessalonians 3:16; Lamentations 3:41)

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION were spoken by Christ at the first celebration of the Lord's Supper. Here in the Sacrament of the Altar, where Christ Jesus mysteriously unites His body and blood with bread and wine, we have assurance from Christ Himself, that the forgiveness of sins is given to us. Forgiveness of sin is the chief benefit of this most holy Supper. (Matthew 26:26-28)

All is now ready for this holy communion with Christ. The PEACE OF THE LORD is again an assurance of blessing. Following it, we sing a short song in praise of our Savior, the LAMB OF GOD who takes away the sin of the world. Isaiah wrote that the Christ would be "like a lamb led to the slaughter" and that He would "pour out his soul to death." These words are also the words of John the Baptist when he saw Jesus. All who partake of the Sacrament receive the benefits and blessings of Christ's work and are sustained and nourished in their spiritual life in Christ.

NUNC DIMITIS

The following song, called the NUNC DIMITTIS, is the same song sung by Simeon in the temple when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus "to present him to the Lord" (Luke 2:22), after having been promised by God that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ Not only have our eyes seen the Lord's Christ by faith, but now even our mouths have tasted the goodness of the Lord. Indeed, then we "give thanks to the Lord for he is good" as the Psalmist declares".

BENEDICTION

The word "benediction" comes from the Latin meaning "the good word," THE BENEDICTION are the good words with which the service ends. As we leave to go out into our life and calling, the Lord's name is with us to energize our lives to serve the Lord in all we say and do. The words of the benediction are the same words Aaron was instructed to say, blessing the children of Israel during the wilderness journey. (Numbers 6:24-26)