Worship. If we’re honest with ourselves, we can easily have a reductionist view of that word. That is, for most American evangelical Christians, worship is primarily about music and preaching. Like it or not, all of us are in some way shaped by this cultural ethos in the American church. So, when we evaluate a worship service, we typically ask ourselves questions like, “Did I like the music and was I moved by it? Did I like the sermon, and was I personally challenged, motivated, convicted, and (as a plus) entertained by it?” In other words, knowingly or unknowingly, we tend to evaluate worship based on our private or personal experience of it. What did I get out of it? How did it make me feel? The problem with this is that a worship service of the church is not private worship. It is corporate worship. It is the gathering of God’s people. The focus of the worship service in the New Testament is not upon self-edification and self-gratification but upon worshipping God and building up the church (edifying others). Gathered worship on Sunday is not something for us to consume or observe or from which to seek a “feel good” experience. Rather it is something we enter into and in which we participate by faith.

With that in mind, our worship service at Providence has a very intentional flow: Call to worship, singing songs of praise, confession of sin, absolution, profession of faith, reading of Scripture, preaching, communion, benediction. This form of worship mirrors several biblical patterns or rhythms:

Call and Response

Again and again in the Bible, we see God as the initiator. He’s the primary mover. God spoke and called the universe into existence. God called Abraham to leave his homeland, and Abraham responded by doing so. God called Moses to lead his people out of slavery, and Moses (reluctantly) did so. God called Paul on the road to Damascus, and Paul responded with a life of following Jesus. God calls all his children to himself, and they respond in faith and are justified and will be glorified. A worship service should reflect this pattern of call and response. God graciously calls us (we who are stubborn and self-interested) to worship him, and we respond by singing, confessing sin, praying, professing what we believe, listening attentively to God’s word, and feasting on the meal that signifies his grace in Christ. We aren’t spectators at a worship service, we are participants responding to our gracious God!

Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation

This is the storyline of the Bible and of our lives. God not only created the world, he created people in his own image. Then people sinned, bringing death and brokenness to themselves and to God’s good creation. God redeemed (and is redeeming) that which is broken through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. One day Jesus will return and his people will live forever with him in new bodies on a new earth. A worship service should bring to mind this biblical storyline. The Creator calls us. We acknowledge our sin (our “fallenness”). God assures us of his forgiveness in Christ. We experience that redemption (in part) as we are renewed by his Word and nourished by communion.

Gathering In and Sending Out

In the Old Testament, leaders like Moses and David shepherded God’s people like sheep by bringing them in (for rest and nourishment) and leading them out (to fulfill God’s calling). Jesus gathered the twelve disciples to be with him, but then he sent them out on mission. The church was gathered in one place at Pentecost, and then the Spirit sent them out with the gospel to new people and new places. A worship service mirrors this rhythm. God gathers his people in for nourishment, renewal, and rest, and then he sends them out with a blessing (a benediction) that they might live as salt and light in the world.

The gathered worship of the church on Sundays is not less than music and preaching, but it is so much more. It is a participation in biblical patterns that have always shaped God’s people. It is a reminder that God, although he is our personal God, is not our private God. As you think about your participation in the weekly gathered worship of the church, consider these practical suggestions:

• Be on time. If you miss the call to worship or the confession of sin or some other element, you’ve missed some aspect of how God normatively renews his people.
• Pray beforehand and ask God to help you enter with a heart inclined towards him and towards others. This doesn’t come naturally for most of us.
• Don’t judge the service based solely upon your feelings. Sometimes your heart will soar as you sing, you’ll feel deeply convicted by the sermon, and your emotions will be high. Sometimes you won’t feel any of that. But we worship by faith, knowing that the Triune God is at work in and through his people.