This Week in Worship – 9/1

Dear Grace Family,

It is Labor Day weekend. Pastor Mitch wrote a really good devotion on the word labor in our scriptures. You can find it here. In fact, he must have worked so hard writing about labor that he decided to take the weekend off. Pastor Wes will lead worship in Common Grace on Sunday.

Labor Day can mean different things for different people. For some it is a three-day weekend and a chance to get away one more time as a family. For others it can mean the beginning of football season. For pastors, it often means that worship attendance will be down so don’t print as many bulletins.

I am going to offer one more thing to think about on Labor Day weekend. The word liturgy is often used to describe public worship by any religious group. For Christians, it specifically refers to the rituals of communal worship, our response to the sacred through activities of praise, repentance, remembrance and thanksgiving. The word liturgy comes from the ancient Greek work leitourgia which means “work of the people.” It is a literal translation of the two words “litos ergos” or “public service”.

You could argue that Labor Day is the perfect weekend to come to worship and do the “work of God’s people” together. It is what we do as people of God. This Sunday we will celebrate communion at all three worship services. I cannot think of a better meal to share with my church family than the Lord’s Supper. We have a place at the table prepared just for you.

See you in worship,
Barry

Each Tuesday Pastor Mitch publishes a devotion on his website Weeklydevotion.com.  If you’d like to receive this in your inbox, drop him an email at  [email protected] and just say “Sign me up!”