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This Bible Study explores the questions: What really is worship? And what is the unique perspective that the Reformed faith can bring to our thinking about worship?
This Bible study lesson looks at baptism and how it becomes the sign of washing in Christ, the entrance into discipleship, and inclusion in the Christian church.
Worship planning assumes that a calendar is used. The assumption in worship planning is that we anticipate future worship.
Reformed worship is built on the conviction that congregational worship is essentially a conversation with God. In some elements of the worship service, such as the greeting, scripture reading, sermon, and benediction, God speaks to us. In other parts of the worship service, the worshipers speak to God through songs, commitments, and prayers.
Vital worship, like a healthy marriage, requires honesty and openness in order to thrive. God longs for our honesty before him. We are deeply in need of his renewing pardon.
We look in vain for any passage of Scripture that gives us the precise order of worship, rules for the practice of worship, or simple instructions that say, "THIS is the way worship must be!" Unfortunately, this has led some to believe that it doesn't matter how we structure worship, as though it's only a matter of personal preference or local custom.
The relationship between Paul and the Philippian Christians is a model for all congregations. Paul and the Christians in Philippi recognized the deep work of God in each other, prayed passionately for each other, and fervently desired to see God-glorifying fruitfulness in each other.
This Bible study looks at and goes through the steps to creating a worship statement. It suggests that a properly authorized group of leaders decide and articulate the worship values of a congregation.
Remember that you are getting a view of the throne room of heaven. Notice the throne, the One on it, the crowd around it, and the nature of the worship they are bringing.
Modernity has a kind of airy weightlessness, a lack of seriousness and significance. So, when it comes to the matter of “setting their minds on things eternal”—that is, of paying any heed to the world beyond sight and sound—most contemporary people are pretty breezy and airy.
In his Word God declares that it is he, the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, who welcomes his creatures into his presence and invites them to worship him.
In the Western hemisphere, especially in Europe and considerable sections of North America, vigorous contempt toward and sleepy disregard of the Christian church are widespread and increasing at an ever-accelerating rate.
