Covenant Renewal Service
Adapted by George Lyons from the Pamphlet Written
by
John Wesley
And First Published in 1780
LEADER: "Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting
covenant which will never be forgotten" (Jer. 50:5, RSV).
LEADER: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all
desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden; cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your holy
name through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us now pray together the Lord’s Prayer, using "trespasses."
LEADER and PEOPLE: The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13,
Bishop’s Bible)
THE SCRIPTURE LESSON: John 15:1-8
LEADER: My dear friends, fix these three principles in
your hearts: (1) that things eternal are more enduring and real
than things temporal; (2) that things not seen are as certain
as the things that are seen; (3) that upon your present choice
depends your eternal destiny. Choose Christ and His ways, and
you are blessed forever; refuse Him, and you are undone forever.
And then, my friends, make your choice. Turn either to the right
hand or to the left; Christ with His yoke, His cross, and
His crown; or the devil with his wealth, his pleasure, and his
curse. Then ask yourselves, "Self, you see what is before
you; what will you do? Which will you have, either the crown or
the curse? If you choose the crown, remember that the day you
take this, you must be content to submit to the cross and yoke,
the service and sufferings of Christ, which are linked to it.
What do you say? Would you rather take the gains and pleasures
of sin and risk the curse? Or will you yield yourself a servant
to Christ and so make sure the crown?"
Do not delay the matter. If you are unresolved, you are resolved.
If you remain undetermined for Christ, you are determined for
the devil. Therefore, follow your hearts from day to day. Do not
rest until the matter is settled once and for all. And see to
it that you make a good choice.
Next, begin your journey with Christ. Adventure with Him. Cast
yourselves upon His righteousness. You are exiles from the presence
of God and fallen into a land of robbers and murderers.Your sins
are robbers, your pleasures are robbers, your companions in sin
are robbers and thieves. If you stay where you are, you perish.
Christ offers, if you will venture with Him, to bring you to God.
Will you say now to Him, "Lord Jesus, will You take me? Will
You bring me to God and bring me into the land of promise? With
You I will risk myself. I cast myself upon You, upon Your blood,
upon Your righteousness."
This is coming to Christ as your Priest. And by this you now
renounce your own righteousness. Do you deeply sense your sins
and misery without Christ? Whether we are already forgiven sinners,
or still far from God, let us confess together our total dependence
on Him.
CONFESSION
PEOPLE: We acknowledge a deep sense of sin and misery.
We see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior. The Spirit of
God has awakened us; a kind of awakening, as it were, in hell.
We cry,
"Lord, what am I! What mean these legions round about me?
These chains and fetters that are upon me?
"Lord, where am I! Is there no hope of escaping out of this
wretched state? I am but dead, if I continue as I am. What may
I do to be saved?"
LEADER: Being made aware of his sin and his danger, a
sinner will look for help and deliverance, but he will look everywhere
else before he looks unto Christ. Nothing will bring a sinner
to Christ but absolute necessity. He will try to forsake his sins.
He will go to prayers, and sermons, and sacraments and search
out if there is salvation in them. But all these, though they
be useful in their places, are of no help. His duties cannot help
him; these may be numbered among his sins. Ordinances cannot help;
these are but empty Cisterns. They all tell him, "You knock
at a wrong door; salvation is not in us."
Do you now utterly despair of your own goodness, or do you trust
in anything but Christ?
PRAYER
PEOPLE: Lord, be merciful to me. What shall I do? I dare
not remain as I am, and I cannot help myself. My praying will
not help me. My hearing will not help me. If I give all my goods
to the poor, if I should give my body to be burned, all this would
not save my soul. Woe is me. What shall I do?
LEADER: You must let your sins go. You must let your righteousness
go. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
He came to seek and to save those that are lost.
Friends, will you now risk yourselves for Christ? You have this
threefold assurance:
First, God’s initiative. He has taken the first move.
God the Father has appointed and sent Christ into the world to
save sinners. Jesus Christ is the One whom God the Father has
made our Savior. He is redeeming and reconciling the world to
himself.
Second, God’s command. This is His commandment, that
we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Third, God’s promise. "Behold, I lay in Zion
a chief cornerstone, elect, precious; and whoever believes on
him shall not be disappointed.
Now, because we have this threefold assurance of God’s initiative,
command, and promise, we may now be bold to risk everything for
Christ and to make ourselves totally available to Him.
The leader and people shall pray together:
LEADER and PEOPLE: Lord Jesus, here I am, a lost creature,
an enemy to God, under His wrath and curse. Will You, Lord, take
me as I am, reconcile me to God, and save my soul? Do not refuse
me, Lord, for if You refuse me, to whom then shall I go?
