“What Child Is This? A Festival of Lessons & Carols,” Reformed Worship 93 (September 2009): 12–15.

Here is a link to an article that is now in-print as well as available online. It is entitled, "Lutheran Puritanism? Adiaphora in Lutheran Orthodoxy and Possible Commonalities in Reformed Orthodoxy.” American Theological Inquiry 2:1 (January 2009): 61–83.

Thanks to Dr. Robert Kolb (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis) for his stimulating lectures in class back in Jan. 2008 and feedback that made this paper publishable.

I've added a page of "Christian Prayers" under the sidebar "Our Worship." These are our historic prayers for church, family, and individual use as printed in the back of our Psalter Hymnal (pp. 181–91).

The Thanksgiving Liturgy

Minister—Normal words | Congregation—Bold words  |  *–Stand if able

Rev. Danny Hyde, Preaching

Call to Worship                  Psalm 111:1-5

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.

*Exhortation to Thanksgiving

Dearly beloved, we have gathered together on this day of thanksgiving. Although our civil government has set aside this day as a National Thanksgiving Day, the roots of services of prayer and thanksgiving are as old as the Reformation itself. Our forefathers set aside days of celebration, thanksgiving, prayer, and reflection upon the goodness of God to us. As the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “. . . thanksgivings upon special occasions . . . are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner” (21.5). This morning we follow that venerable tradition in order to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at the Lord’s hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of heavenly grace:

*Prayer for the National Thanksgiving Day         Proposed for the New Psalter Hymnal

Our Sovereign God, who created all things for your pleasure and who gives to all life, breath, and every good thing, we praise you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life. For rain and sunshine, in abundance and in lack, we acknowledge that our times are in your hands. You supply all of your creatures with your good gifts: the just and the unjust alike. Nevertheless, we especially give you praise for the surpassing greatness of your saving grace that you have shown to us in Christ Jesus our Savior. For our election in him before the foundation of the world; for our redemption by him in his life, death, and resurrection; for our effectual calling, justification, sanctification, and all of the blessings of our union with him, we give you our heartfelt thanks. And we look with great anticipation toward that day when you will raise us to life everlasting, glorified and confirmed in righteousness, so that we may sing your praises without the defilement of our present weaknesses, distractions, and sins. As you have served us with these gifts, we ask that you would give us grateful hearts so that through us you may serve our neighbors. In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, who taught us to pray, saying,

Our Father, who art in heaven: Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

*Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah         Psalter Hymnal 304

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Our Father, we enter your gates with thanksgiving and your courts with praise through Jesus Christ, your only-begotten Son, our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we come, we bring to you the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips that confess your name.

We give you thanks for your vast and beautiful creation. The heavens declare your glory and so we say, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

We thank you for your providential care of your creation, especially over us. You know the number of hairs upon our heads, you know the number of our days, you provide for us even as you provide for the sparrow.

Most especially, Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your inexpressible gift, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the thankful one, who offered up his entire life of obedience unto you as a sacrifice on behalf of our disobedience, himself on the cross for our sins. We thank you that by his resurrection we have new life and are now your children by adoption, crying out unto you, Abba, Father. We thank you for the gift of the Spirit of Christ, whom he poured out upon the Church at his ascension, baptizing us into Christ, applying so powerfully, yet so gently, the benefits of Christ, and setting us apart as your peculiar people who proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We thank you for the entirety of our salvation, crying out, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies and who has caused us to be born again to a living hope. We thank you for incorporating us into Christ and also his Church, the people of God, the kingdom of our Lord. Grant to us hearts of gratitude in order to exercise our gifts for the upbuilding of our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ and to serve you in every way.

We thank you for this congregation and all the blessings you have bestowed upon us this past year […]. We beseech you to unite us continually in true faith, firm hope, and ardent love. We give you thanks for the means of grace, the preaching of the Gospel and the celebration of the holy sacraments. You so lavishly send upon us the bread of heaven, for man does not live by bread alone, in order to nourish our souls unto everlasting life. Oh Father, you are good, and your goodness endures forever. We offer up these thanksgivings along with all those within our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit, one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, lives and reigns forever.

Amen.

