2014 Happy New Year - John Wesley's Covenant Renewal Service
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Covenant Renewal Service
Adapted from that of John Wesley
And First Published in 1780
PASTOR: They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward
it, and they shall come and join[a] themselves to the Lord by an everlasting
covenant that will never be forgotten.
Footnotes:
a. Jeremiah 50:5 Gk: Heb toward it. Come! They shall join(Jeremiah
50:5).
PASTOR: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires
known, and from whom no secrets are hidden; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and
worthily magnify Your holy name through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PASTOR and PEOPLE: The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which
art in heaven,
Hallowed be
thy Name.
Thy Kingdom
come.
Thy will be
done in earth,
As it is in
heaven.
Give us this
day our daily bread.
And forgive us
our trespasses,
As we forgive
them that trespass against us.
And lead us
not into temptation,
But deliver us
from evil.
For thine is
the kingdom,
The power, and
the glory,
For ever and
ever.
Amen.
THE SCRIPTURE LESSON: John 15:1-8
Jesus the True
Vine
15: “I am the
true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me
that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes[a] to make it bear
more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed[b] by the word that I have spoken
to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit
by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear
much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide
in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered,
thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is
glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become[c] my disciples.
Footnotes:
a. John 15:2
The same Greek root refers to pruning and cleansing
b. John 15:3
The same Greek root refers to pruning and cleansing
John 15:8 Or
be
INTRODUCTION
PASTOR: My dear friends, fix these three principles in your
hearts:
(1) that eternal things are more enduring and real than earthly
things;
(2) that things not seen are as certain as the things that are
seen;
(3) that upon your choice depends your eternal destiny.
Choose Christ and His ways, and you are blessed forever; refuse
Him, and you are undone forever. And then, my friends, make your choice. Turn
either to the right hand or to the left; Christ with His yoke, His cross, and
His crown; or the devil with his wealth, his pleasure, and his curse. Then ask
yourselves, "Self, you see what is before you; what will you do? Which
will you have, either the crown or the curse? If you choose the crown, remember
that the day you take this, you must be content to submit to the cross and
yoke, the service and sufferings of Christ, which are linked to it. What do you
say? Would you rather take the gains and pleasures of sin and risk the curse?
Or will you yield yourself a servant to Christ and so make sure the
crown?"
Next, cast yourselves upon His righteousness. Will you say now
to Him, "Lord Jesus, will You take me? Will You bring me to God and bring me
into the land of promise? With You I will risk myself. I cast myself upon You,
upon Your blood, upon Your righteousness." This is coming to Christ as
your Priest. And by this you now renounce your own righteousness. Do you deeply
sense your sins and uncleanness without Christ?
CONFESSION
Whether we are already forgiven sinners, or still far from God,
let us confess together our total dependence on Him
PASTOR and PEOPLE: We acknowledge a deep sense of sin and
misery. We see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior. The Spirit of God has
awakened us. We cry, "Lord, what am I! What mean these chains and fetters
that are upon me? "Lord, where am I! Is there no hope of escaping out of
this wretched state? I am dead, if I continue as I am. What may I do to be
saved?"
PASTOR: Being made aware of his sin and his danger, a sinner
will look for help and deliverance, but he will look everywhere else before he
looks to Christ. Nothing will bring a sinner to Christ but absolute necessity.
He will try to forsake his sins. He will go to prayer meetings, and worship
services, and to Holy Communion and search out if there is salvation in them.
But all these, though they are useful in their places, are of no help. Engaging
in works of righteousness, even Church practices, cannot help; these are all
empty. They all say, "You knock at the wrong door; salvation is not in
us."
Do you now utterly despair of your own goodness based on works,
or do you trust in anything except Christ?
PRAYER
PASTOR and PEOPLE: Lord, be merciful to me. What shall I do? I
dare not remain as I am, and I cannot help myself. My praying will not help me.
My hearing will not help me. If I give all my goods to the poor, if I should
give my body to be burned, all this would not save my soul. Woe is me. What
shall I do?
PASTOR: You must let your sins go. You must let your
righteousness go. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. He came to seek and to save those that are lost.
Friends, will you now risk yourselves for Christ? You have this
threefold assurance:
1. First, God’s initiative. He has taken the first move. God the
Father has appointed and sent Christ into the world to save sinners. Jesus
Christ is the One whom God the Father has made our Savior. He is redeeming and
reconciling the world to himself.
2. Second, God’s command. This is His commandment, that we
should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
3. Third, God’s promise. "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious; and whoever believes on him shall not be
disappointed.
Now, because we have this threefold assurance of God’s
initiative, command, and promise, we may now be bold to risk everything for
Christ and to make ourselves totally available to Him.
PASTOR and PEOPLE: Lord Jesus, here I am, a lost creature, an
enemy to God, under His wrath and curse. Will You, Lord, take me as I am,
reconcile me to God, and save my soul? Do not refuse me, Lord, for if You
refuse me, to whom then shall I go?