If I had come in my own name, You might well have ignored me;
but since I come at the command of the Father, do not reject me.
Lord, help me. Lord, save me.
I come, Lord. I believe, Lord. I throw myself upon Your grace
and mercy. I trust Your saving death alone to save me. Do not
refuse me. I have nowhere else to go. Here I will stay. I will
trust You, and rest in You, and risk myself for You. On You I
lay my hope for pardon, for life, for salvation. If I perish,
I perish on Your shoulders. If I sink, I sink in Your ship. If
I die, I die at Your door. Do not bid me to go away, for I will
not go.
COMMITMENT
LEADER: Yield yourselves now to the Lord. As His servants,
give up the rule and government of yourselves to Christ. "Do
not yield the parts of your bodies as tools of unrighteousness
to continue in sin. Instead yield yourselves fully to God, as
those who have been made alive from the dead. And yield every
part of your whole body as instruments of righteousness to God."
"Don’t you know that you make youself a slave to obey
whoever or whatever you yield yourself to? You are God’s
servants; obey Him!. Yield yourselves so fully and finally to
the Lord that you may henceforth be only the Lord’s.
Those who yield themselves to sin and the world say in their
hearts, "Sin, I am yours; World, I am yours; Riches, I am
yours; Pleasures, I am yours."
Rather, with the Psalmist, let us say to the Lord:
Then the leader and people shall affirm together:
AFFIRMATION
LEADER and PEOPLE: I am Yours, My God; I reverence You.
I dedicate myself to Your service.
LEADER: In so giving yourselves to the Lord, you affirm
that you will be heartily contented that He assign you to your
work.
Let Him assign you to your work. Christ has many services to
be done; some are more easy and honorable, others more difficult
and menial.
Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests; others are
contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves,
as when He requires us to feed and clothe ourselves. Indeed, there
are some spiritual duties that are more pleasing than others;
as to rejoice in the Lord, to bless and praise God. These are
the sweet works of a Christian.
But then there are other works. In these we cannot please Christ
except by denying ourselves, as in enduring the sins and shortcomings
of others, reproving others for their sins, withdrawing from their
company; as in witnessing against their wickedness. Confessing
Christ and His name is never easy when it costs us shame and ridicule.
It is never easy to sail against the wind, swim against the tide,
surrender our rights and privileges because Jesus Christ is our
Lord.
See what it is that Christ expects and then yield yourselves
to His whole will. Do not think of making your own terms with
Christ; that will never be allowed. Let us now approach Christ
in prayer.
All the people will join the leader in praying:
LEADER and PEOPLE: Lord Jesus, if You will receive me
into Your house, if You will but accept me as Your servant, I
will not stand upon terms. Impose on me whatever condition pleases
You; write down Your own provisions; command me to be or do whatever
You will; only let me be Your servant.
Make me what You will, Lord, and set me where You will. Let me
be a vessel of silver or gold, or a vessel of wood or stone; so
I may be a vesselof honor. I am content. If I am not the head,
or the eye, or the ear, one of the nobler and more honorable instruments
You will employ, let me be the hand, or the foot, as one of the
lowest and least esteemed of all the servants of my Lord.
LEADER: Lord, put me on whatever task You will; rank me
with whom You will.
PEOPLE: Put me to doing; put me to suffering.
LEADER: Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for
You, exalted for You, or trodden under foot for You.
PEOPLE: Let me be full; let me be empty.
LEADER: Let me have all things; let me have nothing.
PEOPLE: I freely and heartily resign all to Your pleasure
and disposal.
LEADER: Friends, such a commitment to Christ
as you have now made is the essence of Christianity. When you
have chosen God to be your portion and happiness; when you have
laid all your hopes on Christ, casting yourself wholly upon the
merits of His righteousness; when you have thoughtfully and heartily
resigned and given up yourselves to Him; then you are Christians
indeed, and never till then. Christ will be the Savior of none
but of His servants. He is the Author of eternal salvation to
those who obey Him. Christ will have no servants but by consent.
His people are a willing people, and Christ will accept of no
consent but in full to all that He requires. He will be all in
all, or He will be nothing.
THE COVENANT
LEADER: And now let us confirm our commitment by a solemn
covenant, beginning with the singing of a covenant hymn.