*What Shall I Render to the Lord         Psalter Hymnal 230

Old Testament Reading         Psalm 136 (English Standard Version)

Gloria Patri         Psalter Hymnal 492

New Testament Lesson         Ephesians 1:15–21 (English Standard Version)

Give Thanks

A General Thanksgiving

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, you unworthy servants, do give you most humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for your inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech you, give us that due sense of all your mercies, that our hearts may be sincerely thankful; and that we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Offering Benevolence Fund

Offertory Thanksgiving         Adapted from the Book of Common Worship, 1906

O most merciful and gracious God, from whose open hand we all have received much: We ask you to accept this offering of your people. Remember in your love those who have brought it. Remember also those persons and purposes for which it is given. So follow this sacrifice with your blessing that it may promote peace and good will, and advance the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.

Amen!

*Now Thank We All Our God      Psalter Hymnal 316

*Benediction      2 Corinthians 13:14

Beloved, go forth in thanksgiving as you receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Amen!

The following is from my sermon on Exodus 13:1–16 entitled, "An Inaugural Sermon."

__________

Seminaries teach about it. Students read about it. Ministers work at it. Parishioners at times endure it. The world does not understand it. God’s Word commands it. What is it that causes all this commotion? Preaching. What is preaching? How would you explain it to your neighbor if asked? Let me say that I believe the greatest paragraph ever written on preaching and that I believe summarizes not only my belief and practice but that of the Reformed churches is from the Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 1, paragraph 4, written by Heinrich Bullinger in 1561:

Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached, and received of the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be feigned, nor to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good.

In preaching we hear, receive, and need to expect the very voice of God himself through the means of sinful men. Can you understand why preaching is so vital to our faith and worship?

It was the same way in the days of Moses and the Israelites. Our text takes place right after the exodus from Egypt. And what was the first thing the narrative says happened? The church listened to Moses’ inaugural sermon to the newly freed people of God! Although this section of chapter 13 may seem disjointed and unorganized, there is a literary structure to it that gives us our three points today. Notice that in verses 1–2 the Lord speaks to Moses. This is a superscription over the entire text that gives the authorization for Moses to preach. Then in verses 3–16 we have Moses’ speech, which addresses the laws for the feast of Passover and the laws for the consecration of the firstborn. In reading these verses we come away impressed that the overall theme is the centrality and vitality of preaching the Word to the people of God. In this inaugural sermon, therefore, Moses challenged the people of God to respond to the gospel of the exodus in three ways, and the Holy Spirit today calls us to respond to our redemption in Christ in the same way: hear the Word, obey the Word, and teach the Word. 

Hear the Word (vv. 1–2)

God calls us to hear the Word. Notice that our text begins, “The Lord said to Moses” and this is contrasted with verse 3, which says, “Then Moses said to the people.” Verses 1–2 act as a superscription over this section of chapter 13. This means that it is like a heading that gives the reason for what Moses is about to say to the Israelites.

Even before Moses could preach he had to hear the Word of God from God. Of course this is the same as it is with ministers of the Word. When we were on vacation recently I was asked, “So how do you do it? Does a message just come to you?” I answered that God does speaks to me and I seek to deliver his message. I had this man's attention. But then I went on to that God speaks to me through his written Word! When a minister reads the Word prayerfully he enters the presence of God, and when he comes out to preach that Word, he should come out like Moses did when his face shone. He should come out with conviction, passion, and urgency.

So Moses and ministers must hear the Word, but since verses 1–2 were written down not only for later generations of Israelites to read, but especially "for our instruction" (1 Cor. 10), they apply to Israel and to all hearers of the Word in the same way. So how can you hear the Word week after week? Let me give you three practical ways.

First, you have to hear it expectantly. Do you come week after week expecting to hear the voice of God? This is what happens when the Word is preached: "When this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached." But let me say even more personally, do not come expecting to hear God's speak generally, but come expecting his particular word for your soul?

Second, you have to hear it faithfully. Remember, while you hear the voice of an evil and sinful man—your pastor—you hear in truth the very Word of God. And you must embrace his word with faith! Because this is so difficult for us, listen and learn from these words: "The Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good."

Third, you have to hear it prayerfully. You must not only pray Monday through Saturday for your minister to preach the Word and that you will be enabled to hear it, but since the act of listening to the sermon is an act of worship you must be in an attitude of worship right now. When you hear the Law in the sermon you must humble your heart and confess your sins to God, and when you hear the Gospel you must rejoice and be glad in his salvation!