The LORD calls us into His holy presence (Lev. 1:1-2, 9:5):

+Call to Worship+
God made man to worship. Worship is at the heart of life. God summons His covenant people to worship Him corporately, in Spirit and Truth, each and every week on the Lord’s Day (Sunday).

The congregation proceeds to the throne of God, signified in the processional, and declare their reliance upon God through the votum.

+The LORD’s Greeting+
The Triune God greets us through his minister. The congregation responds.

+Adoration+
Upon entrance into the presence of the LORD, the congregation is confronted with the holy majesty of God and responds appropriately in reverent fear and adoration (Isa. 6:1-4). We both declare God’s greatness and enter his courts with singing (Ps. 100).

The LORD calls us to confession (Lev. 9:15):

+ Reading of the Law+
Upon entering the presence of the LORD and responding with awe, the congregation is confronted with God's holy purity, as signified by the reading of the Law, which reflects God’s holiness. God is holy and we are not, despite the fact we were meant to be (Lev. 19:2). Against God’s perfection, man is revealed as a sinful covenant breaker, unholy and unclean (Isa. 6:3-5).

Herein lies the problem. As sinful, unclean, covenant breakers, man cannot enter God’s holy presence. Confronted with our sin and lawlessness we are brought low before the statutes of God (Ps. 79:8).

+ Confession of Sin+
The punishment for sin is death, and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22). Thus, entering into God’s presence as a sinner means certain death.

But God, being rich in mercy, did not leave man to die in the cold, away from the warmth of His presence. He made provision for them. He provided a remedy for man’s sin and estrangement: sacrifice (Gen 3:15, 21). Thus, sacrifice is the way of covenant renewal (Gen. 8:20-9:17; Gen. 15:8-18a; Exod. 24:4-11; 34:15; Lev. 2:13; 24:1-8; Num. 18:19; 1 Kgs. 3:15; Ps. 50:5; Lk. 22:20; Heb. 9:15, 18; 9:20; 12:24; 13:20).

Amazingly, God did not require the life of man; instead He would provide the sacrifice. Herein lies the good news, God Himself would provide an acceptable, vicarious, representative sacrifice in man’s stead (Gen. 22).

In the Older Testamental system, God’s people were only able to approach Him first by the way of an atoning sacrifice, through a sin offering (Lev. 9:15) in which their sins would be transferred to the vicarious, representative sacrifice (animal sacrifice) and the animal killed in their stead. Yet, these sacrifices were unable to truly take away sins (Heb. 10:4); they were but shadows, foretastes of the true atoning sacrifice, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29-36; Rev. 5).

Now, in the Newer Testamental age, we approach God through Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God our perfect representative, our vicarious substitute. Thus, the sacrifice of Christ renews the covenant between God and man.

Therefore, in our confession of sin, both personal and corporate, we as the church lay our sins on Christ, the Lamb of God, who appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 9:26 cf. Rom. 6:10, Heb. 7:27, 10:1-18).

+Assurance of Pardon+
In Christ, we die to sin. In Him, we are assured of our pardon because we are united to Him in His resurrection which was proof of His acceptability as a sacrifice.

Thus, for all those who truly confess their sins and lay them upon Christ with a broken and contrite heart, the minister assures them of their pardon. Having been pardoned of the guilt of sin through Christ, the congregation responds with a song of praise.

+Confession of Faith+
Having sung praise to our mericful God, we then respond by confessing our faith in the covenant promises of God.

The LORD consecrates us by His Word:

More to come…

The LORD calls us to commune at His table:

More to come…

The LORD Commissions us with His blessing:

More to come…