What qualities should a public worship service evidence? What ought to be its essential characteristics? With the principles in mind that we have already articulated, let us consider a non-exhaustive list of qualities that we aspire to in biblically-informed and directed congregational services of worship. In biblical public worship, the congregation will offer Scriptural, simple, Spiritual, God-centered, historic, reverent and joyful, mediated, corporate, evangelistic, delightful, active and passive, Lord’s Day worship to the living and…What gathered worship should look like: Scriptural
What qualities should a public worship service evidence? What ought to be its essential characteristics? With the principles in mind that we have already articulated, let us consider a non-exhaustive list of qualities that we aspire to in biblically-informed and directed congregational services of worship. In biblical public worship, the congregation will offer Scriptural, simple, Spiritual, God-centered, historic, reverent and joyful, mediated, corporate, evangelistic, delightful, active and passive, Lord’s Day worship to the living and…
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is probably best known to you as a great hymnwriter (think “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “Joy to the World”), but did you know that he was a faithful preacher too? Dr. Matthew McKellar of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary highlights Watt’s preaching, and what his pulpit legacy can teach us today, in this good article: “The Honor of Christ, the Horror of Hell, and the Essence of Humility: The Preaching Legacy of Isaac Watts”
Protestants have always believed that how we worship, the manner of our public worship, matters. The main reason for this is because Protestants believe that the Bible itself, in both the Old and New Testaments, commands a number of important things about how we are to conduct ourselves in gathered worship. There are, of course, historical reasons for this interest in the manner, or how, of public worship as well. For instance, the Protestant reformers believed that the way you worship actually influences and reinforces what you believe. That…
Do you need help with prayer? Many Christians struggle there. Over the centuries, learning to pray the Scriptures has been the best solution to the problem. But where can one find help in learning how to pray Scripture? For the last three hundred…
Yesterday, at the monthly Executive Committee meeting of Reformed Theological Seminary, I read from C.H. Spurgeon’s classic work Morning and Evening as part of our devotional. I have been deeply moved by his meditation on “Brethren, pray…
The congregation that aims to be biblically directed and informed in its approach to public worship will gather weekly on the Lord’s Day for Bible reading, Bible preaching, Bible praying, Bible singing and biblical observance of the sacraments.…
Why does a congregation gather on the Lord’s Day? More can be said, but not less than this: our aim, as the congregation gathers to meet with God in public worship on the Lord’s Day, is to glorify and enjoy God, in accordance with his written…
“All history is subservient to the great work of Redemption” so begins Thomas Chalmers Sabbath Scripture Readings. From October of 1841 to September 20, 1846, Chalmers wrote a series of devotional-expositional thoughts on each chapter of…
Why do we worship? There is more than one right biblical answer. Surely at the top of the list is “for his own glory” (1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 29:1-2). There is no higher answer to “why do we worship?” than because the…