1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian 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.
In this pericope Paul speaks of his affirmed faith to the Philippians. While trials and difficulties may attempt to weaken our faith, Paul finds the opposite. The work of the gospel goes forward even in difficulty, and in that he finds joy and an affirmed faith in the purposes of God.
The body of Christ in this world, gathered by God and called saints, can be confident that grace and peace continually come to them through the same love that called them to be God’s children.
This Bible Study looks at preparing for worship and that it is possible to "come to church" and still miss worship. And good preparation will likely be the key that makes the difference.
Ministry goes forward when faith-filled people work together collaboratively! Collaborators are co-laborers. They contribute from the field of their own gifts and passions. But they do not labor in isolation. Their labors are so interwoven that the final product is a composite. A group effort is genuinely the product of the entire group, not merely a modified solo plan"
We do not find that the Bible prescribes a specific liturgy for worship, we do find that our understanding of the Scriptures and the guidelines that it provides will be very helpful in discerning the pattern of worship and understanding the freedom for variation and flexibility in our worship life.
Before you come to the meeting, spend some time with these two chapters from Revelation. As you read these chapters, remind yourself that while John is an exile on the island of Patmos he receives this revelation from God. You are getting a view of the throne room of heaven.
Rarely—almost never—do married persons make it their aim to get into an extra-marital relationship—to have an “affair.”
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.
To be human is to be in need—in need of God and of one another. And to remain fully human—indeed, to flourish in it—requires that we stay in touch with, remain keenly aware of, that need.
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.
