the crowning of the year: liturgy for Christ the King

Rather than a traditional liturgy for Christ the King Sunday, I’ve adapted an idea from colleagues at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church to walk through the liturgical year on Christ the King Sunday.

The Crowning of the Year

Call to Worship

This is the day the Lord has made!
This is the crowning of the year!
The life of Christ is the model for our own, and he shapes all we say and do.
The Lord reigns over all our days.

Hymn: Rejoice, the Lord Is King

Advent: Preparing to Welcome Jesus

Introduction

God has always been present with God’s people.
Amidst the changing days of this world,
amidst flood, fire, and famine,
amidst death, life, and new life,
God’s presence has sustained us.
For generations, women and men longed for that presence to be more real.
They waited for God to step in and make God’s presence known.
And so in Advent we too stop and wait,
remembering that God comes among us in Christ to make all things new.

In the midst of the waiting, God speaks in the voice of the prophet Isaiah
to give comfort and call the people to prepare the way for something new:

Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

Hymn: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Christmas: Immanuel, God-with-Us

Introduction

In Jesus Christ, God steps into our world.
In Jesus, God became human, Immanuel, God-with-us.
At Christmas, we remember how he was born of Mary,
how his lowly birth shows us that God stands with the poor and powerless,
how he feels for all our sadness and shares in all our gladness.

And so we hear again the story of his birth, according to Luke:

Reading: Luke 2:1-20

Epiphany: The Light Shines in the Darkness

Introduction

In Christ, light broke through into our weary world,
shining the brightness of God into all brokenness,
into all pain and sorrow and suffering and sighing,
into every uncertainty and anxiety and hopeless place.

At Epiphany, we remember how the light of Christ
shines into our hearts and our lives,
transforms us into the people God intends for us to be,
and compels even those from far away to journey to see the light.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah:

Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Hymn: As with Gladness Men of Old

Baptism of the Lord: Jesus Is Marked as God’s Own

Introduction

Just as we do, Jesus grew in age and stature,
following in his parents’ footsteps.
Like his father, he took up carpentry as his trade.
Like his mother, he opened himself to the fullness of God’s life in his own.
When the time was right, he journeyed out into the wilderness
and responded to the call of his relative John,
as told by the gospel according to Mark:

Reading: Mark 1:4-11

Hymn: When Jesus Came to Jordan

Lent: Penitence and Preparation

Introduction

Early in his ministry, Jesus endured a time of testing and trial.
Mark describes it this way:

Reading: Mark 1:12-13

So remembering all the trials of Jesus’ life
and seeking to deepen our own faithfulness alongside his,
we celebrate Lent,
forty days of penitence and preparation,
forty days of setting aside the things that keep us from right relationship with God and our neighbor,
forty days of taking up a new way that can bring us closer to God in Christ.

Hymn: Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday: God’s Love Revealed

Introduction

Jesus lived a faithful life,
teaching the people and his disciples more about who God is
and how God is at work in the world.
He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, and called people to repentance.
He proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God.

But not everyone agreed with him.
His words threatened the powerful and challenged the status quo.
When the time came for him to face the authorities,
he was abandoned by those who loved him.
Even amidst his innocence, he was condemned to death,
hung on a cross and left to die.

The gospel according to Mark tells us the sad story:

Reading: Mark 15:25-41

Hymn: Were You There?

Easter: The Lord Is Risen!

Introduction

The story of God in Christ did not end on the cross.
On the third day, something strange happened:
Jesus was raised from the dead.
In the resurrection,
God shows us once and for all that death does not have the last word.
God reminds us that nothing can keep us from the fullness of God’s love.

Again, we hear from Mark:

Reading: Mark 16:1-8

Hymn: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

Pentecost: The Holy Spirit Comes Among Us

Introduction

In the days after his resurrection, the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples
and made it clear that he was not just a ghost but a real man, living once again.
He told his friends that he would not be able to be among them forever,
but he did promise that God would send them the Holy Spirit to journey with them.

God kept God’s promise.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came among the people with great power and glory.
The book of Acts tells it like this:

Reading: Acts 2:1-13

Hymn: Gracious Spirit

Ordinary Time: For The Living of Our Days

Introduction

While we have seen God at work in the movement of the life of Jesus,
we also see how God is working in us too to make all things new.
God’s presence is real even in the most ordinary moments of life and living.
Even amidst the struggles of the day to day,
we know that God journeys with us everywhere we go
and shows us how to trust the fullness of God’s grace amidst all of time and space.

The writer of Ecclesiastes put it well:

Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Hymn: God of Grace and God of Glory

[Include necessary elements of the weekly service here, such as Prayers of the People, announcements, and the offering.]

The Reign of Christ: Already and Not Yet

Introduction

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
He reigns over us and all our world with justice, mercy, and peace.
As we celebrate this reign today,
the psalmist reminds us of the majesty and grace of our sovereign and Lord:

Reading: Psalm 93

Hymn: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

Charge and Benediction

Submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, NY