As we have seen in preceding studies, there is much talk in today's church of "the worship experience." There is nothing necessarily wrong with experience; indeed, believers ought to experience God as they worship. But we rarely hear as much of the worship service as we do of the worship experience. Sadly, the worship experience often turns out to be largely individualistic, … [Read more...]
The Expression of Worship in Music (Ephesians 5:18-19)
Thus far in our consideration of biblical worship, we have managed to nail down a workable definition of worship: worship is the reverent, rational response to the revelation of God. We have seen, too, something of God's design of worship, as well as some of the contemporary and historical distortions of worship. In all of this, I have strived to show clearly that God's Word … [Read more...]
The Elements and Expression of Worship (2 Chronicles 34:8-21)
The reformation of the Church is one of my great passions, and there are several areas in which I believe reformation to be absolutely essential. It is, for instance, necessary that the Church of today reform in her understanding of the doctrine of salvation (soteriology). For too long, the Church at large has embraced a man-centred, rather than a God-centred, view of … [Read more...]
The Distortion of Worship (1 Chronicles 15:1-15)
“Christians believe,” wrote John Stott, “that true worship is the highest and noblest activity of which man, by the grace of God, is capable.” This is the kind of life to which believers are called. And yet we often fall short of this privilege. Another man in the mid-20th century—A.W. Tozer—critiqued the worship of the Church thus: Protestants are altogether too much … [Read more...]
The Explanation of Worship II (2 Samuel 6:1-11)
In our previous study, we noted John Stott's comment that "true worship is the highest and noblest activity of which man, by the grace of God, is capable." All believers are called to a life of "true worship," yet we often fall short of this privilege. Another man in the mid-20th century--A.W. Tozer--critiqued the worship of the Church thus: Protestants are altogether too much … [Read more...]