If I had come in my own name, You might well have ignored me;
but since I come at the command of the Father, do not reject me. Lord, help me.
Lord, save me. I come, Lord. I believe, Lord. I throw myself upon Your grace
and mercy. I trust Your saving death alone to save me. Do not refuse me. I have
nowhere else to go. Here I will stay. I will trust You, and rest in You, and
risk myself for You. On You I lay my hope for pardon, for life, for salvation.
If I perish, I perish on Your shoulders. If I sink, I sink in Your ship. If I
die, I die at Your door. Do not bid me to go away, for I will not go.
COMMITMENT
PASTOR: Yield yourselves now to the Lord. As His servants, give
up the rule and government of yourselves to Christ. "Do not yield the
parts of your bodies as tools of unrighteousness to continue in sin. Instead
yield yourselves fully to God, as those who have been made alive from the dead.
And yield every part of your whole body as instruments of righteousness to
God." "Don’t you know that you make yourself a slave to obey whoever
or whatever you yield yourself to? You are God’s servants; obey Him!. Yield
yourselves so fully and finally to the Lord that you may henceforth be only the
Lord’s. Those who yield themselves to sin and the world say in their hearts,
"Sin, I am yours; World, I am yours; Riches, I am yours; Pleasures, I am
yours." Rather, with the Psalmist, let us say to the Lord:
AFFIRMATION
PASTOR and PEOPLE: I am Yours, My God; I reverence You. I
dedicate myself to Your service.
PASTOR: In so giving yourselves to the Lord, you affirm that you
will be contented that He assign you to your work.
Let Him assign you to your work. Christ has many services to be
done; some are more easy and honorable, others more difficult and menial.
Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests; others are
contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves, as when He
requires us to feed and clothe ourselves. Indeed, there are some spiritual
duties that are more pleasing than others; as to rejoice in the Lord, to bless
and praise God. These are the sweet works of a Christian.
But then there are other works. In these we cannot please Christ
except by denying ourselves, as in enduring the sins and shortcomings of
others, reproving others for their sins, withdrawing from their company; as in
witnessing against their wickedness. Confessing Christ and His name is never
easy when it costs us shame and ridicule. It is never easy to sail against the
wind, swim against the tide, surrender our rights and privileges because Jesus
Christ is our Lord.
See what it is that Christ expects and then yield yourselves to
His whole will. Do not think of making your own terms with Christ; that will
never be allowed. Let us now approach Christ in prayer.
PASTOR and PEOPLE: Lord Jesus, if You will receive me into Your
house, if You will but accept me as Your servant, I will not come up with
special terms. Impose on me whatever condition pleases You; write down Your own
provisions; command me to be or do whatever You will; only let me be Your
servant. Make me what You will, Lord, and set me where You will. Let me be a
vessel of silver or gold, or a vessel of wood or stone; so I may be a vessel of
honor. I am content. If I am not the head, or the eye, or the ear, one of the
nobler and more honorable instruments You will employ, let me be the hand, or
the foot, as one of the lowest and least esteemed of all the servants of my
Lord.
PASTOR: Lord, put me on whatever task You will; rank me with
whom You will.
PEOPLE: Put me to doing; put me to suffering.
PASTOR: Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You,
exalted for You, or trodden under foot for You.
PEOPLE: Let me be full; let me be empty.
PASTOR: Let me have all things; let me have nothing.
PEOPLE: I freely and heartily resign all to Your pleasure and
disposal.
PASTOR: Friends, such a commitment to Christ as you have now
made is the essence of Christianity. When you have chosen God to be your
portion and happiness; when you have laid all your hopes on Christ, casting
yourself wholly upon the merits of His righteousness; when you have
thoughtfully and heartily resigned and given up yourselves to Him; then you are
Christians indeed, and never till then. Christ will be the Savior of none but
of His servants. He is the Author of eternal salvation to those who obey Him.
Christ will have no servants but by consent. His people are a willing people,
and Christ will accept of no consent but in full to all that He requires. He
will be all in all, or He will be nothing.
THE COVENANT
PASTOR: And now let us confirm our commitment by a solemn
covenant, beginning with the singing of a covenant hymn.
*HYMN: "Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine" (to the same
tune as "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" by Carl G. Glazer and
Lowell Mason. Words composed by Charles Wesley.)
1 Come, let us
use the grace divine,
And all, with
one accord,
In a perpetual
cov’nant join
Ourselves to
Christ the Lord:
2 Give up ourselves,
through Jesus’ pow’r,
His name to
glorify;
And promise,
in this sacred hour,
For God to
live and die.
3 The cov’nant
we this moment make
Be ever kept
in mind:
We will no
more our God forsake,
Or cast his
words behind.
4 Forever we
will rev’rence here
Our God who
hears our vow:
And if You are
pleased, Dear Lord, to hear,
Come down, and
meet us now!
