Commissioning for the beginning of the New Church Year.

Commissioning for the beginning of the New Church Year.

What is a commissioning you might ask? When a brand new ship is set to sail, the ship builder celebrates the occasion with a commissioning service to proclaim that the ship is sea worthy and ready to set sail. It is a public declaration that the ship is ready for the voyage. It is the official launching into service of the ship.

That’s how it is with the church and the church year. This is the official launching of the church into another year of service and another year being sent out to sea to serve and be on a voyage.

We are all called to discipleship. We are called by God to be the church of Jesus Christ, a sign in the world today of what God intends for all humankind.

Do any of you know what the great ends of the church are? Well, I didn’t either until one day I read them, was taught them, and then appreciated them to the extent I wanted to learn them and live them.

The great ends of the church are

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and the spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness;

and the exhibition of the kingdom of Heaven to the world.

The Call of Christ is to willing service to God, to the church, and to the world.

So today we have all been called here by Christ to be fully present, ready for worship, ready to serve.

All those who teach, who learn, who sing, who pray, who lead, who work diligently with their hands, who write letters, who make phone calls, who volunteer inside and outside the church, who usher, who prepare meals, who hang banners and paraments, who was dishes, water plants, make tea, who come and sit beside another, please hold out your arms before you with palms up. 

God has called you! Please respond to the following questions with I will. 

Will you welcome another year of responsibility to the service God has called you?

Will you be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ obeying his Word and showing his love?

Will you support and encourage one another in the work of ministry?

Dear friends you are commissioned to the service of God in the beginning of a new year of the church, praise and thanks to God!!

Pray: WE thank and praise you oh God for these your people who you have called into a life of faith and a life of service. Establish them in your truth and guide them by your Holy Spirit, that in your service they may grow in faith, hope and love, and be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory now and forever. Amen.