Lord’s Day 5: Only God, Truly Human: Q&A 12-15

Once again, this Lord’s Day is quite pithy in most of its Qs & As, which doesn’t make for the easiest interpretation for congregational use. The challenge with such strong and short language such as in Q&A 13 is that we need to remember that there is always the chance that someone might be hearing our theology for the first time when we’re participating in worship together each week. How do we, as worship leaders and writers of liturgy, balance conviction in our Reformed Theology with trying to make it more accessible for people who may not be familiar with it?

Lord’s Day 5

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

Brothers and sisters, we deserve punishment for our sins according to the righteous judgment of our God. Let us confess our sins together, trusting that if we confess them, God is faithful and will forgive us.

Oh Lord, we increase our debt against you every single day by sinning against you and our neighbor. We ourselves cannot begin to pay back this debt. We confess to you our sins that we have committed and the ways in which we have sinned by omission. Hear us now, oh Lord, as we confess our sins to you.

-time of silent confession-

God has sent a mediator to this earth who can satisfy the demands of God’s justice and law. Our deliverer who is a true and righteous human and is also truly God. Jesus Christ, our Savior. He has fully paid for all of our sins and watches over us, interceding on our behalf before the Father. Friends, through Christ, your debt is paid and your sins are forgiven!

Thanks be to God!