5 To each the
cov’nant blood apply,
Which takes
our sins away;
And register
our names on high,
And keep us to
that day!
PASTOR: Search your hearts before you make this commitment to
God in Christ.
1. First, consider what your sins are and examine whether you
can resolve to let go of them all. Consider what His laws are — how holy,
strict, and spiritual, and whether you can, after careful reflection, choose
them all as the rule of your whole life.
2. Second, place yourself in the most serious frame of mind
possible, suitable to a transaction of so high importance.
3. Third, lay hold on the covenant of God and rely upon His
promise of giving grace and strength, for only through these will you be
enabled to perform your promise. Do not trust your own strength, but take hold
on His strength.
4. Fourth, resolve to be faithful. Having engaged your hearts,
opened your mouths, and subscribed with your hands to the Lord, resolve in His
strength never to go back.
5. Fifth and last, being thus prepared, in the most solemn
manner possible, as if the Lord were visibly present before your eyes, bow and
open your hearts to the Lord.
The LEADER and people will bow and pray together.
PASTOR and PEOPLE: O most holy God, we humbly beg You, accept
the poor prodigals prostrating themselves at Your door. All of us were once, or
are even now, far from You because of our sins. We are all by nature worthy of
death, and we made ourselves a thousand times worse by our wicked practices.
But out of Your infinite grace You have promised mercy to us in Christ, if we
will only turn to You with all our heart. Therefore, since we have heard the
call of the gospel, we now come, throw down our weapons, and submit ourselves
to Your mercy. And because You require, as the condition of our peace with You,
that we should put away our idols, we here and now from the bottom of our
hearts renounce them all. We firmly covenant with You not to allow ourselves to
continue in any known sin. We will, instead, conscientiously use all the means
that we know You have prescribed, for the death and utter destruction of
everything that corrupts us. We humbly affirm before Your glorious Majesty that
it is the firm resolution of our hearts to forsake all that is dear unto us in
this world, rather than to turn from You to the ways of sin. We will guard
ourselves against all temptations, whether from prosperity or poverty, pleasure
or pain, so that they may never draw our hearts away from You. And since You
have, out of Your boundless mercy, offered graciously, to be our God through
Christ, we call heaven and earth to record this day, that we do here solemnly
acknowledge You as the Lord our God. And now, speaking not only as one in this
sacred assembly, but speaking for myself alone, I do take You, O Eternal God —
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be my God. Be my portion. I do give up myself,
body and soul, to be Your servant, promising and vowing to serve You in
holiness and righteousness all the days of my life. O blessed Jesus, I come to
You hungry, wretched, miserable, blind, and naked, unworthy to wash the feet of
the servants of my Lord, much less to be solemnly married to the King of Glory.
But since such is Your unparalleled love, I do here with all my power accept
You and take You for my Head and Husband, to love, honor, and obey You before
all others, even if the path leads to death. I renounce my own worthiness and
do here acknowledge You as the Lord my righteousness. I renounce my own wisdom
and do here take You for my only Guide. I renounce my own will and take Your
will for my law. And since Your word has told me that I must suffer with You if
I am to reign with You, I do here covenant with You to accept my lot, as it
falls, with You and by Your grace to risk everything for You. It is my purpose
that neither life nor death shall part You and me. Now, Almighty God, Searcher
of Hearts, You know that I make this covenant with You this day, without any
known deception or reservation. I humbly beg You that if You see any flaw or
falsehood in my resolve, reveal it to me and help me to put it right.
All stand and say in unison:
PASTOR and PEOPLE: And now, I praise You, O Father God, whom I
shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father. Glory be
to You, Lord Jesus, O God the Son, who loved me and washed me from my sins by
Your death and resurrection and who are now my Savior and Redeemer. Glory be to
You, O God the Holy Spirit, who by Your almighty power and inescapable presence
have turned my heart from sin to God.
O eternal, almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are
now my Covenant-Friend, and I, through Your infinite grace, am Your
Covenant-Servant. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be
ratified in heaven. Amen.
Annual Covenant entered into on this, _1st___ Day of __January___
in the year of our Lord, two thousand and __fourteen__ at ___San
Diego, California, United States___.
SIGNATURE: ______Gary Lee Parker_______
PASTOR and PEOPLE: Holy Communion
We come and remember on the evening that Jesus was betrayed,
suffered, and died on the cross; He took bread breaking it and blessing it
saying this is my body broken for you take and eat all of it. Then, he took the
cup of redemption wine and blessing it saying take and drink all of this for
this is my blood poured out for your sins. He spoke these words that we are to
remember what he has done for us until His Kingdom is confirmed at His final
return as we go into all the world and make disciples of His for the
transformation of the world as we proclaim Jesus’ teaching in words and actions
as we love each other and all people.
CLOSING HYMN: I Surrender All by J.W. Van Deventer
1. All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
2. All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
3. All
to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
4. All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
5. All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
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