(Basic Order of Service) A Theology of a Worship Service

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What does this tell us about Worship as a church?

At the heart of Christian worship is God himself. In order truly to worship two fundamental elements are needed: revelation, through which God shows himself to man, and response, through which awe-stricken man responds to God. Martin Luther claimed that ‘to know God is to worship him’. In so saying, he succinctly embraced both aspects of worship. He also insisted that worship is not an optional extra for the godly person, but an essential symptom or expression of that knowledge.

God makes himself known in a number of ways: through his works in creation (); through his written word (); supremely, through Jesus Christ (); and through the Holy Spirit ().

Christian worship will depend on that revelation. It is therefore founded on theology—the knowledge of God. The shortest route to deeper and richer worship is a clearer theology. This will enable the worshipper to know who, and how great, God is. Further, it will inform the worshipper how God wants worship to be expressed

Ferguson, Sinclair B., and J.I. Packer. New Dictionary of Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000. “Worship”, pg. 730.

So the use and understanding of the Word - Revelation,

is the substance of Worship.

Worship is about the proper response to God’s Revealed word. By extension God himself, but in substance a response to His Revelation.

We observed this partially as we considered “Hearing God’s Word” by Mark Dever. An aspect he drew out was the relationship between Worship in our services, and the Word.

So let’s consider how the Word functions in General.

What heart responses should we have to the Word in our Worship services?

The Word:

Corrects -

(ESV)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(ESV)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Comforts –

(ESV)

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

What ways do we the Word being used in Worship by the Early church?

It is to be read publicly: ;

It is to be meditated upon: ; ,

It is to be corporately sung:

It must be preached: ;

So our Worship services should be about what?

Our services should include the reading, meditation, singing, and preaching of God’s Word. These elements are to be utilized for the purpose of causing the church to appropriately respond to the Revelation of God, and by Extension, God. That is Worship.

What responses should we be intentionally encouraging with the Word in Worship?

We should be encouraging each other to:

o An awe of God.

o With comfort to the hurting.

o Correction with right doctrine.

o Confession.

One other aspect we must consider, is the practice of confession. ()

Another proper response to God’s revelation related to the teaching of right doctrine,

is Biblical confession.

Biblical Example:

(ESV)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

I think there is something to be said for corporate confession.

These are the elements that should be included in a proper worship of God.

- Now certainly, we could extend this idea of Worship beyond our church services.

- Our Sunday School, speaks of how the Gospel should impact our everyday relationships.

Is that not responding to God’s Revelation – Worship.

But for today’s purpose’s,

I want to consider those principles and our Worship services, besides the preaching.

There may be some other principles to consider here, as I, as you consider how we worship.

But at least 3 of those principles would include:

· We ought to cause people to come to an awe and praise of who God is.

· We ought to encourage hurting people by comforting them with the Word.

· We ought to be teaching right doctrine as means of correcting and equipping the church.

· We ought to encourage confession of sins before God.

And how we do that is by challenging each other through the

· reading of the Word,

· the meditation upon the Word,

· and the Singing of the Word.

With that being said,

I would like to present a template that slightly modifies the order of service of our Sunday Morning Services.

I also in the near future like to consider our Sunday Evenings Wednesday, in the same way. But I ran out of time to prepare that this week.

Now this template, I don’t want to be a legalistic rule, but helpful guide for how we worship on Sunday. We can very this, but I also want to make sure we are including some of these ideas into our worship.

As we do this, I also want to be open to any suggestions.

There is no reason we can’t change or modify this template.

Present Template

Bethel Baptist Church, Laramie, WY

Sunday Morning Template

1) Call to worship/welcome/prayer [Stand]

a) Challenging Transition.

b) Prayer to Call to Worship

c) Announcements

2) Song - Call to Worship Song/Exaltation Song

3) Scripture Reading [Stand]

4) Prayer of Confession

5) Song – Encouraging Song

6) Song – Encouraging Song (With Hand Shaking)

7) Offering

a. Children Offering

b. Adult Offering

8) Call to Worship – Exaltation Song

9) Message

a) Challenge Prayer (Sometime in Introduction)

b) Closing Challenge Prayer (End of Message)

c) Transitional Invitation (as needed)

10) Challenge Song

Definition:

Call to Worship – Challenge to Worship (Awe, Attention to Greatness of God)

Exaltation – Song that Praises God; focuses on the Greatness of God (Awe)

Challenge – Song that Commissions the Congregation to Carry out the Message/Christian life. (Correction)

Encouragement – A song that encourages and gives hope to the hurting/suffering. (Comfort)