The Worship of the Church

In reading through the pages of the Bible, one could quickly see that all of life is one of worship. God has created us to be worshippers, which means that God has designed humanity with the capacity to give reverence, admonition, praise, hope, and worth to someone or something. But does the Bible say in whom we are to worship? Absolutely! One example can be found in the Psalms, Psalm 95:6, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!”. Scripture is undeniably clear: we are to worship the Creator, the one and only true God.

Furthermore, scripture tells us that God is a jealous God (Deut 4:24) because He knows that soul-satisfying worship can only be found in Him. Even the apostle John, in beholding an angel in front of him, instinctively fell down at his feet to worship him. Still, the angel responded, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”(Rev 22:8-9). God must be the object of our worship because He is the only one worthy of our worship. Our understanding of worship will then lead us to different areas of life: private worship, family worship, but also corporate church worship. God has revealed in His word that when the church gathers together, its worship should be one of spirit and truth (John 4:23-24). Delightfully, we have not been left in the dark about what this looks like. Throughout the New Testament, we see clear examples of corporate worship happening in the life of a follower of Christ. We see a devotion to the public reading of scripture, the teaching and preaching of the word of God, the sharing of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, the communal prayers of the church, the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, confession of sin, and the confession of our common faith. The specifics of order and style may differ from church to church, but true worship entails these elements. These are the means of grace in which God has given the church to worship Him rightly. These are the elements that God has designed to point our hearts and minds to the Gospel. The good news of the person and work of Christ. Because it is through Christ and Christ alone that we can worship God in spirit and truth.

Luke Wartgow is pastor of Carson Valley Bible Church