The Bible is full of greetings, and our worship leader greets us in God’s name.
From 1 Thessalonians 1:1
To the church in Zurich in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace and peace to you!
We begin our worship with a silent meditation on our Psalm of the Day during the Prelude. Use this time to focus your hearts and minds on God as he speaks to us through his Word.
Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord.
Prelude from “L’Organiste”
César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (1822-1890)
Ruth Pfister, organ
Our Call to Worship draws us into conversation with our God, and is usually taken from our Psalm of the Day. We address one another and enter God’s presence together.
From Psalm 117
Leader: Praise the Lord, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples!
People: We will praise him! For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Leader: Praise the Lord!
People: Let us worship God!
Having called one another to God’s praise, we turn to God and ask for his presence and power.
From Psalm 117
Great God and Gracious Father, we have gathered together as women and men and boys and girls from east, west, north, and south, to praise your majesty and to extol your glory! So great is your love toward us–we representatives from so many nations–that we cannot help but sing and shout. So steady and unfailing is your faithfulness that we are drawn together to feast upon your love and fathom your faithfulness together. Let us not fail to give you the praise that is fitting, considering all that you are, and all that you have done, through Jesus Christ, in creation, and in redemption. As we hear from your Word and sing your praise and call upon your name, may your Spirit descend upon us, so that we are changed from deep within, in order that our lives might bear fruit that lasts. We ask it for the sake of our neighbors, for the sake of the nations that are Christ’s inheritance and the reward of his suffering, and for the sake of Christ’s name. Amen.
With our Song of Praise, we begin our worship by exalting God for who he is and what he has done.
Hymn 229: “From All That Dwell Below the Skies” (Psalm 117)
Text: Isaac Watts (para. Psalm 117; 1719)
Tune: LASST UNS ERFREUEN (Harm. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906)
Ruth Pfister, organ
Music
From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator’s praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung
Through every land, by every tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
In every land begin the song,
To every land the strains belong:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In cheerful sounds all voices raise
And fill the world with joyful praise.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends Thy Word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns rise and set no more.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!