As we march through this devotional series on why public worship matters, part 3 answers why worship matters. And it might be as simple as that age old Sunday School answer: God! Y’all know the story, right? The pastor in the sermonette tells the kids he’s describing an animal. He says it’s gray, it has a bushy tail, loves nuts, and climbs trees. One of the kids looks at the pastor and says, “Pastor, what you’re talking about sounds like a squirrel, but I know the answer is Jesus. So I’m gonna’ stick with Jesus.” It’s a funny story, but there’s a real point there. At the end of the day, the answer for the Church is always God.
This chapter focuses in on that reality. There’s a lot of meat there. Take your time moving through it! But also notice the simplicity. Be like the child in the sermonette: “I know the answer is Jesus.” Let me show you what I mean: worship is a “work of God” (part 1), “given to God” (part 2), “serving and glorifying God” (part 3), “offered from the heart to God” (part 4), doing parts 1-4 regularly to God (part 5), and, lastly, a “meeting with God” (part 6). Why does worship matter? It matters because of God working in and through it! Be blessed today as you see what it is we believe about the nature of worship.
CHAPTER 3—THE NATURE OF WORSHIP
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
1. Christian worship is a work of God’s sanctifying grace by which He draws His people into communion with Himself and calls forth their active, grateful, obedient, loving, joyful, reverent, whole-hearted response to all He is and has done for them (Psalm 98; 116:12-19; Matthew 22:36-39; 1 Peter 2:9-10).
2. Worship is to be given to God, and to God alone (Deut. 6:13-15; Matt. 4:10; Rom. 11:36), as Father (Jn. 4:21-23), Son (Jn. 5:23), and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Because all mankind is sinful by nature and separated from God (Isa. 59.2; Rom. 3:23, 5:12), the only worship which is acceptable to God is that which is offered in the name and through the mediation of the Son (Jn. 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Col. 3:17), by the working of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18), according to God’s holy will revealed in the Scriptures (Deut. 12:29-32; Matt. 15:8-9; John 4:23-24; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
3. Worship may be viewed in the broader sense as a way of life devoted to serving and glorifying God so that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do all to the glory of God (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 10:31). In the narrower sense, worship may be viewed as particular occasions of worship, such as public or private worship (Heb. 10:19-25), or as particular acts of worship, such as prayer, singing of praise, and the ministry of the Word and sacrament.
4. Worship, whether broadly or narrowly defined, public or private, formal or informal, planned or spontaneous, is not made acceptable by physical location or external exercises but must be offered from the heart to God alone, through Christ alone, and in the power and under the authority of the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures (John 4:23-24). Though no part of worship is tied to or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, yet it can be convenient and helpful for particular places to be set apart for worship, especially for public worship.
5. Regular individual and family worship are essential expressions of Christian worship. Such worship should include reading of Scripture and prayer, and may also include singing of praise, catechizing, and discussion appropriate to the age and understanding of those present. Materials used in individual and family worship should conform to the Holy Scriptures and The Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Ordinarily, the head of the home should assume leadership responsibility for family worship, and participation by all present should be encouraged (Deut. 6:4-9; Eph. 6:4).
6. Public worship is a holy convocation in which the Triune God meets with and ministers to His assembled covenant people through Word and sacrament, and His people respond with praise, thanksgiving, repentance, confession of sin, supplication, and confession of faith. Therefore, public worship is to be centered on glorifying God, showing forth the worth and excellence of God (Rom. 12:1-2). It should be exalting of Christ and empowered by the Spirit. It is to be participatory, reverent, orderly, and edifying, in a spirit of simplicity (John 4:23-24) and sincerity (Matt. 6:1-18).