2026

Archived Services

Order of Service for Covenant Renewal

At Christ Covenant Church, our Lord's Day liturgy is not a random assemblage of religious activities but a covenantal drama—the ascension of a people to the throne of God through their Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and their return bearing His blessing, as they are sent on mission for the expansion of His kingdom. This shape is not our invention. It is the pattern after God’s holy Word, modelled after the sacrificial system (Leviticus 1–3), the movement of Isaiah's throne-room vision (Isaiah 6), and supremely the once-for-all ascent of our great High Priest, who has entered the true Holy Place and draws us in with Him (Hebrews 10:19–22). We call this Covenant Renewal Worship, and it unfolds in five movements.

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

    + ENTRANCE: Call to Worship +
    God made man to worship; worship is at the heart of life, the epicentre of our lives.

    God always takes the initiative in worship. God summons His covenant people to worship Him corporately, in Spirit and Truth, each and every week on the Day He’s appointed (Sunday).

    The congregation's votum declares their reliance upon God and acknowledges that His call must precede their coming.

    Then, in faith, the congregation proceeds to enter God’s gates with singing (Ps. 95:2, 100:4) signified in the processional.

    + SALUTATION: The LORD’s Greeting +
    The Triune God greets us through His minister. The congregation responds in reverent gladness.

    + 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 with prayer, a responsive psalm, and a song of adoration (Isa. 6:1-4).

  • The LORD calls us to confession (Lev. 1:3-5; 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.

    It is precisely at this point the congregation is confronted with the stark reality: God is holy, and we are not. Against God’s perfection, man is revealed as a sinful covenant breaker, unholy and unclean (Isa. 6:3-5).

    Herein lies the problem. We were made to be holy and worship God in his presence (Gen. 2; Lev. 19:2). But, due to sin, both original and actual, we are now unclean, covenant breakers, who are unfit to enter God’s holy presence. Sin stands in the way of man’s right relationship with God. Thus, confronted with our sin and lawlessness, the congregation is brought low before the statutes of God (Ps. 79:8).

    + CONFESSION OF SIN: Purification Offering +
    Sin cannot just be forgiven, there must be atonement. 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 us. He provided a remedy for our sin and estrangement, and that remedy is 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, graciously, God Himself provided a way of atonement by means of an acceptable, vicarious, representative sacrifice in the place of sinners (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. 1:1-5, 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 the sins of the people (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, vicarious substitute. Thus, the sacrifice of Christ renews the covenant between God and man.

    Therefore, through confession of sin, both personal and corporate, the congreagtion symbolically lays our sins on Christ, the true 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). Only through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ can we receive true forgiveness of sins. Thus, by faith, we are united with Him in his death.

    + ASSURANCE OF PARDON +
    In Christ, we die to sin (Col. 3:3). So too, we are assured of our pardon because we are likewise united to Him in His resurrection, which is the vindication of His self-sacrifice.

    Thus, for all those who truly confess their sins with a broken and contrite heart, and lay them upon Christ, the perfect propitiatory sacrifice, 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 +
    Standing on the cleansed ground of pardon, we confess the faith together, declaring with one voice what we believe. We do this through corporately confessing our common creeds and confessions.

    These confessions form the doctrinal basis of our new life in Christ (Rom 6:3-4; 2 Cor. 5 14-15).

  • The LORD consecrates us by His Word:

    Having been cleansed, we are set apart. The Lord now sanctifies His people by His Word – the sword of the Spirit that divides, even to the joint and marrow (Heb. 4:12). This is the ascension offering: a people wholly given over to the King, minds renewed and loved reordered by the living voice of their Lord.

    + SURSUM CORDA: Ascension Offering +

    “Lift up your hearts!” We ascend with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, joining the unceasing praise of the whole Bride of Christ around the throne.

    + DECLARATION OF AUTHORITY +

    For this reason, we pray for illumination, asking that the living and active Word would pierce us through by the power of the Holy Spirit.

    + THE READING & PREACHING OF GOD’S WORD +

    Following this, the Scriptures are read aloud, both from the Older and Newer Testaments, and the congregation responds, “Thanks be to God!” Then, the Word is preached and enthroned among us. The sermon is not a lecture, but rather a summons to be transformed.

    + THANKSGIVING & SUPPLICATION: Tribute Offering +

    Having received the Word, we respond in prayer and offering, presenting our petitions and our gifts as tribute to our King, in correspondence to the tribute offering (Lev. 2).

  • The LORD calls us to commune at His table:

    Consecrated, we are seated at the King’s Table. Having ascended by Word, we now feast in fellowship – the peace offering, the meal shared between God and His reconciled people (Lev. 3). This is the high point of the ascent: heaven and earth meet, and we taste the marriage supper of the Lamb in advance.

    + COMMUNION: Peace Offering +

    The Lord Jesus spreads His Table every Lord’s Day, and to it we welcome all the baptized who trust in Christ alone, including our covenant children. The bread we break is a sharing in the body of Christ, and the cup we drink a participation in His blood (1 Cor. 10:16-17).

  • The LORD Commissions us with His blessing:

    The feast at Christ’s Table is not the end, but the provision for the mission. Fed and blessed, the people of God are sent out into the world – not into retreat, but rather into dominion, bearing the name of the Triune God and advancing the crown rights of King Jesus over and in each and every sphere of life.

    + CHARGE +

    The King thusly charges His servants for the week’s warfare and witness, and we answer, “Here we are, LORD, send us!”

    + DISBURSAL: Benediction +

    The Lord lays His threefold blessing upon His people (Num. 6:24-26) and disburses us into the world. As He dismisses us as salt and light, we are confident that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:9).

In every Lord's Day gathering, then, we die and rise again: called out of the world, cleansed of our sin, consecrated by the Word, communing at the table, and commissioned back into the world as witnesses of the King. This is the rhythm of the covenant, and by it the Lord renews us week by week until the whole creation is made new.