HYMN: "Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine" (to the
same tune as "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" by Carl
G. Glazer and Lowell Mason. Words composed by Charles Wesley.).
1 Come, let us use the grace divine, And all, with one accord,
In a perpetual cov’nant join Ourselves to Christ the Lord:
2 Give up ourselves, through Jesus’ pow’r,
His name to glorify;
And promise, in this sacred hour,
For God to live and die.
3 The cov’nant we this moment make
Be ever kept in mind:
We will no more our God forsake,
Or cast his words behind.
4 Forever we will rev’rence here
The One who hears our vow:
And if You are well-pleased to hear,
Come down, and meet us now!
5 To each the cov’nant blood apply,
Which takes our sins away;
And register our names on high,
And keep us to that day!
LEADER: Search your hearts whether you either have already,
or can now freely, make this commitment to God in Christ.
First, consider what your sins are and examine whether
you can resolve to forego them all. Consider what His laws are
— how holy, strict, and spiritual, and whether you can, upon
deliberation, choose them all as the rule of your whole life.
Second, compose your spirits into the most serious
frame possible, suitable to a transaction of so high importance.
Third, lay hold on the covenant of God and rely upon
His promise of giving grace and strength, for only through these
will you be enabled to perform your promise. Do not trust your
own strength, but take hold on His strength.
Fourth, resolve to be faithful. Having engaged your
hearts, opened your mouths, and subscribed with your hands to
the Lord, resolve in His strength never to go back.
Fifth and last, being thus prepared, in the most solemn
manner possible, as if the Lord were visibly present before your
eyes, bow and open your hearts to the Lord.
The LEADER and people will bow and pray together.
LEADER and PEOPLE: O most holy God, we humbly beg You, accept
the poor prodigals prostrating themselves at Your door. All of
us were once, or are even now, far from You because of our sins.
We are all by nature worthy of death, and we made ourselves a
thousand times worse by our wicked practices. But out of Your
infinite grace You have promised mercy to us in Christ, if we
will only turn to You with all our heart. Therefore, since we
have heard the call of the gospel, we now come, throw down our
weapons, and submit ourselves to Your mercy.
And because You require, as the condition of our peace with
You, that we should put away our idols, we here and now from the
bottom of our hearts renounce them all. We firmly covenant with
You not to allow ourselves to continue in any known sin. We will,
instead, conscientiously use all the means that we know You have
prescribed, for the death and utter destruction of everything
that corrupts us. We humbly affirm before Your glorious Majesty
that it is the firm resolution of our hearts to forsake all that
is dear unto us in this world, rather than to turn from You to
the ways of sin. We will guard ourselves against all temptations,
whether from prosperity or poverty, pleasure or pain, so that
they may never draw our hearts away from You.
And since You have, out of Your boundless mercy, offered graciously,
to be our God through Christ, we call heaven and earth to record
this day, that we do here solemnly acknowledge You as the Lord
our God.
And now, speaking not only as one in this sacred assembly,
but speaking for myself alone, I do take You, O Eternal God —
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be my God. Be my portion. I do
give up myself, body and soul, to be Your servant, promising and
vowing to serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days
of my life.
O blessed Jesus, I come to You hungry, wretched, miserable,
blind, and naked, unworthy to wash the feet of the servants of
my Lord, much less to be solemnly married to the King of Glory.
But since such is Your unparalleled love, I do here with all my
power accept You and take You for my Head and Husband, to love,
honor, and obey You before all others, and this to death. I renounce
my own worthiness and do here acknowledge You as the Lord my righteousness.
I
renounce my own wisdom and do here take You for my only Guide.
I renounce my own will and take Your will for my law.
And since Your word has told me that I must suffer with You
if I am to reign with You, I do here covenant with You to accept
my lot, as it falls, with You and by Your grace to risk everything
for You. It is my purpose that neither life nor death shall part
You and me.
Now, Almighty God, Searcher of Hearts, You know that I make
this covenant with You this day, without any known deception or
reservation. I humbly beg You that if You see any flaw or falsehood
in my resolve, reveal it to me and help me to put it right.
All stand and say in unison:
LEADER and PEOPLE: And now, I praise You, O Father God, whom
I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and
Father. Glory be to You, Lord Jesus, O God the Son, who loved
me and washed me from my sins by Your death and resurrection and
who are now my Savior and Redeemer. Glory be to You, O God the
Holy Spirit, who by Your almighty power and inescapable presence
have turned my heart from sin to God.
O eternal, allmighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You
are now my Covenant-Friend, and I, through Your infinite grace,
am Your Covenant-Servant. And the Covenant which I have made on
earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Holy Communion.
See
a shorter and more contemporary version by Rev. Jeren Rowel.
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