Description
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Wisdom. It’s knowledge incarnate. It moves beyond the theoretical and into the practical. In the Proverbs text, we see wisdom personified. Most see this as a Messianic prophecy. Other texts like 1 Corinthians 1:24-30 talk about Christ being the wisdom of God. When we learn that wisdom is applied knowledge, it makes sense that Jesus is the wisdom of God. Instead of just having the knowledge that God loves us, He makes that love real and applied by having Christ come and demonstrate that love by dying on a cross.
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include videos (countdowns, worship music, welcomes), worship music CD, or live music by worship band.]
Time of Praise and Worship
Father Spirit Jesus
Chad Cates, Dave Hunt, Mark Hall, © © 2005 New Spring | Modine Gunch Music | Upper Cates Music | My Refuge Music | Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) | | (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC)
King of Glory
Chris Tomlin & Jesse Reeves, © 2004 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music
Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
My Lighthouse
Rend Collective, © 2013 Thankyou Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
[Traditional Options]
Holy, Holy, Holy
BH 75 1; BH 91 2; CH 3; CHH 4; EH 362; ELW 413; HWC 262; HPW 2; HFG 323; HLC 1; HGP 51; HSP 12; LBW 165; LSB 507; LW 168; NCH 277; PH 580; RH 213; RS 624; STTL 2; WC 2; UMH 64; WAR 136; WHM 47; WIS 8
O Blessed, Holy Trinity
LSB 876
Sing With All the Saints in Glory
ELW 426; HS98 839; LSB 671; RS 595; STTL 666; UMH 702; WOV 691
Invocation and Introduction of Today’s Theme
Pastor: O triune God, we begin this service in humble and sweet praise of you.
ALL: Come Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Pastor: Your wisdom is vast enough to govern the universe, yet it is intimate enough to work in our hearts to guide is in the light of your ways.
ALL: Come Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Pastor: It is a wisdom that is seen in the Holy Trinity. You are God in three persons, and your love and knowledge is in perfect unity. It is equal in power, coeternal in splendor, and equivalent in glory.
ALL: Come Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Pastor: The wisdom that stems from the Father’s knowledge and love is seen though our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection saves us. We proclaim this good news to all people with the help of the Holy Spirit.
ALL: Come Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Pastor: We come before you to worship, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
ALL: Amen!
Opening Prayer
Pastor: Blessed triune God, we give you praise and thanksgiving for your infinite wisdom. We delight in your creation, and we marvel at how even the tiniest speck of the universe fits perfectly within your design. We are humbled that you applied your knowledge to save us from sin, death, and the power of the devil, and we rejoice that the Son’s resurrection has granted us eternal life. We have taken comfort in your ways as we share the knowledge of your Word with others, our confidence emboldened by the work of the Holy Spirit. You are the one true Godhead, the three-in-one, sacred trinity. May we turn to your wisdom to govern our lives, both today and forevermore. This we pray through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father the Holy Spirit as the one triune and eternal God.
ALL: AMEN!
Time of Greeting
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor: Almighty God, we have rejected your wisdom and have been led astray by our own sinful folly.
ALL: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Pastor: From the time Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, we have rejected your ways and arrogantly sought to be your equal.
ALL: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Pastor: We have acted like we don’t need you, O Lord. We have behaved as if our ways are bigger and better than your pure and perfect ways.
ALL: Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Pastor: Our actions are a stumbling block that caused us to sin, and we know the wages of sin is death. For the sake of your precious and only begotten Son Jesus Christ, please have mercy on us. Renew our hearts and hold us strong in your Word, so we can once again delight in your ways.
(pause for silent reflection)
Pastor: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:6a). Almighty God has heard your cries, and in his perfect wisdom, sent his Son to die and rise again so you may live. By the command of my office as an ordained servant of the Word, I announce the grace of God to all of you, and that the blood of Christ has forgiven all of your sins. Let us give thanks to the Lord for he is good!
ALL: And his mercy endures forever! Amen!
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Oh how we need God’s wisdom. We may know the truth, but we often don’t apply that truth as wisdom in our lives. And the greatest wisdom is that of Jesus Christ,
who, in this passage, is wisdom personified.
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 3 beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.
22 “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; 23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water 25 before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth, 26 before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command and when he marked out the foundations of the earth 30 Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence, 31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
